Introduction

 

Provides a framework for other plugins to enable ajax based search functionality. By default this plugin offers a search by features series of inputs, which is designed to work as a fallback if an 'ajax search' plugin hasn't been installed yet.

 

This plugin was rewritten in March 2012 to take advantage of the Jomres mambot (Joomla plugin) jomres_ajax_search_contentwrapper, which wraps the entire Joomla content area in a special div. As it includes functionality that is only available in Jomres v6.6, you cannot use this plugin in versions of Jomres lower than v6.6, and Joomla earlier than v2.5.

 

Implementation

 

This plugin is designed to make use of the ASAModule plugin that allows site managers to place plugins in Joomla module positions.

 

Step 1. First install the jomres_ajax_search_contentwrapper Joomla mambot (plugin) through the Jomres plugin manager. "Discover" it using the Joomla Plugin manager. Now go to the Joomla Plugin manager and click on "plg_content_jomres_ajax_search_contentwrapper". Ensure that the plugin is Enabled and Access is set to Public, and click Save and Close.

 

Step 2. Next, if you haven't already, install the ASAModule plugin, again using the Joomla Discover feature to ensure that it's fully installed.

 

Step 3. Now you are ready to install this plugin via the Jomres plugin manager. Do that, then go to the Joomla Module Manager. Click New. You will be given a dialogue popup, from the plugins listed choose "Jomres AsAModule". The next page will take you to the module's configuration page.

 

Step 4. Set the title to something that's meaningful to you, like "Ajax search plugin tester". Assuming that you're doing this on the default Joomla Beez template, set the module position to position-0, ensure that Status is Published and Access is Public. For now you should set the Module assignment to "On all pages". Finally, set the "task" to "ajax_search".

 

Go to the front page of your website and reload it. If you have created several properties and given them features you should now see some feature icons at the top of the page. Click their associated checkboxes and in the content area Jomres will find all properties that have those features.

 

 

Other ajax search plugins

 

By default this plugin will offer simply searching by features. If you were to install, for example the "ajax_search_selectcombo_region" the Ajax search plugin will find that and use that instead.

 

You can install a number of different ajax search plugins so that users can search by different parameters. Let's say that you want to offer searching by features on one page, and by regions on another. Using the Jomres plugin manager install "ajax_search_features" and "ajax_search_selectcombo_region". In the first module (the one called "Ajax search plugin tester") set the arguments (this is the field after the Task field) to "&ajs_plugin=ajax_search_features". Click Save and Close. Next repeat Step 3 from above and create a new module, call it "Ajax search by regions", set the task to "ajax_search" and the arguments to "&task=ajax_search&ajs_plugin=ajax_search_selectcombo_region".

 

Now you've got two ajax search modules on your Jomres pages, both of which you can use to offer different options to your guests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Developers

 

We have designed this feature to support it's own plugins, and we have provided several plugins which can be installed via the plugin manager. If you want to use this framework for developing your own ajax based search functionality you should choose the search plugin that is closest to your desired functionality and study those files. When you do, you'll see two distinct trigger numbered files.

 

The first is the 06100 file, which is used to set up the form itself, and uses a template file. Largely how you create this file is up to you, however you need to remember that when the ajax search is triggered (whenever an input in that form is changed) the ajax framework's functionality will send every value set in the form, so make sure your input names are unique.

 

The second trigger file is numbered 06110. This file must be named exactly the same as the first, so if the first is called j06100my_ajax_search then the second must be named j06110my_ajax_search.