Search Suckiness

Volusion has a search function where the customer can search for anything they'd like on your store.  For instance, Sun & Ski Sports (a great store, BTW...I bought my first pair of snow ski bindings at one of their stores in SoCal) has the following search function on their Volusion site:

However, like everything Volusion, the implementation makes no sense whatsoever.

One would expect that a search function would catalog all of the text in the product name, product description, product code and vendor ID (for the actual part number) fields, then return search results appropriately, based on the highest number of comparative hits with those fields.

Like I said, that would make sense. But we all know that Volusion doesn't use "sense" as a variable when building a tool.

No, in Volusion, you have to manually enter every possible variation of a search term you can think of into a field called "Additional Product Keywords" for each product. So, if you were searching for a 2011 Marin Portofino Road Bike...

...you'd need to come up with as many variations of the following possible search permutations as you can:

Natural Fit Marin Portofino Road Bike performance riders race bike relaxed riding position less strain fatigue 6061 Aluminum Double Butted Natural Fit Geometry 8 speed Shimano Sora Derailleur Dual Pivot Brakes Shimano Brake Levers integrated shifters Model Category Road Model Series Natural Fit Model Number A11-440-1F Frame 6061 Aluminum, Double Butted with Natural Fit Geometry Front Suspension RFE Carbon Road 1 1/8” Shift Lever Shimano 2300 STI, 8 Speed Derailleur Front Shimano 2300 Derailleur Rear Shimano Sora Brakes Front Dual Pivot with Cartridge Pads Brakes Rear Dual Pivot with Cartridge Pads Brake Levers Shimano with Integrated Shifters Pedals Composite with Alloy Cage Crankset FSA Vero Triple, 52/42/30 Bottom Bracket Sealed Cartridge Chain Shimano HG40 Cassette 12-25, 8 Speed Hub Rear Formula, 32 Hole Hub Front Formula, 28 Hole Rims Alex R450, Double Wall, 28 Hole Front, 32 Hole Rear with CNC Side Walls Spokes Nipples WTB 15 Gauge Stainless Tires Kenda Koncept, 700 x 23c Saddle Marin Plush Road Seatpost Alloy Micro Adjust, 27.2mm x 300mm Stem Alloy Threadless Adjustable with 0° to 60° Rise, 31.8mm Bar Clamp Handlebar FSA Vero Compact, OS-31.8mm, Grips Cork with Plush GelHeadset Ritchey Logic Comp, 1 1/8” Threadless

Once you have modified all of the possible keywords someone might use to search (the word brake vs. break, for instance), you simply enter those keywords into the Additional Keywords Field.

Just one problem.

THE G-D ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS FIELD WILL ONLY ACCEPT 255 CHARACTERS.

So, I guess the mental giants on Volusion's engineering staff have decided that instead of implementing a REAL search function, they'd just rather take the easy way out and let you figure out only the handful or really important search parameters for your customers.

Which means customers will most often see the following search result:

Remind me again why I still am a Volusion user?