Thank you for the reply and the advice! In your opinion where is the best place to find such a developer?
Topic summary
Goal: Enable multi-word search across product titles and metafields to match auto parts by Year/Make/Model (YMM), similar to eBay’s relevance-based search.
Constraints: Shopify’s native storefront search does not index metafields and only searches predefined fields (e.g., title, SKU).
Options discussed:
- Custom build: Create JavaScript that queries products via the Shopify API and filters results using metafield values. Suggested to hire a Shopify Expert for implementation.
- Third-party app (SoBooster): Provides YMM search/filter using either tags or metafields. Proposed metafield format: namespace “global”, key “ymm”, value as “Year|Make|Model^^Year|Make|Model” (^^ separates datasets, | separates fields). Demo store links provided.
Merchant follow-ups: Asked whether existing data (Make in Collections, Model/Year in Tags, technical info in metafields) can be used without migrating; how to support many-to-many fitment; how to prevent users selecting unavailable combinations; and pricing.
Vendor reply: YMM can be implemented using any fields except Title/Description; no need to convert existing data to metafields; provided support email for details.
Status: No native Shopify solution; viable paths are custom development or an app. Thread appears open. Images of product title and metafield table are central for context.