How to hide products from search box?

[DeividasAL]

Hello,
We have a lot of products that are no longer manufactured. We want to hide them from the search box. However, we want them to be indexed by Google. We just want to hide them in the store so that customers cannot find them in our website search. I spoke to Shopify support, there is only one way to do this, which is to use metafield seo.hidden. However, this method disables indexing by Google. This option is not suitable for us. We just want to prevent customers from finding certain products in our search box. Can anyone help to modify search functionalities or even offer custom solutions without risking any disruptions in other areas of our site? Maybe someone have efficient methods or already available options within the theme settings that could help achieve what we looking for regarding hiding products from searches while still allowing them to be indexed by Google.

Theme name: Enterprise

[TheUntechnickle]

Hello @DeividasAL ,

Thank you for sharing your requirements.

To hide discontinued products from the internal search while keeping them indexed by Google, you can use a simple method involving product tags and minor modifications to your theme code. Here’s how:

1. Add a Tag to the Products:

• In your Shopify admin, go to Products and open the ones you want to hide.
• Add a unique tag, such as hidden-from-search, in the Tags section and save.
• Repeat this for all relevant products.

2. Modify Your Search Functionality:

• In your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Themes and click Actions > Edit code.

• Locate the search.liquid or search-results.liquid file in the Templates or Sections folder.

• Find the loop responsible for displaying search results, typically {% for item in search.results %}.

• Add this condition to exclude tagged products:

{% for item in search.results %}
  {% if item.object_type == 'product' and item.tags contains 'hidden-from-search' %}
    {% continue %}
  {% endif %}
  
{% endfor %}

• Save the file.

3. Verify and Test:

• Perform a search to confirm that products tagged with hidden-from-search no longer appear in the search results.
• Check that these products remain accessible through their direct URLs and visible in Google search.

This approach ensures that these products are hidden from the search box without affecting their Google indexing. If you’re unfamiliar with editing theme code, let me know my team will do it for free.

Let me know if you need further help!

Best regards,
Shubham | Untechnickle

[TheUntechnickle]

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your requirements.

To hide discontinued products from the internal search while keeping them indexed by Google, you can use a simple method involving product tags and minor modifications to your theme code. Here’s how:

1. Add a Tag to the Products:

• In your Shopify admin, go to Products and open the ones you want to hide.
• Add a unique tag, such as hidden-from-search, in the Tags section and save.
• Repeat this for all relevant products.

2. Modify Your Search Functionality:

• In your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Themes and click Actions > Edit code.

• Locate the search.liquid or search-results.liquid file in the Templates or Sections folder.

• Find the loop responsible for displaying search results, typically {% for item in search.results %}.

• Add this condition to exclude tagged products:

{% for item in search.results %}
  {% if item.object_type == 'product' and item.tags contains 'hidden-from-search' %}
    {% continue %}
  {% endif %}
  
{% endfor %}

• Save the file.

3. Verify and Test:

• Perform a search to confirm that products tagged with hidden-from-search no longer appear in the search results.
• Check that these products remain accessible through their direct URLs and visible in Google search.

This approach ensures that these products are hidden from the search box without affecting their Google indexing. If you’re unfamiliar with editing theme code, my team will do it for you, for free.

Let me know if you need further help!

Best regards,
Shubham | Untechnickle

[TheUntechnickle]

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your requirements.

To hide discontinued products from the internal search while keeping them indexed by Google, you can use a simple method involving product tags and minor modifications to your theme code. Here’s how:

1. Add a Tag to the Products:

• In your Shopify admin, go to Products and open the ones you want to hide.
• Add a unique tag, such as hidden-from-search, in the Tags section and save.
• Repeat this for all relevant products.

2. Modify Your Search Functionality:

• In your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Themes and click Actions > Edit code.

• Locate the search.liquid or search-results.liquid file in the Templates or Sections folder.

• Find the loop responsible for displaying search results, typically {% for item in search.results %}.

• Add this condition to exclude tagged products:
  {% for item in search.results %}
  {% if item.object_type == ‘product’ and item.tags contains ‘hidden-from-search’ %}
  {% continue %}
  {% endif %}
  
  {% endfor %}

• Save the file.

3. Verify and Test:

• Perform a search to confirm that products tagged with hidden-from-search no longer appear in the search results.
• Check that these products remain accessible through their direct URLs and visible in Google search.

This approach ensures that these products are hidden from the search box without affecting their Google indexing. If you’re unfamiliar with editing theme code, my team will do it for you, for free.

Let me know if you need further help!

Best regards,
Shubham | Untechnickle

[ShreyaRevize]

Hello @DeividasAL ,

Thank you for sharing your requirements.

To hide discontinued products from the internal search while keeping them indexed by Google, you can use a simple method involving product tags and minor modifications to your theme code. Here’s how:

1. Add a Tag to the Products:

• In your Shopify admin, go to Products and open the ones you want to hide.

• Add a unique tag, such as hidden-from-search, in the Tags section and save.

• Repeat this for all relevant products.

2. Modify Your Search Functionality:

• In your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Themes and click Actions > Edit code.

• Locate the search.liquid or search-results.liquid file in the Templates or Sections folder.

• Find the loop responsible for displaying search results, typically {% for item in search.results %}.

• Add this condition to exclude tagged products:

{% for item in search.results %}
  {% if item.object_type == 'product' and item.tags contains 'hidden-from-search' %}
    {% continue %}
  {% endif %}
  <!-- Your existing code for displaying results -->
{% endfor %}

• Save the file.

3. Verify and Test:

• Perform a search to confirm that products tagged with hidden-from-search no longer appear in the search results.

• Check that these products remain accessible through their direct URLs and visible in Google search.

This approach ensures that these products are hidden from the search box without affecting their Google indexing. If you’re unfamiliar with editing theme code, let us know, and we’ll do this for you for free.

Let me know if you need further help!

Best regards,
Shreya

[DeividasAL]

Hello,

Thanks for the answer. Im not good at the code, but i found this in main-search.liquid :

{%- for item in search.results -%}

{%- case item.object_type -%} {%- when 'product' -%} {% render 'product-card', product: item, image_ratio: image_ratio, show_compare: settings.enable_compare %} {%- when 'article' -%} {% render 'article-card',

Should i put your code after the first line i wrote?

[TheUntechnickle]

Hey @DeividasAL ,

Just replace

{%- for item in search.results -%}

with

{%- for item in search.results -%}
  {%- if item.object_type == 'product' and item.tags contains 'hidden-from-search' -%}
    {%- continue -%}
  {%- endif -%}

This should do that job

• Shubham | Untechnickle

[DeividasAL]

Hello, i have replaced as you said, but the problem is still the same. The product can be found on search box.

Code looks like that:

[TheUntechnickle]

@DeividasAL ,

Thank you for your patience while I revisited the issue. I’ve devised a complete solution that will effectively hide discontinued products from your internal search while maintaining their indexing on Google. Here’s the updated approach:

Custom Search Implementation

1. Create a New JavaScript File:

   • Navigate to your theme files: Online Store > Themes > Actions > Edit Code.
   • In the Assets folder, create a new file named custom-search.js.
   • Copy and paste the JavaScript code provided in the file.

// Add this code to a new JavaScript file (e.g., custom-search.js)
const customSearchImplementation = {
  init() {
    this.searchForm = document.querySelector('form[action="/search"]');
    this.searchInput = this.searchForm?.querySelector('input[type="search"]');
    this.searchResultsContainer = document.querySelector('#search-results-container');
    
    if (this.searchForm) {
      this.bindEvents();
      this.setupPredictiveSearch();
    }
  },

  bindEvents() {
    this.searchForm.addEventListener('submit', (e) => {
      e.preventDefault();
      this.performSearch();
    });
  },

  async performSearch() {
    const searchTerm = this.searchInput.value;
    const response = await fetch(`/search/suggest.json?q=${encodeURIComponent(searchTerm)}&resources[type]=product`);
    const data = await response.json();
    
    // Filter out products with specific tag or metafield
    const filteredResults = this.filterResults(data.resources.results);
    
    this.renderResults(filteredResults);
  },

  filterResults(results) {
    return results.products.filter(product => {
      // Check for discontinued tag/metafield
      return !product.tags.includes('discontinued') && 
             !product.tags.includes('hide-from-search');
    });
  },

  renderResults(results) {
    if (!this.searchResultsContainer) return;
    
    const resultsHTML = results.map(product => `
      
        
          
          

            ### ${product.title}
            

${product.price}

          

        
      

    `).join('');
    
    this.searchResultsContainer.innerHTML = resultsHTML;
  },

  setupPredictiveSearch() {
    // Add debounced predictive search functionality
    let timeout;
    this.searchInput.addEventListener('input', () => {
      clearTimeout(timeout);
      timeout = setTimeout(() => this.performSearch(), 300);
    });
  }
};

// Initialize the custom search
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
  customSearchImplementation.init();
});​

• Include the JavaScript File:

  • Open your theme.liquid file.

  • Just before the closing tag, add the following line:

    {{ ‘custom-search.js’ | asset_url | script_tag }}

• Add the Search Results Container:

  • In your search.liquid template, add this code:

• Tag Your Products:

  • Add the tag hide-from-search to products you wish to exclude from internal search results.
  • This ensures these products remain accessible via direct URLs and indexed by Google.

• Add Custom CSS (Optional):

  • Add the following CSS to your theme’s stylesheet to style the search results:

    .search-result-item { padding: 1rem; border-bottom: 1px solid #eee; } .search-result-image { max-width: 100px; height: auto; }

If you encounter any issues during implementation or require further customization, feel free to reach out on my email. I’m here to assist you every step of the way.

Best regards,
Shubham
Untechnickle

[DeividasAL]

Hello,

Where exactly in the code i should put this line

?
In my theme there is no “search.liquid” template , there is Sections/main-search.liquid , code:

---

{{ ‘products-grid.css’ | asset_url | stylesheet_tag }}
{{ ‘product.css’ | asset_url | stylesheet_tag }}

{%- if settings.card_hover_action == ‘slideshow’ -%}

{%- endif -%}

{%- if settings.enable_quick_add -%}

{%- endif -%}

{%- if settings.pagination_style == “modern” or settings.pagination_infinite -%}

{%- endif -%}

{%- if settings.enable_predictive_search -%}

{%- endif -%}

{%- liquid
if search.results_count > 0
if section.settings.card_size == ‘small’
assign grid_classes_filters_open = ‘grid-cols-2 md:grid-cols-3 xl:grid-cols-4’
assign grid_classes_filters_closed = ‘grid-cols-2 md:grid-cols-3 lg:grid-cols-4 xl:grid-cols-5’
elsif section.settings.card_size == ‘medium’
assign grid_classes_filters_open = ‘grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-3’
assign grid_classes_filters_closed = ‘grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-3 xl:grid-cols-4’
else
assign grid_classes_filters_open = ‘grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 xl:grid-cols-3’
assign grid_classes_filters_closed = ‘grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 xl:grid-cols-3’
endif
endif

assign compare_toggle = false
assign compare_visible = false
if settings.enable_compare
if settings.compare_toggle == “none” or settings.compare_toggle == “toggle_on”
assign compare_toggle = true
endif

if settings.compare_toggle != “none”
assign compare_visible = true
endif
endif
-%}

{%- if section.settings.show_search_title or section.settings.show_search_input -%}

{%- if section.settings.show_search_title -%}

{{ 'general.search.title' | t }}

{%- endif -%}

{%- if section.settings.show_search_input -%}

{% render 'predictive-search', id: 'main-search', persist_value: true %}

{%- endif -%}

{%- endif -%}

{%- if search.performed -%}
{%- if search.results_count == 0 and search.filters == empty -%}

{{- 'templates.search.no_results' | t: terms: search.terms -}}

{%- endif -%}

{%- if section.settings.enable_filtering or section.settings.show_layout_toggle or section.settings.enable_sorting or compare_visible -%}

{% render ‘products-toolbar’, results: search %}
{%- endif -%}

{%- paginate search.results by section.settings.products_per_page -%}

{%- if search.filters != empty and section.settings.enable_filtering -%}

{% render 'facet-filters', results: search %}

{%- endif -%}

{%- if search.results.size == 0 and search.filters != empty -%}

{{ 'sections.collection.empty' | t }}

{%- else -%} {%- liquid if settings.prod_card_image_ratio == 'shortest' assign image_ratio = 0 for item in search.results if item.object_type == 'product' if item.featured_media.preview_image.aspect_ratio > image_ratio assign image_ratio = item.featured_media.preview_image.aspect_ratio endif else if item.image.aspect_ratio > image_ratio assign image_ratio = item.image.aspect_ratio endif endif endfor elsif settings.prod_card_image_ratio == 'tallest' assign image_ratio = 99 for item in search.results if item.object_type == 'product' if item.featured_media.preview_image.aspect_ratio < image_ratio assign image_ratio = item.featured_media.preview_image.aspect_ratio endif else if item.image.aspect_ratio < image_ratio assign image_ratio = item.image.aspect_ratio endif endif endfor else assign image_ratio = settings.prod_card_image_ratio endif -%}

{%- for item in search.results -%}
• {%- case item.object_type -%} {%- when 'product' -%} {% render 'product-card', product: item, image_ratio: image_ratio, show_compare: settings.enable_compare %} {%- when 'article' -%} {% render 'article-card', article: item, image_ratio: image_ratio, show_image: section.settings.show_article_featured_image, image_ratio: image_ratio, show_author: section.settings.show_article_author, show_date: section.settings.show_article_date, show_tags: section.settings.show_article_tags, show_excerpt: section.settings.show_article_excerpt %} {%- when 'page' -%}

  {{ item.title | truncate: 50 | escape }}

  {%- if section.settings.show_page_excerpt -%}
  {%- if item.content.size > 0 -%}

  {{ item.content | strip_html | truncatewords: 30 }}

  {%- endif -%} {%- endif -%}

  {%- if section.settings.show_page_date -%}

  {{ item.published_at | time_tag: format: 'date' }}

  {%- endif -%}
  {%- endcase -%}
{%- endfor -%}

{%- if paginate.pages > 1 -%}
{% render ‘pagination’, paginate: paginate, style: settings.pagination_style %}
{%- endif -%}
{%- endif -%}

{%- endpaginate -%} {%- endif -%}

{% schema %}
{
“name”: “Search page”,
“class”: “cc-main-search section section–template”,
“settings”: [
{
“type”: “header”,
“content”: “Heading”
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_search_title”,
“label”: “Show the default search title”,
“info”: “If hidden, you should provide a primary page heading (h1 tag) in another section with h1 option (rich text, image banner, slideshow, video) for SEO purposes.”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_search_input”,
“label”: “Show the search box”,
“info”: “You could hide this in favor of using the search box in the Header.”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “select”,
“id”: “heading_align”,
“label”: “Alignment”,
“options”: [
{
“value”: “text-start”,
“label”: “Left”
},
{
“value”: “text-center”,
“label”: “Center”
},
{
“value”: “text-end”,
“label”: “Right”
}
],
“default”: “text-center”
},
{
“type”: “header”,
“content”: “Layout”
},
{
“type”: “range”,
“id”: “products_per_page”,
“min”: 8,
“max”: 50,
“step”: 1,
“label”: “Results per page”,
“default”: 16
},
{
“type”: “select”,
“id”: “card_size”,
“label”: “Card size”,
“options”: [
{
“value”: “small”,
“label”: “Small”
},
{
“value”: “medium”,
“label”: “Medium”
},
{
“value”: “large”,
“label”: “Large”
}
],
“default”: “medium”
},
{
“type”: “header”,
“content”: “Toolbar”
},
{
“type”: “paragraph”,
“content”: “The Compare toggle can be disabled in "Theme Settings > Product Compare".”
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_layout_toggle”,
“label”: “Show grid/list layout buttons”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “header”,
“content”: “Filtering”
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “enable_filtering”,
“label”: “Enable filtering”,
“info”: “Customize filters”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “filters_open_lg”,
“label”: “Open filters by default on large screens”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “stick_on_scroll”,
“label”: “Stick on scroll on large screens”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_filter_counts”,
“label”: “Show product counts”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “expand_filters”,
“label”: “Expand all filters by default”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “range”,
“id”: “max_filter_options”,
“label”: “Visible options per filter”,
“info”: “Remaining options will be automatically collapsed.”,
“min”: 2,
“max”: 50,
“step”: 1,
“default”: 7
},
{
“type”: “header”,
“content”: “Sorting”
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “enable_sorting”,
“label”: “Enable sorting”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “sort_first”,
“label”: “Show the sort options first on mobile”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “header”,
“content”: “Blog cards”
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_article_featured_image”,
“label”: “Show featured image”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_article_tags”,
“label”: “Show tags”,
“default”: false
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_article_excerpt”,
“label”: “Show excerpt”,
“default”: false
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_article_author”,
“label”: “Show author”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_article_date”,
“label”: “Show published date”,
“default”: true
},
{
“type”: “header”,
“content”: “Page cards”
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_page_date”,
“default”: true,
“label”: “Show date”
},
{
“type”: “checkbox”,
“id”: “show_page_excerpt”,
“default”: true,
“label”: “Show an excerpt of page content”
}
]
}
{% endschema %}

[Steesh]

Thanks for this comprehensive solution Shubham. Could you elaborate on where to put the code

in main-search.liquid? I’ve tried putting before the start the file, then at the start of the scheme code butmy results are still showing in predictive and paginated search. Many thanks.

[macky29]

Hi! I needed the same thing. What I did was manage my sales channels. I deselected “online store” and kept google and facebook. Now it is off my website search but still on google. This seems to be an easy solution that did require code. Maybe this will help you. It is so simple I wonder if I am missing something here?