Hi there! Is there any way to get the Shopify search to bring up products based on metafields? I hold particular custom product information in metafields but when searching the store this information doesn’t bring up any results.
Thanks!
Topic summary
A user asks whether Shopify’s native search can index and return products based on metafield data, as their custom product information stored in metafields doesn’t appear in search results.
Proposed Solutions:
- One response suggests using storefront filtering (with links to Shopify documentation), though this addresses filtering rather than search indexing.
- A third-party app representative offers Searchanise as an alternative that supports metafield-based search.
- A community member clarifies that the Shopify Search and Discovery app controls default search but does not currently support metafield indexing, despite years of feature requests.
Current Status:
- Native metafield search remains unavailable without custom theme code modifications.
- A workaround involving theme code customization is referenced in a separate thread for those with coding knowledge.
- The issue remains unresolved through official Shopify features alone.
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Hey @sussexresearch
I believe this can be done with storefront filtering.
More info:
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/storefront-filters
https://shopify.dev/docs/themes/navigation-search/filtering/storefront-filtering
This is Stacy from the Searchanise Team, the app that provides professional search and filtering capabilities for Shopify stores.
If you are not against using third-party apps, you can search products based on metafields using our app.
Best,
Stacy
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For anyone else who stumbles across this thread in the future while looking for a solution:
The Shopify Search and Discovery app controls the default product search functionality (the search bar you will get on Horizon etc unless you add a 3rd party app).
There are requests for this feature going back multiple years but as of present it still has not been added.
It is possible to add it by modifying the theme code, but this is not something that can be done without knowing how to code at least somewhat.
I posted a “sketch” of a solution to get started with in a different thread here: Need some help with Metafields in Search and a Theme Code insertion - #21 by ri31
A saner path is to just use shopify-flow to mirror metafields to tags.
And or append to a product description like specifications chunk while avoiding looking like it’s trying to be keyword stuffing.
Sanest path is if needing more advanced features than what an introductory app will offer then pay for a better app or service.