Posted by James Benson on 10/18/59 11:30

Not sure about the numbers but soundex could be useful

http://php.net/soundex



James


Chris W. Parker wrote:
> Hello,
>
> On my site right now if someone searches for "511" (a misspelling of the
> manufacturer 5.11) they are not presented with the right products
> because 511 is not found anywhere in the database.
>
> I've got a few ideas on how to solve this but I want to find one that
> requires as little administrative overhead as possible.
>
> 1. I could add a field to the db for each product that would be used for
> associated words for a product as well as misspellings.
>
> PROS: Very customizable on an individual product level.
> CONS: Would need to be updated for each and every product individually.
>
> 2. Make a field for each manufacturer's record for alternate
> spellings/keywords.
>
> PROS: Little administrative overhead.
> CONS: Is only manufacturer name based and could not account for specific
> products.
>
> 3. Both #1 and #2.
>
> PROS: Flexible.
> CONS: Lots of administrative overhead.
>
> 4. A one-to-many table that associates individual words with product
> skus. This one is pretty much the opposite of #1 with one key
> difference: the interface. It would be probably be easier to enter a
> desired word and then choose each sku from a multi-select dropdown than
> it would be to go from product to product entering one word at a time.
>
> 5. I'm not sure how this would be accomplished from a technical
> standpoint but it would be nice to have the program know that when
> someone types in "511" they really meant "5.11". Or (hopefully this
> isn't a bad example) if they type in "dessert" (as in cake and icecream)
> they really meant "desert" (as in snakes and sand).
>
> In my case that wouldn't be a bad assumption since our site will never
> contain the word desert unless it's a misspelling.
>
>
> What does everyone think? What other options are out there?
>
>
>
> Chris.

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