Getting started with Nilead Search

TL;DR / Overview

Nilead Search is a flexible and powerful feature that allows you to quickly search, filter, and segment data across your website. Whether you're powering a blog, an eCommerce product catalog, or running advanced customer segmentation for CRM, Nilead Search helps you deliver fast and relevant results using smart indexing and optional ElasticSearch integration.

Prerequisites

• A Nilead account with access to the CMS, CRM, or eCommerce modules

• Basic understanding of your data structure (articles, products, contacts, etc.)

• Administrator permissions to configure indexing settings

• Optional: An active ElasticSearch endpoint (self-hosted or from providers like AWS, Elastic.co, Bonsai, etc.)

Walkthrough

What is Nilead Search?

Nilead Search is an integrated search system designed to support powerful and extensible filtering for different content types — from simple blog searches to complex product filtering and CRM segmentation.

Key benefits include:

• Fast full-text search and autocomplete

• Dynamic filters based on structured data

• Fuzzy matching and typo-tolerance

• Integration with ElasticSearch for advanced performance

Real-World Use Cases

1. Simple Text Search for Articles

Enable users to search for articles using keywords, even with slight typos or tone mark variations (especially useful for Vietnamese). Supports:

• Fuzzy matching

• Synonym handling

• Language-specific tokenization

2. Product Filters in eCommerce

Let users filter products by attributes like color, size, brand, price, or material. Nilead dynamically adjusts filter options based on the current category or collection.

For example: A filter panel on a "Shoes" category page will only show relevant sizes and colors available in the shoe category.

3. Data Relationships in Custom Extensions

You may have complex relationships, such as tours connected to places, which are linked to countries. Nilead Search can index and allow filtering across these layers efficiently.

Use Case: A travel agency filters all tours covering Japan, regardless of how many spots each tour visits.

4. Customer Segmentation

Marketing teams can segment users based on custom data like order history, form interactions, or CRM tags — all queryable via Nilead’s advanced filter engine.

How It Works: Behind the Scenes

Traditional SQL joins are slow for complex filtering. Nilead solves this by:

• Flattening data via post-processing

• Indexing structured + unstructured fields into ElasticSearch

• Querying the search index instead of live database joins

This gives near-instant search speeds even for tens of thousands of records.

Setup: Indexing Your Data

1. Enable Indexing

   • Navigate to Settings > Search in your admin panel.

   • Choose content types to index (e.g., Products, Articles, Contacts).

2. Map Fields

   • Specify which fields should be indexed (e.g., title, tags, attributes).

   • Optionally include custom extension fields.

3. Connect to ElasticSearch (Optional)

   • If enabled, configure your ElasticSearch endpoint.

   • Supported providers include:

     • Amazon Elasticsearch Service

     • Elastic co (the company that built ElasticSearch)

     • Bonsai.io

     • Qbox

     • Aiven

   • Or join Nilead’s self-hosted ElasticSearch beta (contact support).

4. Test Search & Filters

   • Use the preview tool to test results and performance.

   • Adjust relevancy weights or filter logic if needed.

🔒 Note: ElasticSearch is powerful but resource-intensive. Only enable if your project requires complex filtering or handles large datasets.

FAQs

1. Do I need ElasticSearch to use Nilead Search?

No. For smaller datasets or simpler use cases, Nilead’s built-in search works fine. ElasticSearch is only required for advanced or large-scale scenarios.

2. Can I filter based on related objects (e.g., Tours → Countries)?

Yes. Nilead's indexing system supports multi-level relationships, allowing you to flatten and search across nested objects.

3. How often is data re-indexed?

Data is re-indexed automatically on changes, or you can trigger manual re-indexing from the admin panel.

4. Can I customize search logic or ranking?

Yes. You can set field weights, enable fuzzy search, and write custom logic for filtering based on your business rules.

5. What if I want to use a different search engine?

Currently, ElasticSearch is the only supported engine. Custom integration may be possible — contact our team to discuss your needs.