Searching by custom field

Alex

Is there a way to search inventory based on a custom field? We have a custom field called author where we add the author of a book. We like to search all products that match a certain author..is that possible?

josephmckeown

Hi Alex! Custom Fields are currently not searchable. Their primary function is to give additional information when looking at a product's page or customer's page.

A few workarounds you could use are: including the author's name in the product Description, or creating a Tag for the author's name, e.g.: sirarthurconandoyle, cslewis, to search by Tags.

ckinman

"currently". Does this mean they may in the future be available on reports or searchable. This would be a great benefit.

wocruc

I also wish the custom fields were searchable and also reportable. They are of little use in their current state.

Gabriel Givens

Hello Ckinman, Wocruc,

Currently custom fields are 100% cosemtic. I don't know if development is underway to improve this at this time. However if there is information you need to be searchable...let us know what kind of information that is, and we MAY have a possible workaround for you.

Brad

Hello, all! We totally agree that making Custom Fields searchable and reportable would increase their usefulness. However, there are a few under-the-hood changes we have to make before we can really tackle this as part of our roadmap. It is on our radar, and we do intend to enhance their functionality when we can. Stay tuned!

Brad Malmberg
Dir, Product Mgmt

Chrochrodile

Hello,
I'm wondering if it's possible now to search by custom field.

gregarican

@Chrochrodile not at present. My only workaround for this gap is to utilize the API in pulling custom reports that can include custom field values in either the search criteria or the reporting result set.