Managing Search Synonyms

The Search Configuration tool lets you control how searches work on your Malet by setting up synonym groups — sets of words that should be treated as equivalent when Visitors search your catalog. For example, if someone searches for "sneakers," they'll also find results tagged as "shoes" or "footwear."

Accessing the Search Configuration

1. Navigate to /admin (the Admin Dashboard)
2. Click the Search tab in the navigation bar
3. The synonym management panel loads with your vertical tabs on the left and action cards on the right

Understanding Verticals

Your Malet operates in a specific vertical (industry category). Synonyms are organized by vertical so that search terms stay relevant to your context — for example, "session" in a Photography Malet means a photo shoot, not a web session.

Click a vertical tab to view and manage its synonyms. Each vertical starts with smart default synonyms that you can customize.

Adding a Synonym Group

1. Select the vertical you want to edit
2. In the Add form at the top, type the primary search term (e.g., "shoes")
3. In the synonyms field, type alternative terms separated by commas (e.g., "footwear, sneakers, boots")
4. Click + Add

Your new synonym group appears in the table below. Visitors searching for any of these terms will now find results matching all of them.

Editing a Synonym Group

1. Click the ✏️ Edit button on the row you want to change
2. Modify the comma-separated synonyms in the input field
3. Press Enter or click Save to apply changes
4. Click Cancel to discard

Deleting a Synonym Group

Click the 🗑️ Delete button on any row to remove the synonym group. The deletion is immediate — the group will be removed from the backend.

Applying Changes to the Search Index

After making changes to your synonym groups, click the ⚡ Apply Synonyms button in the right sidebar. This pushes all your synonym groups (across all verticals) to the live Meilisearch index.

A success banner shows how many groups were applied:

• ✅ X groups applied — your changes are now live

Index Reconciliation

The Index Reconciliation card shows the health of your search index — whether it's in sync with the source database.

What the Status Shows

• 🟢 Idle — No reconciliation is running
• 🟡 Running — A reconciliation is in progress
• Last run — When the last reconciliation completed
• +X added — New documents added to the index
• -X removed — Orphaned documents cleaned up
• =X synced — Documents already in sync
• ⏱ Xms — How long the reconciliation took

When to Trigger Reconciliation

Click 🔄 Trigger Reconciliation if:

• You've added or removed a large number of products/services
• Search results seem outdated or incomplete
• You've been notified of a data sync issue

The reconciliation process runs in the background and typically completes in a few seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do synonyms apply to all my Malets? Synonyms are a global platform setting — they apply to the entire search index. They're organized by vertical to keep relevance high within each industry category.

Q: Can I add synonyms to multiple verticals? Yes! Switch between vertical tabs to add industry-specific synonyms. Each vertical has its own isolated dictionary.

Q: Why didn't my synonym change show up in search results? You need to click ⚡ Apply Synonyms after making changes. This pushes the updated synonym map to the live search index.

Q: What happens if I add a synonym that conflicts with another vertical? Each vertical has its own dictionary, so "session" in Photography won't interfere with "session" in General or Wellness. Synonyms are scoped by vertical.

Q: Can I reset to the default synonyms? Currently there's no one-click reset. You can manually delete your custom groups — the defaults will be re-seeded the next time the search service restarts.