# Search and filters

Chapter 13 of the Decant user guide.

## Collection and search pages

The **Collection** section shows the title, the description and, with **Show collection image**, the collection's image, then your products in a ruled grid with page numbers. From 990px wide the filters are a sidebar. Under that they're a drawer, opened by the **Filter** button. **Sort by** sits above the grid, and active filters show as removable pills. Filtering updates the results without reloading the page.

Chapter 4 lists the **Collection** and **Search** settings. As shoppers type in the search drawer, it shows matching products, collections, pages and articles.

## Filters need the Search & Discovery app

Filters come from Shopify's free **Search & Discovery** app. **Without it, or with no filters added, there's no Family filter**, even when every product has `custom.family`. Decant shows whatever filters the app provides, on every collection and on search results.

To add the **Family** filter:

1. Create the `custom.family` definition and fill it in on your products (chapter 7).
2. In admin, go to **Apps** and open **Search & Discovery**. If you haven't got it, install it from the Shopify App Store.
3. Click **Filters**, then **Add filter**.
4. Click the **Source** field and choose your Family product metafield.
5. Rename the filter if you like, then click **Save**.

Check **Enable filtering** is on in the **Collection** section, which it is by default. If a value doesn't appear after you've changed your products, allow 24 to 48 hours for Shopify to index it. To hurry it along, make a small edit to the product and save.

Shopify's limits:

* A store can have up to 25 filters.
* A filter shows up to 100 values on your store.
* Collections with more than 5,000 products don't display filters.
* A metafield filter works on these types: **Single line text**, **Single line text (List)**, **Decimal**, **Integer**, **True or false** and **Metaobject reference**. So `custom.family` and `custom.seasons` both work as filters.

If your products spell a family two ways ("Woody" and "Woods"), use **Create group** in the filter's values to show them as one, or better, fix the spelling so the finder matches too.

Other good filters for a perfume shop: **Seasons** (`custom.seasons`), your **Size** and **Concentration** options, **Availability** and **Price**. The same app sets the **complementary products** for Product recommendations (chapter 4).

## Links to a family

With the filter on, you can link straight to a family from a menu or a button. Add it to a collection's address: `/collections/all?filter.p.m.custom.family=Woody`. For two words, use `%20` for the space. To give each family its own page and description, make a collection for each one instead, and use those in your **Collections grid**.