NorrCompetition Smart Search

Smart Search (Finder) integration package for NorrCompetition.

Overview

NorrCompetition Smart Search (pkg_ncfinder) integrates NorrCompetition with Joomla's high-performance Smart Search (com_finder) indexer. It enables fast, faceted full-text search across contests and participant entries with live indexing and custom taxonomy filters.

Package Architecture

The pkg_ncfinder package installs and automatically enables three specialized plugins:

Plugin	Group	Purpose
Competition - Finder (plg_competition_finder)	competition	Event listener that detects lifecycle changes in NorrCompetition (entry creation, moderation approval, status changes, trashing) and immediately updates the Smart Search index.
Smart Search - NorrCompetition Contests (plg_finder_nccontests)	finder	Indexer plugin that parses and indexes NorrCompetition contests, including titles, descriptions, categories, and metadata.
Smart Search - NorrCompetition Entries (plg_finder_ncentries)	finder	Indexer plugin that parses and indexes published entries, custom field values, contestants, and contest associations.

Indexing & Search Capabilities

• Indexed Content: Entry titles, descriptions, custom field text/values, contestant names, contest titles, and categories.

• Faceted Search & Taxonomies: Users can filter search results by Content Type (Contest, Entry), Category, Contest, and Author.

• Access Control: Respects Joomla ACL and NorrCompetition view permissions so unauthorized users cannot discover restricted entries or closed contests in search results.

Building & Updating the Index

To index your contests and entries for the first time or rebuild the index:

1. Joomla Administrator Panel: Navigate to Components > Smart Search > Index and click Index in the toolbar.

2. Command-Line Interface (CLI): You can run or schedule indexation via the Joomla CLI:

   php cli/joomla.php finder:index

All three plugins are automatically published upon package installation. Subsequent changes to contests and entries are synchronized in real time without requiring manual re-indexing.

One-Click Updates

The package includes a Download Key field configured in System > Update Sites or during installation, enabling automatic updates via the Joomla Extension Update system.