How faceted search works in the directory

This page explains what facets are, how admins add them to a directory, and how members use them to find exactly who they’re looking for.

The short version

Facets are filters that let members narrow directory results to specific groups — for example, “show only members in Riverside” or “show only Herbalists.” Admins configure which fields become facets. Members select facet values to narrow the list; the URL updates so the filtered view can be bookmarked or shared.

How it works

Two-step admin setup

Adding facets to a directory requires two steps in the admin area:

Mark a field as facet-eligible — on the directory’s Fields tab, check Facet-filterable for the field you want to use as a filter. This makes the field available to use as a facet.
Activate the facet — on the Facets tab, add the eligible field as an active filter.

The split between “eligible” and “active” lets you make many fields facet-eligible without cluttering the directory with too many filters at once.

The type of field determines how the facet appears to members:

Field type	How the facet renders
Single-choice (radio button, dropdown)	Radio buttons or a dropdown — members pick one value
Multi-choice (checkboxes, tag multi-select)	Checkboxes — members can select multiple values at once
Numeric (number field)	Range slider or quartile-bucket selector

What members see

On the directory page, active facets appear in a panel on the left side (desktop) or in a Filters drawer (mobile). When a member selects a facet value:

The directory updates immediately to show only matching members.
The selected value appears as a dismissible chip in the active-filter bar above the results.
Count badges on each facet value update to show how many members match the current combination of filters.
Values that would yield zero results at the current combination are greyed out (but still visible, so members can see that they exist — they’re just temporarily empty).

Members can combine multiple facets and a keyword search at the same time. The results show the intersection — only members who match all the active conditions.

URL state

Every filter selection is encoded in the URL, so the current filtered view is:

Bookmarkable — members can save a link to come back to later.
Shareable — copying the URL and sending it to a colleague shows them the same filtered view.
Back-navigable — the browser’s back button restores the prior search state exactly.

Stale filter values

If an admin removes a field value that’s encoded in someone’s saved URL (for example, a tag that no longer exists), the URL still works but that particular filter is silently dropped. A warning appears — “One filter was removed — its value is no longer available” — with a link to clear the invalid filter. Other valid filters in the URL remain active.

Why it works this way

Facets work best when they’re based on fields with a defined set of values — like a “Profession” select field with options such as Gardener, Herbalist, and Beekeeper. A free-text field produces unpredictable facet values and is not useful as a facet. MapleGather surfaces a note when you mark a free-text field as facet-eligible to help admins make the right choice.

Greying zero-intersection values rather than hiding them is a deliberate choice. If a member has “Herbalist” selected and no Herbalists match the other active filters, they can still see “Herbalist (0)” in the facet panel and understand why their results are empty — rather than wondering if the option has disappeared.

Edge cases & boundaries

Keyword search and facets work together. When both are active, the results are the intersection of the keyword match and the facet match, with relevance ranking applied to the keyword portion.
Facets are optional — if no facets are configured, the facet panel doesn’t appear at all. The directory is still browsable and keyword-searchable.
Numeric facets require numeric field types. They are not available for text-based fields.