Chapter 9: Settings¶

Configure your app settings and preferences to optimize search functionality.

Settings Interface

Overview¶

The Settings page allows you to configure core search behavior, product display options, currency settings, customer groups, filters, and indexing preferences.

Main Functions:

Configure product display options and pricing
Manage currencies and exchange rates
Set up customer groups and guest access
Configure filter selectors and behavior
Adjust search parameters and sorting
Enable semantic search and automatic indexing

Interface Elements¶

Header Section¶

Navigation:

← Back to Dashboard - Return to main dashboard
🔄 Reset to Default - Restore all settings to default values
🔄 Sync from BigCommerce - Update settings from BigCommerce store
Save Settings - Apply current configuration

Products Section¶

Product Display Settings¶

Checkbox Options:

✅ Original price included tax - Show tax-inclusive prices
✅ Show price including tax - Display prices with tax included
✅ Show both tax and non-tax price - Display both tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive prices
✅ Show retail price - Display manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP)
✅ Show out of stock badge - Mark out-of-stock products with badges
✅ Show add to cart button - Include "Add to Cart" buttons in search results
⬜ Show compare button - Enable product comparison functionality
⬜ Show quick view button - Add quick preview buttons for products

Purpose:

Control what product information appears in search results
Customize pricing display for different customer types
Enable or disable interactive buttons on product listings

Currencies Section¶

Currency Settings¶

Add Currency Button:

+ Add Currency - Add new currency support

Currency Table Columns:

Code - Currency code (e.g., USD, GBP)
Symbol - Currency symbol ($, £)
Position - Symbol position (Left/Right)
Decimal Point - Decimal separator (. or ,)
Thousands Sep - Thousands separator (, or .)
Decimal Places - Number of decimal places (usually 2)
Default - Set as default currency (checkbox)
Exchange Rate - Conversion rate to base currency
Actions - 🗑️ Delete currency

Current Currencies:

USD - US - Default currency ($, Left position, 1.000000000 rate)
GBP - Pound - Secondary currency (£, Right position, 0.828700000 rate)

Purpose:

Support multiple currencies for international customers
Configure currency display format and positioning
Set exchange rates for accurate pricing conversion

💡 Sync Currency

Use "Sync from BigCommerce" button to automatically import currencies already configured in your BigCommerce store settings.

Customer & Customer Groups Section¶

Guest Customer Configuration¶

Guest Customer Group ID:

Field: Numeric input (default: 0)
Description: Customer group ID for guest shoppers (default: 0)
Purpose: Define which customer group non-logged-in visitors belong to

Customer Groups Table¶

Synced from BigCommerce indicator shows data source

Table Columns:

ID - Customer group identifier (e.g., 0)
Name - Group name (e.g., "Guest")
Default - Whether this is the default group (-)
Guest Group - Marked as guest group (👤 Guest icon)

Info Note:

💡 Sync Customer Groups

Customer groups are managed in BigCommerce admin panel. Use "Sync from BigCommerce" button to update this list from your store settings.

Purpose:

Configure customer group access and pricing
Set default group for guest customers
Sync customer group data from BigCommerce

Filters Section¶

Filters container selector:

Field: Text input with default values
Value: #faceted-search-container, papasearch-sidebar
Purpose: CSS selectors for where filters appear on storefront

Products container selector:

Field: Text input with default values
Value: #product-listing-container, papasearch-content
Purpose: CSS selectors for where search results appear

⬜ Ajax category link:

Checkbox: Enable AJAX category navigation
Purpose: Load category pages without full page reload when selecting category in filter
Benefits: Faster category browsing, maintains current page state
Limitation: Category descriptions and widgets may not update since the app only controls product display

📝 AJAX Category Navigation

Enable this feature if you want category links in filters to load corresponding products without refreshing the entire page. However, category descriptions may not update because the app only controls product display, not widgets and other category-related sections.

Purpose:

Define where filters and products display on your theme
Enable smooth category navigation without page refreshes
Integrate with existing theme structure

Search Section¶

Search Configuration¶

⬜ Disable Search:

Checkbox: Turn off PapaSearch on the storefront
Purpose: Return your store to BigCommerce's original search behavior without uninstalling the app

Default products per page limit:

Field: Numeric input (default: 24)
Purpose: Number of products shown per page in search results and category listings

Product listing default sort:

Dropdown: Sort order options
Default: "Relevance"
Options: Relevance, Best Selling, Newest, Oldest, Price: Low to High, Price: High to Low, Name: A to Z, Name: Z to A
Purpose: How products are ordered when shoppers browse category or brand pages without a search query

Search results default sort:

Dropdown: Same options as above
Default: "Relevance"
Purpose: How products are ordered when shoppers do enter a search query, on any page

📝 Two separate sort settings

Browsing and searching are configured independently. A common setup is Best Selling for category browsing and Relevance for search results.

📊 About Best Selling

Best Selling uses each product's lifetime total sold, refreshed periodically. It may lag very recent orders and does not account for refunds.

Semantic match threshold (only works when semantic search enabled):

Field: Numeric input (default: 1.5)
Range: 0.1 to 3.0
Purpose: How closely a product must match the meaning of a search to be included on that basis alone
Lower values: Add more loosely related products
Higher values: Add only very close matches

⚠️ This setting only affects meaning-based matching

Products found by keyword, SKU or brand are never removed by this setting. Raising the threshold narrows the extra products that semantic search contributes; it does not hide products that matched the words the shopper typed.

Checkbox Options:

⬜ Redirect search page - Redirect shoppers from BigCommerce's default search page to the PapaSearch results interface, so every search uses the enhanced results
⬜ Suggest products when searching - Show instant product suggestions and autocomplete as shoppers type

Excluded query parameters:

Field: Comma-separated list of parameter names
Purpose: Strip tracking and unrelated URL parameters before they reach search and filter requests
Example: section,setCurrencyId,utm_source,utm_medium,utm_campaign,utm_content,utm_term

Purpose:

Control search result display and ordering
Tune how much meaning-based matching contributes
Enable additional search features like suggestions

Indexing Section¶

Semantic Search¶

Enable semantic search:

✅ Checkbox: Enable AI-powered semantic search
Purpose: Understand search intent and meaning, not just keywords
Benefits: Better results for natural language queries, multilingual support, spelling error tolerance
Features: Handles typos, synonyms, different languages, and contextual understanding

🤖 Semantic Search Examples

Spelling Errors: "laptp" → finds "laptop"
Synonyms: "mobile phone" → finds "smartphone", "cell phone"
Multilingual: "téléphone" (French) → finds "phone" products
Context: "red dress for party" → understands style and occasion

Webhook Management¶

Enable hooks to update when products/categories change (includes inventory updates):

⬜ Checkbox: Automatic sync when BigCommerce data changes
Description: "Creates 15 webhooks: 5 for products (including inventory), 6 for categories (global + channel-specific), and 4 for product assignments. Click 'Save Settings' to install webhooks automatically."

Webhook Status Tables:

📦 Products (0/5 (0%)):

store/product/created - Product created - ❌ Not installed
store/product/updated - Product updated - ❌ Not installed
store/product/deleted - Product deleted - ❌ Not installed
store/product/inventory/updated - Product inventory updated - ❌ Not installed
store/product/inventory/order/updated - Product inventory updated by order - ❌ Not installed

📁 Categories (0/6 (0%)):

store/category/created - Category created (global) - ❌ Not installed
store/category/updated - Category updated (global) - ❌ Not installed
store/category/deleted - Category deleted (global) - ❌ Not installed
store/channel/1/category/created - Category created (channel 1) - ❌ Not installed
store/channel/1/category/updated - Category updated (channel 1) - ❌ Not installed
store/channel/1/category/deleted - Category deleted (channel 1) - ❌ Not installed

🔗 Product Assignments (0/4 (0%)):

store/channel/1/product/assigned - Product assigned to channel 1 - ❌ Not installed
store/channel/1/product/unassigned - Product unassigned from channel 1 - ❌ Not installed
store/channel/1/category/product/assigned - Product assigned to category (channel 1) - ❌ Not installed
store/channel/1/category/product/unassigned - Product unassigned from category (channel 1) - ❌ Not installed

Auto Update Settings¶

Auto check update interval:

Dropdown: Update frequency options
Default: "1 hour"
Options: Disabled, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 1 day
Purpose: How often the app checks BigCommerce for products changed since the last sync

⚠️ 'Disabled' turns off scheduled checking

Disabled is the first option in the list, not the fastest one. Choosing it means the app only updates when a webhook arrives. If a webhook is ever missed, those products stay stale until you re-index manually. Leave webhooks enabled if you select Disabled.

Purpose:

Enable automatic product and category synchronization
Monitor webhook installation status
Set fallback update intervals for data freshness

Settings Operations¶

Save Settings¶

Configure desired options in each section
Click Save Settings button in header
Settings are applied immediately
Webhooks are automatically installed if enabled

Reset to Default¶

Click 🔄 Reset to Default button in header
Confirm action in warning dialog
All settings return to recommended defaults
You will need to reconfigure custom settings

Sync from BigCommerce¶

Click 🔄 Sync from BigCommerce button in header
Updates customer groups, currencies, and other BigCommerce data
Ensures settings match your current BigCommerce configuration

⚠️ Important

Changes are applied immediately. Review settings carefully before saving.

Recommended Settings¶

New Store Setup:¶

Enable semantic search: ✅ For better search understanding
Products per page: 24 (good balance)
Product listing default sort: Best Selling
Search results default sort: Relevance
Semantic match threshold: 1.5 (balanced relevance)
Enable webhooks: ✅ For automatic updates

High-Traffic Stores:¶

Enable webhooks: ✅ For real-time updates
Auto check interval: 1-3 hours
Products per page: 12-18 (faster loading)
Semantic match threshold: 1.0-1.2 (more loosely related products)

B2B Stores:¶

Show both tax and non-tax price: ✅
Customer groups: Configure for wholesale vs retail
Products per page: 24-48 (comparison shopping)
Product listing default sort: Name: A to Z
Search results default sort: Relevance

Troubleshooting¶

Webhooks Not Installing¶

Problem: Red "❌ Not installed" status after saving
Solution: Check BigCommerce API permissions, try saving settings again
Alternative: Use auto check update interval as fallback

Search Results Not Updating¶

Problem: New products don't appear in search
Solution: Enable webhooks or reduce auto check update interval
Check: Verify semantic search is working properly

Filter Display Issues¶

Problem: Filters not appearing correctly
Solution: Update filter container selectors to match your theme
Help: Contact support for theme-specific selector assistance

Currency Conversion Problems¶

Problem: Incorrect pricing in different currencies
Solution: Update exchange rates, verify decimal places and separators
Check: Ensure BigCommerce currency settings match app settings

Next Chapter: Plans & Pricing - Understand subscription options and manage billing.

Chapter 9: Settings¶

Overview¶

Interface Elements¶

Header Section¶

Products Section¶

Product Display Settings¶

Currencies Section¶

Currency Settings¶

Customer & Customer Groups Section¶

Guest Customer Configuration¶

Customer Groups Table¶

Filters Section¶

Filter Container Selectors¶

Search Section¶

Search Configuration¶

Indexing Section¶

Semantic Search¶

Webhook Management¶

Auto Update Settings¶

Settings Operations¶

Save Settings¶

Reset to Default¶

Sync from BigCommerce¶

Recommended Settings¶

New Store Setup:¶

High-Traffic Stores:¶

B2B Stores:¶

Troubleshooting¶

Webhooks Not Installing¶

Search Results Not Updating¶

Filter Display Issues¶

Currency Conversion Problems¶