Build a Searchable Catalog with Filters, Facets, and Semantic Search
The article discusses the creation of a searchable catalog that enhances user experience through features like autocomplete and typo tolerance. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining a smooth search flow as users refine their queries. The implementation utilizes PHP and Manticore as the search engine, allowing for easy setup and local running of the demo.
- ▪The demo showcases a small board-game catalog with advanced search functionalities.
- ▪Users can start with autocomplete and narrow their searches without needing to rewrite queries.
- ▪Manticore serves as the search engine, handling indexing, filtering, and semantic retrieval.
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Build a Searchable Catalog with Filters, Facets, and Semantic SearchSergey Nikolaev7 min read·Apr 30, 2026--ListenSharePress enter or click to view image in full sizeA search box is easy. A searchable catalog that keeps being useful after the first query is the harder part.That is the problem this demo takes on. It uses a small board-game catalog, but the shape of the problem is familiar: users type something half-remembered, misspell it, narrow by constraints, keep browsing, open a result, then want “more like this” without starting over. If your product has that flow, most of the work is not the UI polish.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Medium.
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