Search API is one of the great things about Drupal. The ability to take any of your content and map its fields, run it through processors, and add boosts allows for crafting a powerful search all from the Drupal interface. Then comes configuring the search experience itself from setting up facets, to rearranging the pager/sort/per page fields, to configuring field displays, to trying to get Ajax to work. I’ve spent hours upon hours trying to get everything working, looking correct, and working correctly. After much struggling I usually get something working but I always leave thinking surely there's a better way. Especially when I show it to site owners who comment that what I did build doesn’t feel modern, that it’s too slow, that the typeahead doesn’t feel right, that the date facet is hard to use, etc.

The fact of the matter is Drupal Search API is great but views and facets struggle to create the experience that site owners and users expect from a modern search experience.

No worry though there’s a solution to our problem! Javascript! Leveraging Search API, custom web components, Drupal, and a little bit of javascript we can create a truly modern search experience that seamlessly integrates into any Drupal site.

In this session, we’ll cover

Why decoupling search makes sense
The general architecture of a decoupled search
Important considerations when connecting all the moving pieces of a search page
A working demo of the search_web_components module

Kyle Einecker
Founder & Principal @ True Summit

https://www.midcamp.org/2024/topic-proposal/time-decouple-your-search-now