Having an efficient and helpful search is one of the backbones of nearly all web sites, ensuring that visitors will quickly find what they are looking for without leaving the site. For three years now, the Search API module has helped site builders to achieve that goal, and an increasing number of extension modules provides help for solving both common and more specific problems, from facetting to location filters. Furthermore, its feature-rich Views integration provides site builders with a powerful mechanism to completely customize their search pages, using a tool they already know.

In this session I will introduce you to that module and its potential. You will learn how to create amazing search solutions fitting for your site with only a few clicks, will be introduced to several extension modules which can help you further customize your site's search experience and will understand the basic model and concepts by which the Search API operates.
In addition, this session will highlight some of the user-facing changes in the upcoming Drupal 8 version of the module and explain where users can expect improvements, thus also providing important information for everyone trying to get a head-start in Drupal 8.

This session is an updated version of the Drupalcon Munich session Building amazing searches with Search API and Facet API, adding coverage of new developments and the Drupal 8 branch, and streamlining some sections to have more time for the discussion of extension modules.