> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://support.storefront.co.za/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://support.storefront.co.za/release-notes/july-2025/new-solr-based-search-engine.md).

# New Solr-based Search Engine

**What is Solr-Based Search?**\
Solr is an open-source enterprise search platform built on Apache Lucene. It provides powerful full-text search, faceted navigation, real-time indexing, and distributed search capabilities, making it suitable for large-scale search and analytics applications. Solr is known for its reliability, scalability, and fault tolerance. 

### What does it mean for you?

 \
 1\. **Faster Search Performance**

* Near-instant results – Solr is optimised for speed and handles large search volumes with ease.
* Real-time indexing – Product and stock updates appear almost immediately in search.
* Offloaded search load – Solr runs independently from your database, improving overall site performance.

2\. **Smarter, More Relevant Results**

* Fuzzy matching & typo tolerance – Users find what they’re looking for, even with misspellings.
* Stemming & synonyms – Smarter recognition of related terms and word variations.
* Custom ranking – Prioritise what matters (e.g. in-stock items, product names, recency).                                                                                                                                                                                                                

3\. **Advanced Filtering**

* Multi-level facet filters with counts – Refine by brand, category, attributes, and more.
* Range filters – Price, date, and quantity filters now supported.
* Multi-select filters – Users can select multiple options per filter group.

4\. **Built for Scale**

* Supports millions of products and high traffic with horizontal scalability.
* Improved fault tolerance with built-in sharding and replication.

🛍️ **What will you need to do?**

Follow the steps below to enable and configure Solr Product Filters on your store.

#### **1. Activate Solr Product Filters**

1. Select the store you want to activate Solr on.
2. Go to **Manage Store Settings**.
3. In the settings menu, navigate to **Catalogue** → **Solr Product Filters**.
4. Enable **Solr Product Filtering**.
5. Turn on any specific filters you want to appear on your store’s filter pages.

#### **2. Compile Theme Changes**

1. In the left-hand menu, select **Theme**.
2. Click **Customize** on your currently published theme.
3. At the top of the customization page, select the **Advanced** tab.
4. In the bottom-right corner, click **Compile** and wait for the success message.
5. Once compiled, click **Save**.

#### **3. Clear Website Cache**

1. In the top-right corner of the screen, click the **!** icon inside a circle.
2. Select **Clear Global Cache**.

#### **4. Re-Index Products**

1. In the left-hand menu, scroll down and select **System**.
2. On the System page, click **Search Index**.
3. Use the drop-down menu to select the store you enabled Solr on.
4. Click **Index Products**.

#### **5. Refresh Your Storefront**

* Navigate to your store’s frontend.
* Perform a hard refresh:
  * **Windows:** Press `Ctrl + F5` or `Ctrl + R`
  * **Mac:** Press `Command + Shift + R`

{% embed url="<https://scribehow.com/embed/How_to_activate_Solr_Search__jh_7hr8XQA6tzybfCYJWXQ>" %}

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