Only show "starts with" for relevant fields
Currently, the "starts with" functionality is only available for title searching. There are already some posts here about adding it for other fields, like call number and subject, which I support. This post is about the current behavior though. If I choose to search by another field, such as author/creator or subject, then the next dropdown allows me to choose "starts with" even though it's not available, and it immediately switches to a title search. I'd prefer that, if a user has selected a field other than Title, that "starts with" just wouldn't show up at all. If the task at hand is finding something by author, it doesn't make sense to switch the user to a title search. So if I've selected an author search, then I'd only have contains or is (exact) available in the next dropdown.

Thank you for this idea.
We are considering adding a tooltip to the "Starts with" search operator, rather than displaying it only for the "Title" field.
The tooltip will explain that this search option is available only for the "Title" field.
We believe that if we won't display this search operator at all for the other fields, the user will not know that this search option is possible, since the default search is usually done on the "Any" field.
Thanks
-
Manu Schwendener commented
NERS 8273, open for voting now.
-
Manu Schwendener commented
> And I don't think a tooltip would contribute much to a better user experience.
I agree.
Tooltips are not visible on mobile.
Also, the tooltip seems to have been rolled out by now, but only in English, and I don't remember having seen any information about it? -
Sarah Hartmann commented
Agreed! The current behaviour is very strange and not user friendly. And I don't think a tooltip would contribute much to a better user experience. Functions should only be displayed where they can be used, and it's confusing that Primo VE just changes the field selector when you choose the search type "starts with".
-
Manu Schwendener commented
By autumn 2023 also 'Starts with – Holding call number' should become possible (NERS 7986).
-
Manu Schwendener commented
> the default search is usually done on the "Any" field
I don't agree: patrons who only need the "Any" field have no reason to switch to advanced search.
Patrons who take the step to advanced search are looking for something they couldn't find with a search in the "Any" field.
-
Manu Schwendener commented
> We are considering adding a tooltip to the "Starts with" search operator,
> rather than displaying it only for the "Title" field.
> The tooltip will explain that this search option is available only for the "Title"
> field.This seems like a strange way of "solving" this to me, not least because tooltips are not visible on mobile.
We already use the workaround of rephrasing the label to inform our patrons about this.
'Starts with' should only be visible when it actually can be used.
-
Graham Fredrick commented
I agree; this is more of a bug and is baffling why this hasn't been corrected since 2017. The search interface should not give you options for ineligble categories.
-
Joe Montibello commented
I can't believe this has been a thing since 2017 and it still hasn't been fixed. This is not a good user experience at all.
-
Naomi Abraham commented
this should be a basic function and not an enhancement idea. We are having a lot of problems with searching subject headings because of the lack of this function. We are getting a lot of noise with results of sub subjects that are being retrieved. very important feature. Please vote!
-
excellent idea otherwise all the other "start with" very confusing
-
Manu Schwendener commented
Liverpool Hope University renamed 'starts with' to 'starts with (titles only)' as a temporary workaround
https://hope.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=44HOP_INST:VU1&lang=en&mode=advancedFor the pre-filters under the search field in simple search:
Configuration –> Discovery –> Labels –> Basic Search Pre-Filters LabelsFor advanced search:
Configuration –> Discovery –> Labels –> Search Tile LabelsFor multilingual Primo VEs: switch the language above the table, save each change before you go to the next language.
-
Anonymous commented
I agree. I want to see this change. It is very confusing the way it is now.
-
Manu Schwendener commented
> immediately switches to a title search
Also mentioned here
https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308176-primo/suggestions/16747642-add-starts-with-functionality-to-call-number-field -
Anonymous commented
Highly agree with this idea. We have only been live a couple of months and our users found this problem right away.
They hadn't realized what was happening at first since it is rather subtle when it changes to title!
If you didn't notice also - once the user chooses "starts with" then the other drop down menu no longer allows toggling between the choices, but still shows the arrow and it's unclear that you cannot change it.
Only when you switch the secondary dropdown to something else, besides "starts with" are you allow to switch the primary dropdown to author, subject, call number.
It's just very unclear and unusual behavior for related drop downs.
-Amy