Algolia works entirely based on Indexes. To get our content searchable, we need to configure our indexes for the content. SearchPlus makes this a breeze.
What's an Index? An Index is just a searchable set of items in Algolia. Each item in an index is called an object by Algolia, but can be any craft element from our point of view.
For each index, we need to assign where the content is coming from on the Craft side, and how it is mapped to something Algolia understands.
Creating Indexes is simple. In the SearchPlus CP pages, just click the + New Index button. You'll see a form like this :
Give your index an appropriate name, select the section you want to populate content from, and a mapping.
What's a Mapping? A mapping is just how we convert the Craft element into something Algolia understands. It accepts any valid json blob, so we map our elements to nicely formatted json before sending it over.
With the index created, we now need to populate our content from Craft into it. From the Index Options the index will be in an unpopulated state. Just click the Populate Index button to start the population process. How long this takes will vary depending on the amount of content there is to populated. During population, you'll see a UI like this :
After initial index population, you'll only need to follow this process again if your content schema changes. ie, you add new fields to the content. During normal usage, SearchPlus will automatically keep the indexes up to date with any new content or changes.
When this is done, you should see the index status as Index Up-to-date. That's all there is to it.
With the index populated, you might want to repeat this step for any further indexes you need for the site. With these setup go back to the quickstart guide for the next steps.