Domain sorting and filtering

[rjsorto]

Is there a way to show only exact matches for domain names or at least sort the domain names to get the exact matches first then the rest (closest first of course) in the suggested domains area?

Also,

The suggestions I get from the enom provider usually includes many .bar domain names in the suggested domains.

The whmcs provider shows domains like whmcs.us as available, even shows sugestions of domains we already have registered and are active.

 

[brian!]

14 hours ago, rjsorto said:

Is there a way to show only exact matches for domain names or at least sort the domain names to get the exact matches first then the rest (closest first of course) in the suggested domains area?

the simplest way is to switch to using "Standard Whois" and that will only return the search term and specified alternate TLDs - it won't generate any suggestions.

https://docs.whmcs.com/Domain_Suggestions

AFAIK, there isn't a default method to use a lookup provider / namespinner without it creating suggestions - as that is it's purpose.

14 hours ago, rjsorto said:

The whmcs provider shows domains like whmcs.us as available, even shows suggestions of domains we already have registered and are active.

if you were to click on a domain result in that list that wasn't available, it would tell you so when you try to add it to the cart (and prevent you from adding it)... it's always worked this way since it was introduced.

[rjsorto]

Hi Brian.

I've been following your answers trough many posts, and you have helped in so many, and we all thank you for it.

25 minutes ago, brian! said:

the simplest way is to switch to using "Standard Whois" and that will only return the search term and specified alternate TLDs - it won't generate any suggestions.

https://docs.whmcs.com/Domain_Suggestions

Standard whois although it does not shows suggestions, shows more owned domains in the results.

26 minutes ago, brian! said:

AFAIK, there isn't a default method to use a lookup provider / namespinner without it creating suggestions - as that is it's purpose.

I'm not asking to removed it (if and option to hide them can't be implemented), maybe just to sort them from exact matches to the rest, a customer looking for a name is usually looking for that name and not for a lot of variations, if there was access to this specific code (I know it will never be), many people here would have twek it already.

27 minutes ago, brian! said:

if you were to click on a domain result in that list that wasn't available, it would tell you so when you try to add it to the cart (and prevent you from adding it)... it's always worked this way since it was introduced.

That defeats the purpose, owned domains should not show on results (unless, like in the previous versions of the lookup says is "unavailable"), you should not give a customer hopes just to tell them in the next step "Sorry, but actually, it wasn't available", otherwise is like they just add them directly to any cart and hope for the best.

I believe that a company that has gotten this far in this application development, could easily add some more options for this modules.

[WHMCS John]

Hi @rjsorto,

Namespinning engines do not check actual availability in real-time so as to provide fast suggestions. This is true of tools from eNom, ResellerClub, Verisign etc. We therefore added the check upon adding to cart to prevent users from adding unavailable domains to their cart.

The feedback we received from users is that faster loading results are more important than accuracy.

[rjsorto]

2 hours ago, WHMCS John said:

Hi @rjsorto,

Namespinning engines do not check actual availability in real-time so as to provide fast suggestions. This is true of tools from eNom, ResellerClub, Verisign etc. We therefore added the check upon adding to cart to prevent users from adding unavailable domains to their cart.

The feedback we received from users is that faster loading results are more important than accuracy.

Hi John.

Got it;

Then why don't add both as options so we have a choice between speed and reliability? Just a mix from the old look up with the new one.

And, what about sorting and / or hidding options? you control all the returned data from the providers, and I don't think it will be that dificult.

[WHMCS John]

Hi @rjsorto,

I can certainly see how implementing two systems for users to choose from is appealing. From an implementation PoV it's more nuanced. It would essentially double the amount of work we would be committing to for the life of the feature; double the work creating the two distinct logics, double the testing for every release, double the ongoing maintenance, and there is an after-sales support cost in the added complexity too.

Therefore before implementing any feature we carefully weigh up the cost to benefit ratio when making decisions about how new features operate.

That said, we like to be responsive to user feedback, so if there is a demonstrable demand for change which tips the equation in favour of the benefit side (via the feature request system, here on the community, or from our in-person conversions with users) then we can certainly consider it for the future.

I hope that provides a little more insight into the decision making process we follow 🙂