Layered navigation filter by product name

Question

In Magento 1.9 I would like to filter the products returned by the layered navigation. The collection should be filtered if the name contains a string passed through a parameter in the querystring, if present.

How can I achieve this results? Should I extend some layered navigation classes?

Answer 1

You cannot filter by names because Layer navigation only support attributes such as prices, drop-down or multi select.

Answer 2

You would have to write your own filter model that extends Mage_Catalog_Model_Layer_Filter_Abstract.

You can not use the core implementation for dropdown/multiselect attributes (Mage_Catalog_Model_Layer_Filter_Attribute) because it relies on the attribute index and exact matching.

To display the filter, you need to add a block that extends Mage_Catalog_Block_Layer_Filter_Abstract and rewrite Mage_Catalog_Block_Layer_View to include it.

Answer 3

This can be achieved by extending Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_List class.

This is my extended class

class Custom_Catalog_Block_Product_List extends Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_List{
    protected function _getProductCollection(){
        parent::_getProductCollection();
        $this->_productCollection->addAttributeToSelect(array('image', 'url_path'));
        // filter search string
        $q = Mage::app()->getRequest()->getParam('q');
        if($q){
            $this->_productCollection->addFieldToFilter('description', array('like' => '%' . $q . '%'));
        }

        return $this->_productCollection;
    }
}