Facets Aliases in Breadcrumbs

In FAS 19.3.1 we’ve introduced the display of Facet Aliases in the Breadcrumbs of the FAS response. They are also visible in the top left section of the Preview Pages for a navigation query, and in the Visual Merchandiser.

Feature

This functionality displays the facets' alias in the breadcrumb of FAS. This is now possible for triggered facets (usually visible on the preview page), it excludes facets based on categories.

The feature is available for aliases of numeric ranges, set/list ranges, multi-select mode included, and of conflated attributes. 

Implementation

This functionality is behind a feature switch, and can be enabled in the system.xml, feature toggle render-facets-aliases-in-breadcrumbs.

Example:

...
<node name="features">
<map>
<entry key="render-facets-aliases-in-breadcrumbs" value="true" />
</map>
</node>
...

In order to show aliases on the Detail or Compare view, facet maps need to be enabled.
This is done via the system configuration option.
In Merchandising Studio, on tab SYSTEM > Presentation, for "Detail settings" and "Compare settings", "Deliver facet map from last locations" should be "Yes" so that the aliases will be displayed.

Limitations

Aliases in breadcrumbs introduce an additional level of complexity, the criteria from the query are linked to the related attributes rather than the facets. This leads to the following limitations.

Triggered Facets Only

This feature can only be implemented for triggered facets.
The Lateral option for the facet should not be "Off" - it should be either "On" or "Multiselect" (where possible, as in the example below).

Technical Explanation

Non-triggered facets would require FAS to know the relationships between all facets and aliases for each query, impacting performance.
This adds the possibility of confusion as a selected alias can disappear on the next navigation step if the respective facet is not triggered.

Not available on Categories

The feature is not available for facets on categories.

Technical Explanation

FAS “hides” internally categories from the query that can’t be expanded. If aliases were made across multiple sub-categories, we would not be able to calculate correctly if they should be shown or not.

Aliases for the same range of the same attribute

If two subsets in a list/set attribute have different aliases, we will only show one of them when the subset is selected, regardless of which alias was selected on the navigation step.

Technical Explanation

The range is not directly related to the triggered facet when we process the query.
For example, if we have the following:

• facetA on set attribute clothing_type with range m,n,p has alias young adults
• facetB on set attribute clothing_type with range m,p,n has alias teenagers

then these two ranges are the same to FAS and only one alias can be shown (possibly young adults, as it was defined first).

Creation of different aliases on the same range and same attribute, should be avoided. Otherwise aliases in breadcrumb behaviour can be confusing to the user.

Not available for formatting set in the Facets page

This behaviour is not changed from previous versions of FAS.
The configured formatting for range under "Facets page", for the selected facet, will not show aliases in the breadcrumb. However, if you configure range formatting under the localization page, they will be shown.