Need your own custom module just like this Drupal 10 – 11 / Solr Search Module or a similar implementation? contact us!
Search Module Development for De Plate Digital Archive
Overview
The Royal Heritage Association De Plate (Koninklijke Heemkundige Kring De Plate) required a powerful, user-friendly search solution for their extensive digital archive containing over 196,000 historical documents. We developed a custom Drupal 10 module that integrates seamlessly with Apache Solr 9 to provide lightning-fast search capabilities with advanced autocomplete functionality. The solution was built with a focus on the Dutch language, incorporating synonym handling, spelling suggestions, and proper stemming for optimal search results. Our custom JavaScript component extends the standard jQuery UI autocomplete widget with infinite scrolling and dynamic content type filtering, allowing users to efficiently navigate through large result sets. The architecture follows modern development practices with a clean separation between frontend and backend components, ensuring maintainability and scalability. The entire system runs on an affordable Ubuntu 24.04 server infrastructure with SSD storage for optimal performance. This solution transforms how researchers, historians, and the general public can discover and access Ostend’s rich cultural heritage.
Key Features
- Infinite Scroll Autocomplete – Seamless loading of search results in batches of 15 items, eliminating pagination friction
- Content Type Filtering – Dynamic checkbox filters allowing users to search across 13 different content types
- Select/Deselect All Toggle – Quick toggle to enable or disable all content type filters at once
- “Did You Mean…?” Suggestions – Intelligent spelling corrections powered by a Dutch word list
- Clickable Authors & Keywords – Direct navigation to related content through interactive metadata links
- Dutch Synonym Support – Expanded search results through synonym mapping (e.g., kursaal → casino)
- Dutch Language Analysis – Proper stemming and text analysis optimized for the Dutch language
- Special Character Handling – Robust escaping of special characters (/, ., -) for accurate searches
- LocalStorage Preferences – Persistent filter settings across browser sessions
- Full-Text Indexing – Comprehensive indexing of titles, descriptions, keywords, authors, and location identifiers
- Real-time AJAX Search – Instant results as users type, with responsive JSON communication
- Mobile Responsive Design – Fully functional on all devices through Bootstrap 5 integration
© 2025 100IT Services – Custom Module Development