Why are attributes like `status` and `tax_class_id` used in quick search by default?

Question

In a fresh installation of Magento the attributes status and tax_class_id have "Use in Quick Search = Yes" by default. I can't see any reason why these attributes should be searchable and I always have to go in and disable them.

Am I missing something or is this an oversight?

Answer 1

This is just my opinion, but I think they just forgot the attribute 'status' as searchable. I think at first they had a different approach for the 'status' field. they were planning to have the statuses manageable. I found this in mysql4-install-0.7.0.php of the catalog module :

    CREATE TABLE {$this->getTable('catalog_product_status')} (
      `status_id` tinyint(3) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment,
      `status_code` varchar(32) NOT NULL default '',
      PRIMARY KEY  (`status_id`)
    ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COMMENT='Available product statuses';
insert  into {$this->getTable('catalog_product_status')}(`status_id`,`status_code`) values (1,'Enabled'),(2,'Disabled'),(3,'Out-of-stock');

If you can have multiple statuses it makes a little sense to have them searchable. But later on they changed their minds. In mysql4-upgrade-0.7.4-0.7.5.php there is this:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS {$this->getTable('catalog_product_status')};

As for the tax class...is the same situation that the status was at the beginning. The tax classes are manageable, and it makes (a little) sense to let the customer search for something like 'free of tax' or 'taxable goods'. I don't know who would do it, but if he/she wants to, why not?

If you don't like it you can change the 'searchable' field and put on your 'to do list' to make it not searchable when starting a new project.