How do I control when a Facet should be displayed?

Default Facet Display

By default, facets will display when there are items in the result set that have values for the facet.  When a result set does not have any items with values for a facet, that facet will not display.  For example, the following image displays search results and the color facet does not display.  This is because none of the results have a value for the color attribute.  Searching the same site for an item like "jacket" will display the color facet since the items in the results have values for the color attribute.

Conditional Facet Display Rules

In the configuration screen for a facet, the default setting can be overridden.  When the Always Visible switch is turned to Off, you need to specify the conditions that would have to be met for the facet to display.  A common use of this functionality is displaying facets that have a certain percentage of coverage.  It can also be used to control the display of a facet until another facet is selected. 

Example 1

The Rating facet below is set to only display when the % Coverage is equal or greater than 50%.  This means that the facet will display only when 50% or more of the items in the results have a value for the Rating attribute.

Example 2

The facet below is set to only display after a selection is made in the Department Facet.