At a Glance
- Sub-100ms - search response times across the full species database
- 2,500+ species - indexed and instantly searchable
- 12 attributes - filterable taxonomic and ecological characteristics
- Scientists & agencies - serving researchers and Clean Water Act compliance teams
Lead Web Engineer responsible for building (via Solspace Inc.) a custom instant search system for Diatoms of North America, a scientific database serving environmental researchers, water quality analysts, and federal agencies monitoring ecosystem health under the Clean Water Act.
The project centered on one critical need: scientists needed to find specific diatom species instantly across a database of 2,500+ entries, filtering by complex taxonomic and ecological attributes without waiting for page reloads.
The Challenge
Diatoms of North America is a collaborative resource with over 200 contributing taxonomists documenting diatom species for environmental monitoring and research. Water quality analysts at federal, tribal, state, and local agencies use the database for Clean Water Act compliance and ecosystem health assessment.
Before this project, researchers faced workflow friction when searching the database:
- No real-time filtering across multiple taxonomic attributes
- Page reloads required for each search refinement
- Slow discovery process when narrowing down species by ecological characteristics
- Time lost repeatedly waiting for database queries
The previous platform couldn’t support the instant, multi-attribute search that working scientists needed.
What I Built
Vue.js-Powered Instant Search
I architected a custom search system that delivered results in under 100 milliseconds:
- JSON data sets pre-generated and cached for instant client-side filtering
- Vue.js frontend providing real-time results as users type and filter
- 12 filterable attributes covering taxonomy, morphology, and ecological indicators
- Optimized query caching eliminating repeated database hits
Technical Architecture
The solution combined server-side optimization with client-side speed:
- Craft CMS managing the species database with structured content types
- PHP backend generating optimized JSON datasets on content updates
- Vue.js consuming cached data for instant filtering and display
- AJAX architecture enabling seamless filter combinations without page reloads
Outcome
Scientists and water quality analysts can now find species in milliseconds instead of waiting for page loads. The search handles complex filter combinations across taxonomic classification, morphological features, habitat preferences, and environmental indicators, all without server round-trips.
The system continues to serve the Diatoms of North America community, supporting environmental research and Clean Water Act compliance work across federal, state, and local agencies.
Interested in Similar Work?
If you're looking for similar solutions or want to discuss your project, I'd be happy to help.