How Search Results are Organized in FTD Florist Link
From FloristWiki
This information applies to FTD Mercury X2 Fall and later versions, Mercury Connect, or Mercury Direct 5.0 or later versions.
FTD Florist Link uses a multi-tier hierarchy for florist search results. Results in the window are displayed hierarchically as follows:
| Main Sort Criteria | Second Criteria | Third Criteria | Fourth Criteria | Fifth Criteria | Sixth Criteria | Seventh Criteria |
| Always Use Florist | Ad size in the printed FTD Florist Directory | ZIP/Postal Code (Florist is in ZIP/Postal Code being searched) | Special Listing & Red Ink | Special Listing | Red Ink | Book Order |
| Preferred Florist | Ad size in the printed FTD Florist Directory | ZIP/Postal Code (Florist is in ZIP/Postal Code being searched) | Special Listing & Red Ink | Special Listing | Red Ink | Book Order |
| Normal Florist | Ad size in the printed FTD Florist Directory | ZIP/Postal Code (Florist is in ZIP/Postal Code being searched) | Special Listing & Red Ink | Special Listing | Red Ink | Book Order |
| Also Serve | Ad size in the printed FTD Florist Directory | ZIP/Postal Code (Florist is in ZIP/Postal Code being searched) | Special Listing & Red Ink | Special Listing | Red Ink | Book Order |
| Do Not Use Florist | Ad size in the printed FTD Florist Directory | ZIP/Postal Code (Florist is in ZIP/Postal Code being searched) | Special Listing & Red Ink | Special Listing | Red Ink | Book Order |
What this means in practice is that if you mark a single florist in a city as Always Use, that florist will always be at the top of the that city's results list, regardless of their ad size, directory options, or book order. If you have multiple Always Use florists in a city, they will be shown together at the top of the list, ordered by the secondary sort criteria, and then tertiary and beyond. Likewise, if you have several Preferred florists, the sort will display that group together, with the florist with the largest ad listed first. If two of the preferred florists have the same ad size, the florist who has a special listing and red ink will be listed higher, and so on. Your preferred status for the florist is the main sort criteria for each of the groups.
Florists who also serve that city, but are not in that city, will follow the same hierarchy in the also serve by list, which is displayed below resident florists for the city. This means that all resident florists are displayed first in a list, by status and hierarchy, and then all also serve by florists are displayed, by status and hierarchy.
After Do Not Use Florists, the closest cities display by mileage and number of FTD florists.
Florists who match the ZIP/postal code used in search have their ZIP/postal codes displayed in blue.
