search for: member_name

I want to be able to find items according to various params - category_id, member_id, type_id, rating, etc. What I have now is something like: if(@params[''category_id'']) @items=Item.find(:all, :conditions=>["category_id=?", @params[''category_id'']) elsif(@params[''category_id''] and @params[''member_id''])

...tutorial at http://railsenvy.com/2007/2/19/acts-as-ferret-tutorial and its given me some really good ideas. My problem lies in having AAF search the target Model''s child tables. I have no problem at all doing something like: acts_as_ferret :fields => [:title, :update_collection, :member_name] def member_name return "#{self.member.username}" end However when I try to query child tables like such... def update_collection self.place_updates.collect { |update| update.description }.join '' '' end I have no luck. I know the method...