Do you want to add a taxonomies filter to your WordPress search?
Allowing users to search based on categories, tags, custom fields, and post types offers a great user experience. However, the default WordPress search is not very good or advanced enough to offer this feature.
In this article, we will show you how to add an Ajax powered taxonomies filter in WordPress search.
Why Use Ajax Taxonomies Filter in WordPress Search?
Ajax-powered search is faster and provides a better user experience than the default WordPress search function.
For example, a car dealership website may have custom taxonomies for different vehicle types, price ranges, models, and more. Ajax filters can help users find exactly what they need.
You can add similar search filters in WordPress and improve the user experience of your site. It also helps website administrators to organize their content, so that it could be easily found by users.
However, the default WordPress search is not that powerful and doesn’t offer filter content based on categories, tags, post types, product details, and more. If you use custom taxonomies on your site, the default search performs even worse.
This is where you’ll need a WordPress plugin to help you out. Let’s see how to add an Ajax taxonomies filter to WordPress search.
We’ll cover 2 methods in this article. The first method will help you show filters on the front end of your WordPress website. The second method will help you improve the default WordPress search and include taxonomies when searching posts and pages on your site.
Simply click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred section:
Method 1: Add Ajax Taxonomies to WordPress Search using SearchWP
You can add Ajax taxonomies to WordPress search by using SearchWP. It is the best search plugin for WordPress and makes it easy for users to find what they’re looking for on your website.
It goes beyond using just the content on your blog posts and pages to look up things. SearchWP uses custom fields, taxonomies, WooCommerce product attributes, text files, custom tables, and more.
Do note that SearchWP won’t show the taxonomies filters on the frontend of your website. However, it will include them in the search process and improve the default WordPress search.
First, you’ll need to visit the SearchWP website and sign up for an account. After that, you can download and install the plugin on your site. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you will need to go to SearchWP » Settings from the WordPress admin panel. From here, simply enter the license key, which you can easily find in your account area.
After that, you can go to SearchWP » Algorithm page from the WordPress dashboard.
Here, you can edit the search relevance for your website. For instance, you can increase weights for title, content, slug, and excerpt to help users find what they’re looking for.
To add taxonomies to the search relevance, you can click the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button.
Next, a new popup window will open.
You can click the Taxonomies dropdown menu and select whether you’d like to include categories, tags, formats, or all of them in the WordPress search.
After selecting the taxonomies, don’t forget to click the ‘Done’ button.
You should now see the taxonomies for your WordPress blog post search algorithm. You can use the slider to increase their relevance in WordPress searches.
You can also click the ‘Edit Rule’ button to determine what content can and cannot show up in the search results.
For instance, SearchWP will include all the categories on your website. You can remove categories from which you don’t want the content to show up or add multiple conditions to customize the search results.
Don’t forget to click the ‘Done’ button when finished.
You can now edit the search algorithm for your pages, media files, WooCommerce products, and more to show up in SearchWP.
Now, whenever a visitor searches for pages and posts on your website, SearchWP will include taxonomies during the search process.
You can use a free WordPress plugin like Search & Filter to add an Ajax taxonomies filter to your website. It is very easy to use and allows your users to search based on category, tag, custom taxonomy, post type, and more.
First, you will need to install and activate the Search & Filter WordPress plugin. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you can add a shortcode to show the Ajax taxonomies filter anywhere on your website.
For instance, you can enter the following shortcode to show the category and post-type dropdown filter:
In the screenshot above, you can see the taxonomies filter as checkboxes. Users can simply select categories from which they want to view posts and pages.
Do you want to add fuzzy search to your WordPress website?
WordPress fuzzy search helps users easily find the information they are looking for, even if they misspell or incorrectly enter their query. This improves the overall search experience and user engagement on your website.
In this article, we will show you how to easily add fuzzy search to your WordPress website.
What Is Fuzzy Search for WordPress?
Fuzzy search looks for partial matches for a search term, and if no exact matches are available, then it shows users the closest results.
This way, users can find the right content on your website even if they make typos in their search queries.
By default, all WordPress websites come with a basic search feature that only shows results for exact matches.
For instance, if a user misspells a term, no results will be shown, not even partial matches. This creates a bad search experience for users and often causes them to leave your site. You can see this in the image below.
This is where SearchWP comes in. It is the best WordPress search plugin on the market that automatically replaces the default search with a much better search feature.
Unlike the default WordPress search, SearchWP can use fuzzy search and look for matches in titles, excerpts, post or page content, products, custom fields, categories, tags, PDFs, and more.
For instance, if a user searches for ‘vintage furniture’ on your WordPress blog but misspells a word, then they will still be able to find your posts on this topic.
The image below shows the same misspelled search using the SearchWP plugin.
Note: We only recommend adding fuzzy search if you really consider it necessary. This is because partial matches can reduce the effectiveness of the search form on your website and display unwanted results, leading to user frustration.
That being said, let’s see how you can easily add fuzzy search to your WordPress website.
Upon activation, you need to visit the SearchWP » Settings page from the admin sidebar and then enter your license key into the required field. After that, click the ‘Activate’ button.
You can find the license key information in your account on the SearchWP website.
Now, the fuzzy search feature is not enabled in SearchWP by default.
However, you can easily turn it on by visiting the SearchWP » Settings page from the WordPress dashboard and scrolling down to the ‘General’ tab.
From here, simply toggle the switch next to the ‘Partial Matches’ option.
Doing so will enable the WordPress fuzzy search feature for your site, and your settings will be saved automatically.
Once that is done, you should review the other SearchWP settings. The plugin comes with a bunch of powerful options that allow you to customize search on your WordPress blog.
You can see them by going to SearchWP » Algorithm from the WordPress admin sidebar.
From here, you can assign weight to different search results. This tells SearchWP to consider some attributes as more important when displaying its search results.
You can also click on the ‘Sources & Settings’ button to select additional search areas. For instance, you can enable search for comments, products, and more instead of simply posts and pages.
SearchWP automatically replaces the default WordPress search. This means that if you have already added the WordPress Search block or widget to your website, then it will start using the SearchWP custom algorithm for results.
However, if you have not added a search form to your website yet, then you can do so by simply inserting the Search block or widget into any post, page, or sidebar area.
Head over tothe Appearance » Widgets page from the WordPress dashboard.
Here, click the add block ‘+’ button to find the Search block and add it to your sidebar. Then, don’t forget to click on the ‘Update’ button to store your settings.
However, if you are using a block theme, then it may not have a widget-ready area. In that case, you won’t see the Widgets screen under the Appearance menu.
Instead, you can use the full site editor to add the search block to your website. Simply go to the Appearance » Editor page to launch the editor.
Here, click the ‘+’ button and add the Search block to where you want to display the search form on your website.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘Update’ button to save your settings.
You can now visit your website and try out the new, more powerful search feature.
For example, you can see in the image below how the fuzzy search feature returns multiple relevant results from a misspelled query.
Bonus: Search by Category in WordPress to Improve User Experience
By adding fuzzy search, you make it easier for users to find relevant content, which makes your website more user-friendly and helpful for visitors.
Another way to make your website easier to navigate is by allowing users to search by category in WordPress.
Categories allow you to organize the content on your website in a more structured way. If you have a lot of blog posts on your site, then allowing users to search by category makes it easier for them to search within specific topic areas, such as travel.
If you have an online store, then adding a category search for products also makes it easier for customers to find the items they are interested in buying. In turn, this can help increase sales.
You can easily improve user experience by enabling the category search feature using the SearchWP plugin. This creates an interactive form where users can filter results using the different categories on your site.
Do you want to customize the search results page on your WordPress website?
The search results page can help users find the content they are looking for. Customizing it will improve the user experience on your site, which can lead to more page views and conversions.
In this article, we will show you how to easily customize the search results page in WordPress without writing any code.
Why Customize the WordPress Search Results Page?
By default, your WordPress website comes with a basic search feature. It allows users to look for content matching their search terms, but the search results are not very good.
Often, search terms return no results, even when there are possibly several matches that would answer the user’s query.
The search itself is also slow and requires a page load. If multiple users end up using the search feature at once, then this could slow down your website.
By customizing your search results page in WordPress, you can create a faster search system with a better user experience and more helpful search results.
Sounds good? Let’s get started.
Step 1: Setting Up SearchWP as Your WordPress Search Engine
SearchWP is the best WordPress search plugin on the market. It allows you to improve WordPress search by replacing it with a faster and more accurate search engine.
It automatically indexes your content in the background, which allows searches to run faster. You don’t need to replace the default WordPress search forms and templates.
Upon activation, you need to visit the SearchWP » Settings page and switch to the ‘License’ tab. Enter your plugin license key, which you can find in your account on the SearchWP website.
Next, you need to visit the SearchWP » Algorithm page to configure the search engine settings.
You will notice that SearchWP has set up a default search engine for you. It uses your WordPress posts, pages, and media as sources.
Under each source, you can adjust the sliders to give more relevance to one attribute than another.
Want to include more places on your website in search results? Just click on the ‘Sources & Settings’ button to add them.
For the sake of this tutorial, let’s add Comments as a search source.
After you click ‘Done’, a new tab will appear under the sources list. However, it will be empty, and to make it useful, you need to click on the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button.
This will bring up a popup where you can select which attributes you want to include in your search.
For instance, we picked Comment text as an attribute.
After adding an attribute, you can assign a weight to it in your search results.
More weight means that SearchWP will consider that attribute more relevant than other attributes when showing search results.
Just repeat the process if you need to add more attributes to a source.
Once you have finished reviewing search sources, you can go ahead and click on the ‘Save’ button.
SearchWP will now start building a search index based on your settings.
Once finished, you will see 100% as the Index Status.
The SearchWP engine will now automatically replace the default WordPress search. If you already have a search form on your website, then you can try it.
If you don’t have a search form on your website, then you can add one by visiting the Appearance » Widgets page.
Simply add the Search widget or block to your sidebar and click on the ‘Update’ button to save your changes.
Note: If your WordPress theme does not have any widget-ready areas, then you will not see the Widgets page under the Appearance menu.
Instead, you can add a Search block to your site by visiting the Appearance » Editor page.
This will launch the full site editor. You can add the Search block to any place where you want the search form to be displayed.
You can now visit your WordPress blog and try out your new and improved search feature.
Step 2: Creating Advanced Search Forms for Your WordPress Site
A plain search form looks okay and gets the job done. However, it is not very engaging, and users often don’t even notice it on a site.
SearchWP fixes this by allowing you to create highly useful and advanced search forms for your WordPress site.
Simply go to the SearchWP » Search Forms page and click the ‘Add New’ button.
On the next screen, click on the pencil icon next to the form name to give it a proper name.
This will help you recognize the form when you need to add it to your site later.
After that, you must choose a theme for your search form.
SearchWP comes with several options, including Basic, Category Search, Quick Search, Advanced, and Combined search forms.
Clicking on a theme will select it and show you a preview of what that search form would look like.
Simply pick a theme you would like to use for your search form and then scroll down to customize it.
From here, you can tweak the form settings, style your form, and choose colors.
Once you are finished, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.
Note that this custom form will not automatically replace your default WordPress search form.
Instead, you will need to manually embed it on your site. Simply go to the Appearance » Widgets page (or Appearance » Editor if your WordPress theme doesn’t have sidebars).
From here, you need to add the Search Form block to your widget area or template in the site editor.
After that, choose the form you just created from the dropdown menu inside the block.
You will then see a preview of your custom search form on the screen.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save’ or ‘Update’ button to store your changes.
Step 3: Adjusting the Search Results to Promote Important Content
Now that you have replaced the default WordPress search with SearchWP, it is time to look at how you can generate even better search results.
We will start by promoting important content in search results. These could be blog posts that bring you more revenue, sales pages, lead-generation landing pages, and more.
First, you need to visit the SearchWP » Extensions page and install the Custom Results Order extension.
Next, you need to visit the SearchWP » Statistics page.
Here, you can see which search terms or keywords are popular among your users.
Note: If you have just installed the plugin, then you may not have enough data here. You can wait for users to enter a few search terms to collect more data.
Now, look for the keywords where you want to promote a particular post and page in the search results.
After that, go to the SearchWP » Algorithm page and select the ‘Custom Results Order’ tab.
Enter the keyword for the post or page that you want to promote inside the search query box, then click the ‘Add Search Query’ button.
SearchWP will show you the results for that particular query. You need to select the content you want to promote and then click the ‘Promote to Top’ button.
Your selected post or page will now start appearing at the top for that particular search keyword.
You can always return to the same page and unpin that post or page from the top by clicking on the ‘Remove Promotion’ button or perhaps adding a different one.
Step 4: Exclude Content From WordPress Search Results
Sometimes, you may have content you don’t want to appear in search results. For instance, you might have a page promoting an expired sales event or an outdated blog post.
SearchWP allows you to easily exclude any post or page you don’t want to include in search results.
First, you need to visit the SearchWP » Extensions page and install the Exclude UI extension.
After activation, you can simply edit the post or page you want to exclude from search results.
In the ‘Post’ panel on the edit screen, you will now see an option to exclude that post from search results.
Simply check the box next to ‘Exclude from search’ and click on the ‘Update’ button to save your changes.
SearchWP will now stop showing that post or page in search results.
Step 5: Make Search Results Appear Instantly in WordPress
Normally, your SearchWP search results will appear using the theme template file provided by your WordPress theme.
But what if you could show the users the results as soon as they start typing? This feature is called live search, and you may have already seen it on search engines like Google and Bing.
Let’s add live search to your WordPress site to make search a better experience for your users.
First, you need to visit the SearchWP » Extensions page and install the Live Search extension.
Upon activation, the extension will start working automatically.
You can now go to your website and start typing keywords into a search form to see it in action.
Step 6: Search in More Places on Your WordPress Site
SearchWP can be configured to search in more places on your WordPress website. For instance, it can search in custom fields, PDF documents, shortcode outputs, and more.
Depending on where you want to enable search, you can turn these features on and off as needed.
Enable Search for WordPress Custom Fields
WordPress custom fields allow you to store additional metadata for your WordPress posts and pages. They are also used by WordPress plugins to store data related to a post or page.
To include custom fields in your search sources, just go to the SearchWP » Algorithm page and click the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button below a source.
This will bring up a popup where you can select a specific custom field or select any meta key.
Simply click on ‘Done’ when you are finished, and don’t forget to click the ‘Save Engines’ button.
SearchWP will now start using custom fields as a source and will include matching posts in the search results.
SearchWP can also search inside PDF files and office documents uploaded in your WordPress media library.
Simply go to the SearchWP » Algorithm page and click on your search engine’s ‘Sources & Settings’ button.
This will bring up a popup where you need to make sure that ‘Media’ is selected as one of the sources.
Then, click the ‘Done’ button.
After that, scroll down to the sources list on the Engine settings page to find the Media tab.
From here, you need to click on the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button.
This will bring up a popup where you can select which attributes you want to include in your search results.
Make sure that the Document Content, PDF metadata, and Title attributes are selected.
Simply click on the ‘Done’ button after making your selection.
Next, you can move the slider up and down to adjust the weight you want to give to a particular attribute in search results.
Once you are finished, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Engines’ button to save your settings.
Enable Search in Shortcode Outputs
Many WordPress plugins use shortcodes to output data in your WordPress posts and pages.
If this shortcode data is important for your WordPress website and will help improve search results, then you can enable Shortcode Output parsing in SearchWP.
Simply go to the SearchWP » Settings page and scroll towards the bottom. From here, you need to turn on the ‘Parse Shortcodes’ option.
After that, you just need to click the ‘Wake Up Indexer’ button to run a new indexing process in the background that will include shortcode output in search results.
Step 7: Include eCommerce in WordPress Search Results
SearchWP makes it super easy to improve eCommerce search results in your online store.
We will show you how to turn it on for your WooCommerce store. Other integrations work similarly as well.
First, you need to go to the SearchWP » Extensions page and install the WooCommerce Integration extension.
Upon activation, go to the SearchWP » Algorithm page.
Then, click on the ‘Sources & Settings’ button for your search engine.
This will bring up a popup where you need to ensure that the ‘Products’ option is selected as one of the sources.
After that, click on ‘Done’ to exit the popup.
Now, scroll down on the Sources screen, and you will see the Products tab.
You can adjust the attribute weight by moving the sliders or clicking on the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button to select custom fields or product categories.
Once finished, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Engines’ button to save your settings.
Do you want to improve your WordPress search with SearchWP?
By improving WordPress search, you can show your users the most relevant results to improve content discoverability and make more sales.
In this article, we’ll show you how to improve your WordPress search with SearchWP easily.
What is SearchWP?
SearchWP is the best custom search plugin for WordPress, used by over 30,000 websites. It lets you improve your WordPress site search to deliver more relevant results to your visitors.
This plugin puts you in complete control of your WordPress search algorithm. You can create your own relevance scale and adjust the algorithm without writing any code.
SearchWP also lets you make any part of your site searchable, including PDF documents, custom tables, ACF files, text files, custom fields, WooCommerce products, and more.
You also get access to detailed search metrics to see what your visitors are searching for and the types of content they’re finding.
This gives you actionable insights to improve your existing content and plan new content.
Plus, SearchWP automatically integrates with all major WordPress plugins like WooCommerce, bbPress, Meta box, Easy Digital Downloads, and more.
Beyond improving your default WordPress search, it has more features like redirection after a search is performed, excluding specific content from search, keyword stemming, support for multiple search engines, and more.
With that said, let’s show you how to set up SearchWP properly to improve your WordPress search.
Upon activation, you need to visit the Settings » SearchWP page and then click on the ‘License’ menu option.
Then, enter your license key in the ‘License’ box and click the ‘Activate’ button.
You can find this information in your account on the SearchWP website.
Once you’ve done that, you need to click on the ‘Engines’ menu option.
This brings you to a screen where you can set your search engine settings. Think of it like creating your own Google search algorithm for your website.
With SearchWP, you need to create a site-wide search engine before you can customize your search further.
You can adjust your search engine settings by clicking on the ‘Posts’, ‘Pages’, ‘Media’, or other available drop downs.
Every section has ‘Attribute Relevance’ sliders that change how the search engines value and rank content. For example, if you want to value the post title higher than the content, then you can adjust the slider accordingly.
After you’re done customizing your default search engine settings, make sure to click the ‘Save Engines’ button to create your first search engine.
Once the initial index is created, SearchWP will replace the default WordPress search with your new improved search. If your theme already has a search box, then you don’t need to make any changes.
If you don’t already have a search box on your website, then it’s easy to add one. Simply navigate to Appearance » Widgets and click the ‘+’ icon to bring up the widget block menu.
After that, type ’Search’ into the widget search box.
Then, select the ‘Search’ block.
This will insert a search form into your sidebar.
You can customize the title of your search form and add optional placeholder text if you prefer.
Make sure you click the ‘Update’ button to save your changes.
Now when your visitors use your search form, they’ll be using the improved SearchWP search.
There are all kinds of ways you can customize the search experience on your site with SearchWP, so let’s take a look at a few of them below.
How to Make PDF Files Searchable in WordPress
If you upload a lot of PDF content to your website, then you can allow your users to search the text in the PDF files to find what they’re looking for.
SearchWP quickly indexes the PDF content you’ve added to your media library and displays the files in search results.
To make sure your PDFs are searchable, go to SearchWP » Settings to bring you to the engines page.
Then, in the ‘Media’ section, you’ll find a slider called ‘Document Content’. You need to make sure this is enabled.
For some users, this option won’t be enabled yet.
To turn this on, click on the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button.
This brings up a popup where you can manage the attributes for how your media is searched.
Simply check the ‘Document Content’ box and then click ‘Done’.
Now, you can adjust the slider settings to give weight to your PDF content.
Then, make sure you click the ’Save Engines’ button.
Now, your visitors will be able to search through your PDF content and find relevant results.
When your visitors click the PDF result it will take them to a page where they can view the entire PDF document.
Add a Search By Category Feature to WordPress
If you have multiple categories of content on your WordPress website, then you might want to let users search for a single category at a time.
You can do this by adding a category select drop down to your search forms.
Another feature you’ve probably seen is live Ajax search, also called instant search. This adds a drop down autocomplete feature that’s common in search engines like Google.
Instant search helps your visitors to more quickly find what they’re looking for, which can keep them on your website longer.
SearchWP makes it easy to add this feature to your website.
Create a Custom Post Type Search Form in WordPress
With SearchWP, you can create all kinds of advanced search forms, like a custom post type search form.
To do this, you’ll create a separate search engine that only searches through a single post type. For example, here is a search form that will only search through coupon posts.
SearchWP is a very flexible and valuable WordPress search plugin. You can create completely custom WordPress search engines that deliver more relevant results for your visitors.
