/better-search

Better Search WordPress plugin

Primary LanguagePHP

Better Search - Supercharge your WordPress search results

Better Search WordPress Plugin

WordPress Plugin Version License WordPress Tested Required PHP Active installs

Requires: 5.9

Tested up to: 6.4

License: GPL-2.0+

Plugin page: Better Search | WordPress.org plugin page

Better Search replaces the default WordPress search with a better search engine that gives contextual results sorted by relevance

Description

Are you looking for a way to improve your WordPress site search and make it easier for your visitors to find what they need? If so, you need Better Search, the plugin that replaces the default WordPress search engine with a more powerful and relevant one.

Better Search is not just a simple search plugin. It is a complete solution that gives you full control over your site search results. You can customize the output, fine tune the relevance, search within different fields and post types, track the popular searches, and much more.

With Better Search, you can make your site search more user-friendly and engaging. You can display a "search heatmap" of the most popular searches on your site, either as a widget or a shortcode. You can also use your own template file and CSS styles to match your theme perfectly.

Better Search has its own caching system and is also compatible with caching plugins like WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache, so you don't have to worry about performance issues. It also has a profanity filter that lets you block unwanted words from search queries. And it is translation ready, so you can use it in any language.

Here are some of the main features of Better Search:

  • Automatic: Just activate the plugin and enjoy better search results right away
  • Seamless integration: No need to edit any code or create custom search templates
  • Relevance: Sort the results by relevance or date, and assign different weights to title and content
  • Control the results: Search within title, content, excerpt, meta fields, authors, tags and other taxonomies and comments
  • Popular searches: Show a heatmap of the most popular searches on your site, either as a widget or a shortcode
  • Customisation: Use your own template file and CSS styles for the ultimate look and feel
  • Supports cache plugins: Works seamlessly with caching plugins like WP-Super-Cache and W3 Total Cache
  • Profanity filter: Filter out any words that you don't want to appear in search queries
  • Translation ready: Use the plugin in any language

If you want to take your site search to the next level, download Better Search today and see the difference for yourself.

mySQL FULLTEXT indices

On activation, the plugin creates three mySQL FULLTEXT indices (or indexes) in the *_posts table. These are for post_content, post_title and (post_title,post_content). If you’re running a multisite installation, then this is created for each of the blogs on activation. All these indices occupy space in your mySQL database but are essential for the plugin to run.

Screenshots

General Options Better Search settings page - General Options.

For more screenshots visit the WordPress.org screenshots page

Installation

WordPress install (the easy way)

  1. Navigate to Plugins within your WordPress Admin Area

  2. Click "Add new" and in the search box enter "Better Search"

  3. Find the plugin in the list (usually the first result) and click "Install Now"

Manual install

  1. Download the plugin

  2. Extract the contents of better-search.zip to wp-content/plugins/ folder. You should get a folder called better-search.

  3. Activate the Plugin in WP-Admin.

  4. Go to Better Search to configure

Alternatively, search for Better Search from Plugins » Add New within your WordPress admin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check out the FAQ on the plugin page for a detailed list of questions and answers

If your question isn't listed there, please create a new post in the WordPress.org support forum. I monitor the forums regularly. If you're looking for more advanced paid support, please see details here.