Requires: 6.3
Tested up to: 6.7
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
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
- AJAX Live Search: Show search results as you type in any search form on your site
- 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.
Better Search Pro is the premium version of the plugin that offers even more features and functionality. With Better Search Pro, you can:
- Multisite search: Allow network admins to select specific sites for cross-network searches.
- Fuzzy search: Find results even if the search term is misspelt.
- Relevance threshold: Only show search results above a certain relevance threshold.
- Search the post slug: Include the post slug in the search results.
- REST API: Allow the REST API to utilize the Better Search when enabled.
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.
For more screenshots visit the WordPress.org screenshots page
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Navigate to Plugins within your WordPress Admin Area
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Click "Add new" and in the search box enter "Better Search"
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Find the plugin in the list (usually the first result) and click "Install Now"
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Download the plugin
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Extract the contents of better-search.zip to wp-content/plugins/ folder. You should get a folder called better-search.
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Activate the Plugin in WP-Admin.
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Go to Better Search to configure
Alternatively, search for Better Search from Plugins » Add New within your WordPress admin.
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. If you're looking for more advanced paid support, please see details here. Paid users receive support via email.
You can report security bugs through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program. The Patchstack team help validate, triage and handle any security vulnerabilities. Report a security vulnerability.