Live Search

Knowledge Base includes a live search feature that shows article suggestions in a dropdown as visitors type in the search form — no page reload needed. Results update in real time, support keyboard navigation, and include screen reader announcements for accessibility.

Go to Knowledge Base → Settings → Output → Search and make sure Enable live search is checked.

Default: Enabled

How it works

As soon as the visitor types in the KB search box, an AJAX request fetches matching articles and displays them in a dropdown below the input. Selecting a suggestion navigates directly to that article.

  • Keyboard navigation — use the arrow keys to move through suggestions and Enter to select.
  • Accessible — results are announced to screen readers via an ARIA live region.
  • Debounced — requests fire after a short pause while typing, not on every keystroke.

With Ask the Docs (Pro) turned on, suggestions still appear while typing. Pressing Enter with no suggestion highlighted asks the question instead of opening the search results.

When live search is enabled, Knowledge Base search forms tell Better SearchOpens in a new window not to add its own live search, so visitors see a single list of suggestions. Other search forms on your site keep Better Search’s live search.

This needs Better Search 4.5.0 or later. With older versions, both lists can appear under Knowledge Base search forms.

Using the search form

The search form can be placed anywhere using the [kbsearch] shortcode or the Knowledge Base Search block. Live search works with both.

[kbsearch]

See Knowledge Base Shortcodes for full shortcode options.

Multilingual sites

Live search uses WordPress queries to find published articles. How results follow the visitor’s language depends on your translation plugin:

  • WPML and Polylang — article selection relies on the translation plugin’s WordPress query filters and the language context available during the AJAX request. Knowledge Base does not send a separate WPML or Polylang language parameter. Check suggestions from each translated page on your site.
  • TranslatePress — from Knowledge Base 3.1.5, the search form sends the current TranslatePress language with its AJAX request. The response translates suggestion titles and converts article links to that language. This translates the returned results; it does not add a separate search index for translated text.

If suggestions use the wrong language, check your translation plugin’s configuration and confirm that the affected articles have translations.

See also

Was this article helpful?

Tagged:

Related Articles