Search redirects, introduced in Better Search Pro 4.4.0, send visitors straight to a specific post, page or URL when they search for a matching keyword — before the search results page loads. Redirected searches are still recorded in your search statistics. Enabling search redirects Adding a redirect rule Click Add redirect and fill in these...
Better Search works with WPML, Polylang, and TranslatePress to return results in the visitor’s active language. It resolves each result to its translation where one exists and keeps its caches separate per language, so results from one language are not shown in another. How Better Search handles languages The language logic lives in one class,...
What is Live Search? Live search, often called Ajax search, dynamically updates search results as users type into the search bar. This provides instant feedback, allowing users to find what they’re looking for without needing to submit the form or reload the page. Why Enable Live Search? Enabling live search improves the user experience by:...
What is “Did You Mean”? When a visitor’s search returns zero results — often because of a typo or misspelling — “Did You Mean” suggests a corrected search term instead of leaving them with an empty results page. Depending on the mode you choose, Better Search Pro either shows a clickable suggestion link or transparently...
The Popular Searches [Better Search] widget from Better Search displays a heatmap of searches made on your site. More popular terms appear larger and use the “hot” color, while less popular terms appear smaller and use the “cold” color. Each term links to the search results page for that query. Add the widget For example,...
Better Search uses MySQL Full-Text search to rank results by relevance. Here is how Better Search processes search queries, ranks posts, and calculates relevance. Overview of the Search Algorithm Recency weighting (Pro only) When Recency boost (%) is above 0 and results are ordered by relevance or relatedness, Better Search multiplies each raw relevance score...
The Better Search Tools page provides database diagnostics, cache controls, and maintenance utilities. Open Better Search → Tools to view it. Status The Status section reports the installed and current database versions, whether the popular-search tables exist, their estimated row counts and sizes, and whether the required FULLTEXT indexes are installed. It does not change...
The Performance tab in Better Search includes options designed to optimize how the search results are queried and displayed, especially for high-traffic or large sites. This section provides options for using custom database tables, caching, and fine-tuning query performance. Efficient Content Storage and Indexing (ECSI) Efficient Content Storage and Indexing (ECSI) is a Better Search...
Better Search Pro supports multisite search, enabling you to search across multiple WordPress sites within your network. This feature enhances search functionality for multisite installations, making it easier for users to find content distributed across different sites. Whether you’re managing a network of blogs, a portfolio of corporate websites, or a learning platform with multiple...
Better Search works out of the box. Install and activate it and you’re ready to go. By default, Better Search integrates with your theme by overriding the main query to display relevant search results. If you turn Seamless Mode off, then Better Search will look for a file called better-search-template.php in your current themes folder....
What is Fuzzy Search? Fuzzy search helps users find results even if their query contains typos, misspellings, or partial matches. By loosening the search criteria, fuzzy search improves accuracy and user satisfaction, especially for sites with a diverse audience or complex search terms. Why Use Fuzzy Search? This is ideal for e-commerce sites, educational resources,...
Better Search core plugin is hosted on WordPress.org. This makes installing it on your site just like any other plugin. WordPress install (The easy way) Manual install Installing via WP CLI If you’re using WP CLI, you can install and activate this plugin by running: wp plugin install better-search --activate This plugin can also be...
