Deliver an ultra-responsive search experience to your visitors — no page reloads, no jQuery, no lag. Init Live Search is a modern, lightweight, and fully accessible live search solution for WordPress — now with tag-aware matching, SEO metadata support, ACF integration, WooCommerce product filters, and customizable UI presets.

It replaces the default with a clean, intuitive search modal powered entirely by the WordPress REST API. Everything loads in real-time — with zero disruption to browsing flow.

Perfect for content-heavy blogs, WooCommerce stores, or even headless sites. Every interaction is fast, fluid, and designed to work across devices.

This plugin is part of the Init Plugin Suite — a collection of minimalist, fast, and developer-focused tools for WordPress.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/brokensmile2103/init-live-search

What’s New in Version 1.7.x

Cross-site Search: merge results from multiple Init Live Search-enabled sites
- Just enter Site Name|https://example.com/ — no auth or CORS needed
- Automatically tags results by site (e.g. “Init Docs”)
- Now disables single-word fallback on both local and remote sites for cleaner relevance
WooCommerce Slash Commands: major expansion for store owners
- New: /brand, /attribute, /variation, and /coupon
- /coupon shows active coupons with usage and expiration info
- Improved /price with optional sort / rsort
- Fully supports custom taxonomies and pa_... attributes
New Shortcode: [init_live_search]
- Insert a search input or icon anywhere
- Supports dark mode and custom classes
Keyword Operators: precision search using + and -
- Use + to require keywords (e.g. +nginx +ubuntu)
- Use - to exclude terms (-centos will filter out CentOS-related posts)
- Works across all post types and supports synonym and fallback logic
Related Posts Shortcode: [init_live_search_related_posts]
- Display related posts using smart title-based matching
- SEO-friendly: no REST call, renders full HTML
- Includes template override support and optional schema markup
- Auto layout: 2 columns on desktop if result count ≥ 10
Auto Insert Related Posts: display related posts without needing a shortcode
- Options: after content, before/after comment form
- Enabled via settings “Auto Insert Related Posts?”
- Respects selected post types and includes filter for conditional logic
- Uses [init_live_search_related_posts template="grid" count="6"] by default
Related Posts Templates: switch layouts easily using template attribute
- Built-in: default, grid, classic, compact, thumbright
- All templates fully overrideable via init-live-search/related-posts-{template}.php
- Smart fallback to default if missing
- Includes alt text filter and optional schema output

Features

Packed with everything a modern live search needs — and more:

Live search via REST API (no admin-ajax, no jQuery)
Smart tag-aware search mode (title + tag match)
SEO metadata support: Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, SEOPress, TSF
ACF field matching and customizable filters
Synonym expansion with fallback scoring logic
Slash commands: /recent, /popular, /tag, /id, /sku, /price, /coupon, etc.
WooCommerce support: search by product, SKU, brand, attribute, variation, coupon
Clean modal UI with keyboard navigation (↑ ↓ Enter Esc)
Optional voice input (SpeechRecognition)
Tooltip Quick Search (select text to trigger)
Favorites system via heart icon or /fav commands
Infinite scroll and smart category filter (no extra API)
Deep linking: ?modal=search&term=...
New [init_live_search] shortcode: insert input or icon anywhere
UI presets: default, fullscreen, topbar — with full CSS override
Local caching + analytics (CSV export, no personal data)
Developer-ready: custom slash commands, REST filters, JS hooks

Dark Mode Support

Enable dark mode for the modal by either:

Adding the dark class:

document.querySelector(‘#ils-modal’)?.classList.add(‘dark’);
Or using a global config:

window.InitPluginSuiteLiveSearchConfig = { theme: ‘dark’ };

Options: dark, light, auto

Admin Settings

Choose post types to include in search
Configure modal triggers (input focus, triple click, Ctrl+/)
Enable slash commands (e.g. /recent, /tag, /id)
Enable support for + and - keyword operators (must-have, must-not-have)
Set default slash command to run on modal open (only if slash is enabled)
Set debounce time and max results
Choose search mode (title-only, tag-aware, full content)
Define custom ACF fields to include in search (optional)
Enable Search in SEO Metadata (Yoast, Rank Math, etc.)
Toggle excerpt display below each result (1-line contextual snippet)
Toggle fallback logic (bigram/trim)
Enable synonym expansion and manage synonym mappings (JSON editor)
Enable Search Analytics to log queries (no personal data stored)
Set max words for tooltip search
Enable voice input (SpeechRecognition API)
Enable result caching (localStorage)
Choose frontend UI style (default, fullscreen, or topbar)
Allow theme override via init-live-search/style.css
Automatically insert related posts after content or comments (optional)
Option to disable all built-in CSS completely
Add default UTM parameter to result links
Define or auto-generate keyword suggestions

Keyboard Shortcuts

Arrow Up / Down — navigate between results
Arrow Right — add selected result to favorites (if not already added)
Arrow Left — remove selected result from favorites
Enter — open selected result or submit
Escape — close modal and reset state
Slash (/) — start a command instantly (e.g., /recent, /id 123)

Developer Reference: Shortcodes, Filters, and Hooks

Shortcodes

[init_live_search]
Display a search icon or input anywhere that opens the Init Live Search modal.

Attributes:
– type: icon (default) or input – choose between a clickable icon or a search box
– placeholder: (optional) text inside the input if type="input"
– label: (optional) adds a label next to the icon if type="icon"
– class: (optional) add custom classes like dark, my-style, etc.
– stroke_width: (optional) set the stroke width for the search icon (default: 1)
– radius: (optional) override the border radius of the input form (default: 9999px from CSS; only applied if value differs)

[init_live_search_related_posts]
Display a list of related posts (static HTML) based on post title or keyword, optimized for SEO and fully themable.

Attributes:
– id: (optional) the post ID to find related posts for (defaults to current post)
– count: (optional) number of posts to display (default: 5)
– keyword: (optional) override the keyword used for finding related posts
– template: (optional) layout template to use — default, grid, classic, compact, thumbright
– css: 1 (default) or 0 – disable default CSS if you want to fully style it yourself
– schema: 1 (default) or 0 – disable JSON-LD ItemList output for SEO schema

Filters for Developers

This plugin includes multiple filters to help developers customize behavior and output at various stages of the search flow.

init_plugin_suite_live_search_enable_fallback
Enable or disable fallback logic (trimming or bigram) when few results are found.
Applies to: search
Params: bool $enabled, string $term, array $args

init_plugin_suite_live_search_post_ids
Customize the array of post IDs returned from the search query.
Applies to: search
Params: array $post_ids, string $term, array $args

init_plugin_suite_live_search_result_item
Modify each result item before it’s sent in the response.
Applies to: search
Params: array $item, int $post_id, string $term, array $args

init_plugin_suite_live_search_results
Filter the final array of results before being returned.
Applies to: search
Params: array $results, array $post_ids, string $term, array $args

init_plugin_suite_live_search_synonym_map
Inject or override the list of keyword synonym mappings used in synonym expansion logic.
Applies to: search
Params: array $map

init_plugin_suite_live_search_category
Customize the category label shown in search results.
Applies to: all endpoints
Params: string $category_name, int $post_id

init_plugin_suite_live_search_default_thumb
Override the default thumbnail if the post lacks a featured image.
Applies to: all endpoints
Params: string $thumb_url

init_plugin_suite_live_search_query_args
Modify WP_Query arguments for recent, date, taxonomy-based, or product-based commands.
Applies to: recent, date, tax, product, random
Params: array $args, string $type, WP_REST_Request $request

init_plugin_suite_live_search_stop_single_words
Customize the list of single-word stopwords removed before generating bigram.
Applies to: keyword suggestion
Params: array $stop_words, string $locale

init_plugin_suite_live_search_stop_words
Customize the stop-word list used when auto-generating suggested keywords.
Params: array $stop_words, string $locale

init_plugin_suite_live_search_taxonomy_cache_ttl
Customize the cache duration (in seconds) for the /taxonomies endpoint. Return 0 to disable caching.
Applies to: taxonomies
Params: int $ttl, string $taxonomy, int $limit

init_plugin_suite_live_search_filter_lang
Filter the list of post IDs by the current language. Supports Polylang and WPML.
Applies to: search, related, read, and other multilingual-aware endpoints
Params: array $post_ids, string $term, array $args

init_plugin_suite_live_search_category_taxonomy
Override the taxonomy used to fetch and display category labels in results.
Applies to: all endpoints
Params: string $taxonomy, int $post_id

init_plugin_suite_live_search_seo_meta_keys
Customize the list of meta keys used for matching SEO Titles and Meta Descriptions.
Applies to: search (when Search in SEO Metadata is enabled)
Params: array $meta_keys

init_plugin_suite_live_search_weights
Customize the weighting array used to merge and sort post IDs from multiple sources (title, SEO, tag, etc.).
Applies to: search (search modes: title, title_tag, title_excerpt)
Params: array $weights, string $search_mode

init_plugin_suite_live_search_commands
Allow registration of custom slash commands to be displayed in the command list and handled via custom logic.
Applies to: slash command system (/ prefix input)
Params: array $commands, array $options

init_plugin_suite_live_search_smart_post_thumbnail_alt
Allow overriding the generated alt text for post thumbnails used in related post templates or result items.
Applies to: image accessibility / SEO rendering (alt attribute)
Params: string $alt, int $post_id

init_plugin_suite_live_search_auto_insert_enabled
Allow conditionally enabling or disabling auto-insertion of related posts based on the current position or post type.
Applies to: automatic shortcode injection via the_content, comment_form_before, comment_form_after
Params: bool $enabled, string $position, string $post_type

init_plugin_suite_live_search_default_related_shortcode
Customize the shortcode string used when auto-inserting related posts into post content or comment areas.
Applies to: automatic related post output
Params: string $shortcode

REST API Endpoints

Fully documented, lightweight, and API-first endpoints. Ideal for headless or decoupled builds.

All endpoints are under namespace: initlise/v1

/search?term=example
Standard search query (uses settings like post types, search mode, fallback…)
/id/{id}
Fetch a post by ID. Returns permalink.
/recent
Fetch the most recent posts based on plugin settings.
/date?value=Y, /date?value=Y/m, /date?value=Y/m/d
Fetch posts by year, month, or day.
/tax?taxonomy=category&term=slug-or-id
Fetch posts by taxonomy (e.g., category, post_tag, or custom).
/related?title=page-title&exclude=ID
Fetch posts related to the current page title (useful for showing similar articles).
/read?ids=1,2,3
Fetch post data by IDs stored in localStorage (e.g., by Init Reading Position plugin or custom logic).
/random
Return a random published post based on settings. Redirects via JavaScript.
/taxonomies?taxonomy=category
Return a list of taxonomy terms (e.g., categories, tags), sorted by count.
/product?page=1&on_sale=1&in_stock=1&sku=ABC&min_price=100&max_price=500
Fetch WooCommerce products using flexible query parameters. Supports slash commands: /product, /on-sale, /stock, /sku, /price.
Accepts:
- term: Search keyword
- sku: Partial or full SKU match
- on_sale: 1 to filter products on sale
- in_stock: 1 to filter products in stock
- min_price / max_price: Numeric range filter
- price_order: sort or rsort to sort by price
- brand, attribute, variation, value: For taxonomy filtering
- page: For pagination
  Returns basic product info (title, URL, price, category, thumbnail), sale and stock status, and add_to_cart_url. Caching is applied per query.
/coupon
Fetch valid WooCommerce coupons (non-expired and under usage limit).
Returns: code, description, remaining uses, expiration date, copy-to-clipboard support.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPLv2 or later.
You are free to use, modify, and distribute it under the same license.

Init Live Search – Smart, Slash Commands, REST API