Init Live SearchbyHao Nguyen

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.

You get:
– Beautiful preset styles (fullscreen, topbar, or default)
– Fully keyboard accessible (↑ ↓ ← → Enter Esc)
– Slash commands (/recent, /tag, /id, etc.) for power users
– Quick Search tooltip triggered by selecting text
– Voice input via browser SpeechRecognition
– SEO-aware matching from popular plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, etc.)
– ACF field support for advanced content types
– Local result caching and fallback logic
– Theme override support or option to disable all plugin CSS

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 1.6.x

• New UI Style Presets: choose from fullscreen (style-full.css) or top bar (style-topbar.css) layouts
• Theme CSS Override: place init-live-search/style.css in your theme to customize styles
• Disable Built-in CSS: turn off all plugin styles and build your own from scratch
• UI Style Picker: select a style directly from the admin settings
• Scoped CSS Loader: clean separation of core, presets, and theme overrides
• Developer-Friendly: styles are minimal and safe to integrate with any theme or builder
• Search Analytics (New Tab): track search queries, view counts, export CSV, and group results by frequency

Features

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

• Live search powered by WordPress REST API (no admin-ajax)
• Smart tag-aware search mode: match keywords in both titles and post tags
• Search in SEO Metadata: match keywords in SEO Titles and Meta Descriptions from popular SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, TSF, SEOPress)
• Clean modal interface that works with any theme — no template override required
• Fully keyboard accessible (Arrow keys, Enter, Escape)
• Slash command system (/recent, /popular, /tag, /id, /fav, etc.)
• WooCommerce support: search by product, sale status, stock, SKU, or price range
• Favorites support: manage with slash commands or heart icon in results
• Quick Search tooltip: select text to trigger instant search
• Voice input support using built-in SpeechRecognition
• Smart category filter (client-side, no extra API calls)
• Infinite scroll for long result lists (search and slash commands)
• Deep linking: open modal and prefill terms from URL (?modal=search&term=...)
• Custom triggers: Ctrl + /, triple-click, or data-ils attribute
• Local caching with localStorage to improve performance
• Optional keyword suggestions (manual or auto-generated)
• UI style presets: choose between default, fullscreen (style-full.css), or topbar (style-topbar.css) layouts
• Theme override support: add init-live-search/style.css to fully customize design
• Option to disable all built-in CSS and style from scratch
• Search analytics: track queries, group results, export CSV — all without storing personal data
• Developer-friendly with filters and custom REST API endpoints
• Built with pure JavaScript — no jQuery required

Dark Mode Support

Enable dark mode for the modal by either:

1. Adding the dark class:

   document.querySelector(‘#ils-modal’)?.classList.add(‘dark’);

2. 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)
• Set debounce time, max results, and search mode
• Toggle fallback logic (bigrams/trim)
• Enable Search in SEO Metadata (optional checkbox for SEO meta matching)
• 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
• Option to disable all built-in CSS completely
• Enable Search Analytics to log queries (no personal data stored)
• 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

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 bigrams) 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_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 bigrams.
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

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
  • 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.

License

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