Description
Super Ajax Search enhances your website’s search with instant live results as users type. Built on the WordPress REST API with a modern vanilla JS frontend — no jQuery dependency, lightning fast.
Free Features:
- Live Search — Instant AJAX-powered results as you type.
- Thumbnails — Display featured images in search results.
- Smart Excerpts — Show content snippets with the search keyword highlighted in bold.
- Result Grouping — Organize results by Post Type or Category.
- Category Filter — Optional dropdown to filter results by category.
- Debounced Search — 300ms debounce prevents excessive server requests.
- Transient Caching — 1-hour cache for identical queries (configurable).
- REST API — Modern endpoint replaces admin-ajax.php for better performance.
- Keyboard Navigation — Arrow keys, Enter, and Escape support.
- Accessible — ARIA labels, roles, and semantic HTML.
- Secure — Nonce verification, input sanitization, output escaping, publish-only results.
- Customizable — Configure post types, result limit, placeholder text, no-results message.
- Shortcode —
[super_ajax_search]with optional attributes. - Multi-instance — Multiple search forms per page, no ID conflicts.
- Responsive — Mobile-friendly layout.
- Lightweight — Under 15KB total (CSS + JS), zero dependencies.
Support
If you have any suggestions, need any help, or want to connect with me, please reach out:
* Email: info@techwithnavi.com
* Website: https://techwithnavi.com/
Installation
- Upload the
ajax-searchwpfolder to/wp-content/plugins/. - Activate through the Plugins menu.
- Go to Super Ajax Search in the admin sidebar to configure settings.
- Use the shortcode
[super_ajax_search]on any page or post.
Shortcode Attributes:
placeholder— Override the search input placeholder.category_filter— Show a category dropdown ("true"or"false").
Example: [super_ajax_search category_filter="true" placeholder="Find products…"]
FAQ
-
How do I use the shortcode?
-
Place
[super_ajax_search]in any post, page, or widget where you want the search to appear. -
Can I choose which post types to search?
-
Yes. Go to Super Ajax Search settings and check the post types you want included.
-
Does it work with WooCommerce?
-
Yes. Enable the “Products” post type in the settings.
-
Is the search secure?
-
Yes. All inputs are sanitized, outputs are escaped, and only published posts are returned.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“Super Ajax Search” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Super Ajax Search” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
2.0.0
- New: Thumbnail support in search results.
- New: Smart excerpts with keyword highlighting.
- New: Result grouping by Post Type or Category.
- New: Category filter dropdown.
- New: 300ms debounced search to reduce server load.
- New: REST API endpoint (replaces admin-ajax.php).
- New: Transient caching (configurable TTL).
- New: Keyboard navigation (arrow keys, Enter, Escape).
- New: Vanilla JS — jQuery dependency removed.
- New: Multi-instance shortcode support.
- New: PHPUnit test suite.
- Security: Explicit
post_status => 'publish'to prevent data leakage. - Security: XSS-safe DOM rendering in JavaScript.
- Fix: AJAX handlers now properly load (fixed
is_admin()bootstrap bug). - Refactor: Full rename from Ajax SearchWP to Super Ajax Search.
- Refactor: Options migrated from
ajax_searchwp_*tosuper_ajax_search_*. - Compat: PHP 8.1+ with typed properties and return types.
- Compat: WordPress 6.7 tested.
1.5.0
- Initial public release.