Search Hero

Search Hero replaces the standard WordPress search with a better search engine. You’ll get faster more relevant results, and your users will thank you.
Your wordpress content will need to be indexed after plugin installation. Once the content is indexed, new and updated content will be kept up to date automatically.
The index process can be done from the plugin settings page, and also using wp-cli on the command line.
For large sites with many posts, using wp-cli is recommended. The command to index is <code>wp-cli search-hero index</code>

Search Hero replaces the default search with a better search that sorts by relevance.  Designed for fast performance, and large wordpress sites.

Epsiloncool

🚀 Supercharge Your WordPress Search with WP Fast Total Search (WPFTS)!
Tired of the standard WordPress search that doesn’t find what you need? Are your users struggling to find content hidden in meta fields, shortcodes, or even files?
WP Fast Total Search (WPFTS) is the solution that revolutionizes search on your site, making it truly fast, accurate, and comprehensive.
Why WPFTS is Exactly What You Need:
✨ Searches EVERYWHERE:
Unlike standard search, WPFTS indexes and finds information not only in post titles and content, but also within:
<ul>
<li>Meta fields (Custom Fields)</li>
<li>Custom Post Types</li>
<li>Text inside shortcodes</li>
<li>Content of attached files (PDF, DOCX, etc. in the Pro version)</li>
<li>Dynamically generated content</li>
</ul>
⚙️ Simplicity and Compatibility:
<ul>
<li>No External Dependencies: Doesn’t require installing heavy external services (like Elasticsearch or Solr). Perfect for standard shared hosting!</li>
<li>Enhances, Doesn’t Replace: WPFTS enhances the standard WordPress search (<code>WP_Query</code>), it doesn’t break it. All your plugins and themes using standard search will automatically work better with WPFTS.</li>
<li>Works Out-of-the-Box: Just install and activate.</li>
</ul>
🎯 Flexibility and Control:
<ul>
<li>Customizable Relevance: Control what matters most in search results! Assign “weights” for title, content, and each meta field using an improved TF-IDF algorithm.</li>
<li>Live Search (AJAX): Let users see search results instantly as they type. Easily added via the widget or shortcode <code>[wpfts_widget]</code>.</li>
<li>Phrase Search Support: Find exact matches.</li>
<li>Flexible Sorting: Sort results by relevance, date, title, and many other parameters.</li>
</ul>
Key Advantages of WPFTS:
<ul>
<li>✅ True Indexed Search: Fast and efficient.</li>
<li>✅ No External Libraries or Services Required: Everything works right inside your website.</li>
<li>✅ HTML Cleanup: Correctly indexes content by removing tags and comments (important for Gutenberg).</li>
<li>✅ Language Support: Ready translations (English, German, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian) and easy to add your own.</li>
<li>✅ API and Documentation: Extend and customize the plugin to fit your needs.</li>
<li>✅ Compatibility: Works great with PHP 5.6 up to PHP 8.2+.</li>
<li>✅ Extensibility: Supports add-ons, with a large library available and the ability to create your own.</li>
</ul>
💎 Get Even More with WP Fast Total Search Pro!
The Pro version unlocks powerful features:
<ul>
<li>📄 Search Inside File Content: Indexes text within PDF, DOC, DOCX, and other formats.</li>
<li>🔍 Filter Search by File Type (MIME-type).</li>
<li>💡 Smart Excerpts: Displays PDF content snippets directly in search results.</li>
<li>☁️ Optional External Service for text extraction from files (license included).</li>
<li>🤝 Priority Technical Support: Help with installation, configuration, and conflict resolution.</li>
<li>🔄 Regular Auto-Updates: Just like plugins from the WordPress repository.</li>
<li>🧩 Premium Add-on Bundle: Integrations with popular plugins (WordPress Download Manager, Filebase Pro, Delicious Downloads, etc.) to index their content and files. Ability to request custom add-on development.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://fulltextsearch.org/evaluation/" title="WP Fast Total Search Pro Evaluation License" rel="nofollow ugc">TEST DRIVE – TRY FOR FREE</a> | <a href="https://fulltextsearch.org/buy/" title="Download WP Fast Total Search Pro" rel="nofollow ugc">GET PRO</a> 💎
🌍 Translations
We are grateful to the translators who made the plugin accessible worldwide:
<ul>
<li>torkeller (<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/torkeller/" rel="nofollow ugc">@torkeller</a>) for German and German_formal </li>
<li>Peter Smits <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/users/psmits1567/" rel="ugc">@psmits1567</a> for Dutch</li>
<li>Lera Suhanova for Ukrainian</li>
<li>epsiloncool <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/epsiloncool/" rel="nofollow ugc">@epsiloncool</a> for Russian</li>
</ul>
Join us in translating the plugin into your language! Let’s make it useful for everyone.
📚 Documentation
Detailed information can be found in the <a href="https://fulltextsearch.org/documentation/" title="WP Fast Total Search Documentation" rel="nofollow ugc">Documentation</a>.
<h3>Security Policy</h3>
<h4>Reporting Security Bugs</h4>
Please report security bugs found in the WP Fast Total Search plugin’s source code through the <a href="https://patchstack.com/database/vdp/fulltext-search" rel="nofollow ugc">Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program</a>. The Patchstack team will assist you with verification, CVE assignment, and notify the developers of this plugin.

WP Fast Total Search – The Power of Indexed Search

I evaluated WPFTS on a few demo and staging sites with an eye toward buying pro. I really wanted it to beat out the other options I've been testing.

I gave it 3.5 stars and round down because the review interface says 3 stars is "Good" and 4 stars is "Great," and for my use cases, that's what it is.

I really like that WPFTS uses the standard WP Query loop. This should ensure compatibility with pretty much every page builder and other plugins.

WPFTS indexed 2383 items on a site with a few hundred posts, and it took a very, very long time. Hosted on Flywheel.

The plugin needs options to select post types for indexing. It's not good to balloon the index with posts that should not appear in search results. There's no need to index media files, for example, if attachment pages are disabled (e.g., with an SEO plugin). This is a standard option in the UI of other search plugins.

I like the "cluster" search weighting scheme for customization, but a cluster for each taxonomy should probably be included by default. This is a standard option in the UI of other search plugins.

The option to index taxonomy terms would also be good. Indexing archive pages can be important if your theme is set up like that. Relevanssi Pro will index taxonomy terms (categories, tags and custom taxonomies). Searching for taxonomy term name will return the taxonomy term page.

Custom field integration with ACF/Meta Box requires custom coding. Other search plugins have this built in.

Good not great, for my sites anyway

Extends the default fulltext search with relevance, jet speed and ability to search any posts, metadata, taxonomy, shortcode content and more data.

Search Hero vs WP Fast Total Search – The Power of Indexed Search