WP Extended Search
Extend search functionality to search in selected post meta, taxonomies, post types, and all authors.
The facts
- Rating
- 4.9★ from 72
- Active installs
- 20k+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 7 Dec 2025
- Added
- Sep 2014
- Requires WP
- 4.9
- Tested up to
- WP 6.9.7
- Requires PHP
- 7.0
- Downloads
- 356,644
Our analysis
AI-assistedWP Extended Search is a WordPress plugin that enhances the default search functionality by allowing you to customise what is included in search results. You can search in post meta, author names, categories, tags, and custom taxonomies, as well as control the search behaviour for titles, content, and excerpts.
The plugin supports WooCommerce, enabling searches in product SKUs, attributes, variations, and custom fields. You can create multiple search settings and use various methods to add custom search forms, making it suitable for users looking to improve search capabilities on their WordPress sites.
Best for: This plugin is suitable for WordPress site owners who need advanced search functionality.
What it does well
- ✓Customises WordPress search behaviour
- ✓Searches in post meta, author names, categories, and tags
- ✓Compatible with WooCommerce for product searches
- ✓Allows creation of multiple search settings
- ✓Supports various methods for adding search forms
Where it falls short
- •No specific limitations or caveats mentioned
Verdict
WP Extended Search offers a robust solution for customising search in WordPress, particularly for those with WooCommerce sites or specific search requirements.
From the developer
Sumit Singh's own description of WP Extended Search, lightly tidied.
WP Extended Search is a lightweight and powerful search plugin.
With this plugin you can customize WordPress search to search in Post Meta, Author names, Categories, Tags, or Custom Taxonomies via admin settings. You can control the default behavior of WordPress to search in the post title, post content, and post excerpt.
Apart from customizing default search behavior, you can create multiple search settings, and then you can assign these settings to custom search forms.
For custom search forms, you have the option to choose from a widget, shortcode, PHP function, or HTML.
Features
- Search in selected meta keys
- Search in category, tags or custom taxonomies
- Search in the post author name
- Include or exclude any public post type
- Control whether to search in title or content or excerpt or all
- Compatible with WooCommerce. Search in product SKU, Attributes, variations, and custom fields, etc.
- Create unlimited search settings to use with custom search forms.
- Add search forms using a widget, shortcode or PHP function. Also works with custom searchform.php
- Exclude old content from search results (Older than admin specified date)
- Customize the number of posts to display on the search results page
- Customize SQL relation (AND/OR) between search terms
- Customize order of search results
- Control whether to match search query exactly or partially
- Limit attachment results by mime type e.g. display only pdf files in search results.
- Translation ready
- Compatible with WPML