Init Live Search – Smart, Slash Commands, REST API

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 <input name="s"> 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:

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)
• 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.