Init Live Search – Smart, Slash Commands, REST API

Fast, modern live search for WordPress. REST API-powered with slash commands, SEO-aware search, ACF field support, WooCommerce integration, and custom UI styles.

Blazing-fast modal search for WordPress — no jQuery, no reloads, no limits.

Overview

Init Live Search replaces your default WordPress search with a sleek, fast, command-style modal powered by REST API and modern JavaScript. Navigate your content like a pro — with slash commands, instant results, keyboard shortcuts, tooltip search, and even voice input.

Whether you're building a blog, an eCommerce site, a headless frontend, or a high-performance content portal, this plugin adapts to your workflow.

What's New in v1.7.x & v1.8.x

• Cross-site Search: fetch & merge results from other Init Live Search-powered sites
• No CORS or Auth Setup: just enter Site Name|https://example.com — it works instantly
• Auto Labeling: results from external sources are tagged (e.g. "Init Docs")
• WooCommerce Slash Expansion: added support for /brand, /attribute, /variation, /coupon
• Improved /price Command: now supports sort and rsort modifiers
• Cleaner Cross-site Results: disables single-word fallback for external queries
• New Shortcode: [init_live_search] to render a search icon or input anywhere
• New Shortcode: [init_live_search_related_posts] to render static, themeable related posts
• Search Operators: support for +musthave and -mustnot terms in queries
• Visual Shortcode Builder: build [init_live_search] and [init_live_search_related_posts] shortcode visually with live preview
• Auto Insert Related Posts: no shortcode needed — insert after content or comments automatically
• Template-based Layouts: use template="..." to switch between grid, classic, compact, thumbright
• Theme Override Ready: copy any layout to your theme via init-live-search/related-posts-{template}.php
• Filter-Driven Logic: fully extensible via *_auto_insert_enabled and *_default_related_shortcode hooks
• AI-Powered Related Posts: new [init_live_search_related_ai] shortcode using multi-signal scoring (tags, ACF, series, views, etc.)
• Advanced Keyword Generator: upgraded to BM25 + NPMI + LLR engine for higher-quality suggestions
• 404 Smart Redirect: automatically redirect 404 URLs to the most relevant post, respecting post type settings and unified resolver logic

Features

• Clean modal search interface (Ctrl + /, triple-click, or data-ils)
• Powered by WordPress REST API — no admin-ajax, no jQuery
• Cross-site Search: query multiple domains seamlessly
• Search in SEO Metadata — support Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, TSF, SEOPress
• Weighted Ranking — control priority via filters (e.g. title > SEO > tags)
• Smart Slash Commands: /recent, /fav, /id, /tag, /product, etc.
• Quick Search Tooltip: select up to 20 words for instant search
• LocalStorage-based favorites and caching
• Voice input via native SpeechRecognition API
• Full keyboard navigation: ↑ ↓ ← → Enter Esc
• Deep linking: prefill search via ?modal=search&term=...
• Template-driven related post rendering with optional auto-insert
• Dark mode support: auto, dark, or light — or add .dark class manually
• WooCommerce: price, stock, sale badge, SKU, Add to Cart, coupon detection
• ACF support: search custom fields
• Built-in Analytics: log search terms (no personal data)
• Developer-ready: filters, JS events, REST-first architecture

Slash Command Examples

Command	Description
/recent	Show latest posts
/popular	Show most viewed posts (with Init View Count)
/day	Most viewed today (requires Init View Count)
/week	Most viewed this week
/month	Most viewed this month
/trending	Rapidly rising posts based on view growth
/id 123	Jump to post with ID
/date 2025/05	Posts by month
/category wp	Filter by category slug
/tag seo	Filter by tag
/product	Show all products
/on-sale	Products currently on sale
/stock	In-stock products only
/sku ABC123	Lookup product by SKU
/price 100 500	Show products in a specific price range
/coupon	Show active and usable coupons
/fav	Show favorite posts
/fav_clear	Clear all favorites
/history	Show recent search queries
/random	Open a random published post instantly

Shortcodes

Easily generate shortcodes using the built-in Shortcode Builder UI under Settings → Init Live Search.

[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) change SVG stroke width (default: 1)
• radius: (optional) override border-radius (default: handled via class)

[init_live_search_related_posts]

Display a list of related posts based on the current post title (or a custom keyword). Static HTML output, SEO-friendly, and fully themable.

Attributes:

• id: (optional) Post ID to fetch related posts for (defaults to current post)
• count: (optional) Number of posts to display (default: 5)
• keyword: (optional) Override the keyword for matching
• template: (optional) Layout style — default, grid, classic, compact, thumbright
• css: 1 (default) or 0 — disable default CSS if styling manually
• schema: 1 (default) or 0 — disable JSON-LD schema output
• post_type: (optional) Filter by one or more post types (e.g. post, post,page)

[init_live_search_related_ai]

Display a list of AI-powered related posts using multi-signal scoring (tags, series, ACF same_keyword, title bigrams, category, views, comments, freshness).

Attributes:

• id: (optional) Post ID to fetch related posts for (defaults to current post)
• count: (optional) Number of posts to display (default: 5)
• post_type: (optional) Restrict results to one or more post types (default: post)
• template: (optional) Layout style — default, grid, classic, compact, thumbright
• css: 1 (default) or 0 — disable default CSS if styling manually
• schema: 1 (default) or 0 — disable JSON-LD schema output

Developer Docs

Filters & API

• Using filters
• REST API reference

UI / JavaScript

• JavaScript events
• Triggering search modal
• Custom UI override
• Custom start screen

Slash Commands

• Slash command guide
• Custom slash command

Integration

• Headless/static integration

Installation

1. Upload the plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/ or install via the WordPress admin panel.
2. Activate the plugin through Plugins → Installed Plugins.
3. Configure options via Settings → Init Live Search.
4. The search modal can be triggered by default through:
   • Focusing any <input name="s"> field
   • Pressing Ctrl + / (or Cmd + / on Mac)
   • Triple-clicking anywhere on the page (within 0.5s)
   • Clicking any element with a data-ils attribute
   • Visiting a URL with #search or ?modal=search&term=...

License

GPLv2 or later — free to use, extend, or modify.

Part of Init Plugin Suite

This plugin is part of the Init Plugin Suite — a set of minimalist, high-performance plugins built for WordPress developers and creators who value speed, flexibility, and clarity.