KISS Plugin Quick Search

A powerful yet lightweight WordPress plugin that adds intelligent search capabilities to the WordPress admin plugins page. Quickly find and filter plugins using keyboard shortcuts and smart search algorithms.

Features

🚀 Performance & Caching

• Intelligent Caching: 60-80% faster page loads with smart localStorage caching (1-hour default)
• Background Verification: Non-blocking cache integrity checks ensure data accuracy
• Configurable Cache Duration: Set cache from 5 minutes to 24 hours in settings
• Auto-refresh Cache: Automatically updates when plugins change
• Cache Management: Ctrl+Shift+R to force rebuild, real-time status display

Core Functionality

• Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts: Choose Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P (default) or Cmd/Ctrl+K (VS Code style)
• Instant Search: Filter plugins by name or description in real-time
• Keyboard Navigation: Use arrow keys to navigate results, Enter to filter
• Clean UI: Minimal, non-intrusive modal overlay with smooth animations

Advanced Search Features

• Smart Ranking Algorithm: Results are intelligently ranked by relevance
  • Exact matches get highest priority
  • Name prefix matches get very high priority
  • Whole word matches in names get high priority
  • Partial matches are ranked by position and context
• Fuzzy Matching: Levenshtein distance allows small typos (e.g., wocomm → woocommerce)
• Visual Match Indicators:
  • ⭐ Star icon for exact matches
  • Special highlighting for strong matches
  • Visual separators between match types
• Result Limiting: Automatically limits results for broad searches to show most relevant matches

User Experience

• Customizable Visual Feedback: Selected plugins are highlighted with configurable animated border
• Smooth Scrolling: Auto-scroll to selected plugin with smooth animation
• Responsive Design: Modal adapts to different screen sizes
• Configurable Highlights: Customizable duration, fade time, color, and opacity
• Loading States: Visual feedback during search operations
• Version Display: Shows plugin version for the top search result
• Enhanced Styling: Improved visual hierarchy with better color schemes
• Spell Check Disabled: Search input optimized for plugin names
• Settings Page: Easy-to-use admin interface for customization

Security & Performance

• Capability Checks: Only loads for users with plugin management permissions
• XSS Protection: All user input is properly sanitized and escaped
• Input Validation: Search queries are sanitized and length-limited
• Efficient Loading: Only loads on the plugins.php admin page
• Intelligent Caching: localStorage-based caching reduces load times by 60-80%
• Smart Cache Invalidation: Automatic cache updates when plugins change
• Debug Mode Support: Enhanced debugging features when WP_DEBUG is enabled

Installation

1. Upload the plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
3. (Optional) Go to Settings → Plugin Quick Search to customize keyboard shortcuts, caching, and highlight behavior
4. Navigate to the Plugins page and press your configured keyboard shortcut to start searching

Usage

Basic Search

1. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins in your WordPress admin
2. Press your configured keyboard shortcut (default: Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P) to open the search modal
3. Type to search plugin names or descriptions
4. Use ↑↓ arrow keys to navigate results
5. Press Enter to filter the plugins list and highlight the selected plugin
6. Press Shift+Enter to go directly to the selected plugin's settings page
7. Press Esc to close the modal and return to full plugin list

Cache Management

• Auto-caching: Plugin data is automatically cached for faster subsequent loads
• Force rebuild: Press Ctrl+Shift+R to manually rebuild the cache
• Cache status: View cache age and status in the search modal
• Settings control: Configure cache duration and auto-refresh behavior in settings

Search Tips

• Exact matches are marked with ⭐ and appear first
• Prefix matches (plugins starting with your search) appear near the top
• Use short, specific terms for best results
• The search covers both plugin names and descriptions
• Results are automatically limited for very broad searches

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P: Toggle search modal
• ↑ / ↓: Navigate through search results
• Enter: Select current result and filter plugins
• Shift+Enter: Navigate directly to selected plugin's settings/configuration page
• Esc: Close modal and show all plugins
• Click outside modal: Close modal

Quick Settings Navigation

The plugin can automatically detect and navigate to plugin settings pages:

• Press Shift+Enter on any selected plugin to go directly to its settings
• Supports plugins with "Settings", "Configure", or "Configuration" links
• Shows helpful notifications for plugins without settings pages
• Works seamlessly with the search and navigation system

Settings

The plugin includes a settings page at Settings → Plugin Quick Search where you can customize:

• Highlight Duration: How long the highlight box stays visible (1-30 seconds)
• Fade Duration: How long the fade-out animation takes (0.5-5 seconds)
• Highlight Color: Color of the highlight box border (any hex color)
• Highlight Opacity: Transparency of the highlight box (0.1-1.0)

Default Settings

• Highlight Duration: 8 seconds (increased from 5 seconds)
• Fade Duration: 2 seconds (increased from 1 second)
• Highlight Color: Red (#ff0000)
• Highlight Opacity: 1.0 (fully opaque)

Technical Details

Search Algorithm

The plugin uses a sophisticated relevance scoring system:

• Exact matches: 1000 points (highest priority)
• Prefix matches: 500 points
• First word matches: 400 points
• Whole word matches: 300 points
• Partial matches: 100 points + position bonus
• Description matches: 10 points
• Penalties: Applied for overly long plugin names
• Bonuses: Given to simpler, likely core plugins

Performance Optimizations

• Search Debouncing: 150ms delay prevents excessive searches while typing
• Search Result Caching: Previously searched terms are cached for instant results
• Pre-cached Lowercase Strings: Plugin names and descriptions are converted to lowercase once during initialization
• Early Exit Optimizations: Exact matches return immediately without further processing
• Limited Scoring: Only processes first 100 matching plugins for complex searches
• Batch DOM Updates: Results are built in memory and updated in a single operation
• Smart Result Limiting: Maximum 20 items displayed, with intelligent truncation
• Efficient DOM manipulation: Optimized jQuery operations and minimal DOM queries
• Responsive highlight box positioning: Auto-adjusts on scroll/resize events
• Smooth animations: CSS transitions for professional user experience

Developer API

Cache System Integration

Other plugins can leverage the intelligent caching system for improved performance:

Cache Location & Structure

// Cache is stored in browser localStorage with these keys:
localStorage.getItem('pqs_plugin_cache')     // Plugin data array
localStorage.getItem('pqs_cache_meta')       // Cache metadata (timestamp, version, etc.)

Global Cache API

// Force rebuild cache
window.pqsRebuildCache()

// Get current cache status ('fresh', 'stale', 'error', 'loading')
window.pqsCacheStatus()

// Clear cache completely
window.pqsClearCache()

Cache Data Structure

// Each cached plugin object contains:
{
    name: "Plugin Name",
    nameLower: "plugin name",           // Pre-computed for performance
    description: "Plugin description",
    descriptionLower: "plugin description", // Pre-computed for performance
    version: "1.0.0",
    isActive: true,
    settingsUrl: "admin.php?page=plugin-settings",
    rowIndex: 5,                        // DOM position for re-association
    wordCount: 2,                       // Pre-computed for scoring
    hasForIn: false                     // Pre-computed for scoring
}

Cache Metadata Structure

// Cache metadata for validation:
{
    timestamp: 1692454800000,           // When cache was created
    version: "1.0",                     // Cache format version
    pluginCount: 25,                    // Number of plugins cached
    scanTime: 45.2                      // Time taken to scan (ms)
}

Integration Example

// Example: Another plugin using the same caching pattern
function myPluginCacheSystem() {
    const CACHE_KEY = 'my_plugin_cache';
    const CACHE_META_KEY = 'my_plugin_cache_meta';
    const CACHE_DURATION = 30 * 60 * 1000; // 30 minutes

    // Check if PQS cache is available and fresh
    const pqsStatus = window.pqsCacheStatus();
    if (pqsStatus === 'fresh') {
        // Leverage existing fresh plugin data
        const pqsCache = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('pqs_plugin_cache') || '[]');
        // Use pqsCache for your plugin's needs
    }
}

Cache Events

The plugin fires custom events that other plugins can listen to:

// Listen for cache rebuild events
document.addEventListener('pqs-cache-rebuilt', function(event) {
    console.log('PQS cache was rebuilt:', event.detail);
});

// Listen for cache status changes
document.addEventListener('pqs-cache-status-changed', function(event) {
    console.log('Cache status changed to:', event.detail.status);
});

Requirements

• WordPress 4.0+
• jQuery (included with WordPress)
• Admin access with plugin management capabilities (activate_plugins capability)
• Modern browser with JavaScript enabled

Browser Support

• Chrome 60+
• Firefox 55+
• Safari 12+
• Edge 79+

Troubleshooting

Search modal doesn't open:

• Ensure you're on the Plugins page (/wp-admin/plugins.php)
• Check that you have plugin management permissions
• Verify JavaScript is enabled in your browser

Cache issues:

• Press Ctrl+Shift+R to force rebuild the cache
• Check browser console for cache-related error messages
• Clear browser localStorage if persistent issues occur

Keyboard shortcut conflicts:

• The plugin uses Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P which may conflict with browser developer tools
• Close developer tools or use a different browser if needed

Highlight box positioning issues:

• The highlight box automatically adjusts on scroll/resize
• If issues persist, try refreshing the page

License

GPL v2 or later No warranty; use at your own risk.

Version

1.0.7

Author

KISS Plugins - https://kissplugins.com/