RangeSearch (Free)

Fast AJAX product search for WooCommerce with an inverted index engine, typo tolerance, synonyms, live suggestions and search analytics.

Description

RangeSearch replaces the default WooCommerce search with a fast, relevance-ranked engine backed by its own inverted index tables, so queries never touch slow LIKE scans over wp_posts.

Engine

• Inverted index in dedicated tables; typical query time under 10 ms
• Dedicated lightweight endpoint (SHORTINIT) that skips loading plugins and the theme, with automatic fallback to REST and admin-ajax
• Field-weighted relevance: title, SKU, categories/tags/brands, attributes, descriptions
• Typo tolerance with four modes (off / soft / normal / hard) and "did you mean" correction
• Synonym groups, one-way rules and multi-word phrases
• Stopwords, special-character matching ("50%" finds "50 percent"), exact-SKU mode
• Pinned results: force chosen products to the top for given phrases
• Popularity boost from sales, include/exclude rules by product, category or tag

Search scope

• Titles, descriptions, short descriptions
• SKUs including variation SKUs, and GTIN/UPC/EAN/ISBN (WooCommerce global unique ID)
• Categories, tags, brands, global and custom attributes, custom fields
• Posts, pages and custom post types

Frontend

• Live suggestions with images, prices, SKUs, description snippets and highlighted matches
• Category and tag suggestions serviced by the same index (typo-tolerant)
• Optional details panel with product preview and add-to-cart
• Search history pre-suggestions, optional voice search, darkened background
• Full-screen overlay on mobile, keyboard navigation, ARIA combobox semantics
• Shortcode [rangesearch] (layouts: bar or expanding icon), widget, Gutenberg block, automatic WooCommerce form replacement, attach-to-selector for any theme
• The engine also powers the native product search results page, so suggestions and results always agree

Analytics

• Recorded phrases with hit counts, no-result phrases, suggestion click-through
• Dashboard widget for critical searches, CSV export, retention control, optional GA4 events

Developer surface

• REST API: GET /wp-json/rangesearch/v1/search?q=…
• WP-CLI: wp rangesearch index|status|search|update|delete|wipe
• Filters: rangesearch_scores, rangesearch_document, rangesearch_document_terms, rangesearch_post_types, rangesearch_taxonomies, rangesearch_taxonomy_labels, rangesearch_autocomplete_payload
• JS events: rangesearch/open, close, show-suggestions, no-results, show-history, show-details-panel
• Debug URL params: rsdebug=score, rsdebug=nofuzzy

Installation

1. Upload the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/rangesearch/ and activate it.
2. Go to WooCommerce → RangeSearch → Index and build the search index.
3. Add a search bar with the block, widget or [rangesearch] shortcode — or let it replace your existing WooCommerce search forms automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it slow my site down?

No. Searches run against dedicated index tables, and by default they are served by a lightweight endpoint that skips loading your theme and other plugins entirely.

Does the index update automatically?

Yes. Products, posts and taxonomy terms reindex on save, stock change and delete. A scheduled full rebuild (hourly/twice daily/daily) is available as a safety net for bulk imports.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.