Title: Smart Search Chips
Author: honzdev
Published: <strong>May 8, 2026</strong>
Last modified: May 8, 2026

---

Search plugins

![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/smart-search-chips.svg)

# Smart Search Chips

 By [honzdev](https://profiles.wordpress.org/honzdev/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/smart-search-chips.1.0.0.zip)

 * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smart-search-chips/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smart-search-chips/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smart-search-chips/#installation)
 * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smart-search-chips/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smart-search-chips/)

## Description

Smart Search Chips adds dynamic, clickable filter chips to your WordPress search
results. Unlike traditional faceted search plugins that require you to predefine
all filter options, Smart Search Chips automatically generates relevant filter tags
from the actual search results.

**How it works:**

 1. User types a search query
 2. Plugin analyzes the top results and their Search Chips Tags
 3. Displays clickable filter chips ranked by frequency
 4. Automatically eliminates redundant chips (tags shared by all results)
 5. Clicking a chip filters results to only show matching products

**Key Features:**

 * Dynamic chip generation from search results – no predefined facets needed
 * Smart redundancy elimination – chips that don’t help narrow results are hidden
 * Works with Relevanssi (recommended) for relevance-based scoring
 * Uses the built-in Search Chips Tags field as the free tag source
 * AJAX-powered live search with instant filtering
 * Fully customizable colors, limits, and thresholds
 * Override existing theme AJAX search handlers
 * Theme template overrides for custom result rendering
 * Shortcode [sschp_search] for easy integration

**Works best with:**

 * Product catalogs with many similar items
 * Technical documentation sites
 * Any site where search results need smart filtering

### Smart Search Chips Pro

Smart Search Chips Pro is available separately from https://smartsearchchips.app/
for teams that want ACF/custom field connectors, numeric range slider chips, search
analytics, synonym rules, manual chip curation, AI-assisted tag workflows, and commercial
support. The WordPress.org plugin is fully functional with its built-in Search Chips
Tags field and does not require accounts or payment.

### Privacy Policy

Smart Search Chips processes search queries entered by visitors to generate dynamic
filter chips. Search queries are processed on this server and are not stored or 
sent to any third-party service by this WordPress.org edition. Full policy: https://
smartsearchchips.app/privacy-policy/

## Screenshots

 * [[
 * Search for “tea” and filter chips appear automatically
 * [[
 * Click a chip to narrow results instantly
 * [[
 * The Smart Search Chips demo homepage

## Installation

 1. Upload the `smart-search-chips` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`
 2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu
 3. Go to Settings > Search Chips to configure
 4. Add Search Chips Tags to your posts/products using the plugin meta box
 5. Select which post types to search
 6. Optionally install Relevanssi (free) for better search ranking

**Quick Start:**

 1. Add semicolon-separated tags to the built-in Search Chips Tags field on your posts/
    products
 2. Select which post types to search in Settings > Search Chips
 3. Add `[sschp_search]` shortcode to any page, or set “Override AJAX Action” to hook
    into your theme’s existing search

## FAQ

### Do I need Relevanssi?

No, but it’s recommended. Without Relevanssi, the plugin uses default WordPress 
search. With Relevanssi, you get relevance-based scoring which makes the chip generation
smarter (irrelevant results are filtered out before chips are calculated).

### How do I populate the tag fields?

Use the built-in Search Chips Tags meta box on each post/product. Tags should be
semicolon-separated. ACF/custom field connectors are available separately in Smart
Search Chips Pro.

### Can I override the search result HTML?

Yes. Create a file at `your-theme/smart-search-chips/results.php` and the plugin
will use it instead of the default template. The variable `$sschp_posts` contains
the post data array.

### How does redundancy elimination work?

The algorithm ranks tags by frequency, then for each candidate chip checks if it
appears in ALL results of any already-selected chip’s group. If so, it’s redundant
and hidden. This ensures only truly differentiating tags are shown.

### Can I use this with WooCommerce?

Yes. Set “Post Types” to include “product”. The WooCommerce helper can populate 
the built-in Search Chips Tags field from product attributes, categories, tags, 
and SKU.

### Can external automation manage Pro chip rules?

Yes. Smart Search Chips Pro exposes authenticated REST access for chip rules at `/
wp-json/smart-search-chips/v1/chip-rules`. Administrators can read or update `synonym_rules`,`
pinned_chips`, `hidden_chips`, and `renamed_chips` using standard WordPress REST
authentication.

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“Smart Search Chips” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ honzdev ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/honzdev/)

[Translate “Smart Search Chips” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/smart-search-chips)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smart-search-chips/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/smart-search-chips/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/smart-search-chips/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/smart-search-chips/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.0.0

 * Initial release
 * Core chip engine with redundancy elimination
 * Relevanssi integration with relevance threshold
 * AJAX search handler with chip filtering
 * Admin settings page
 * Shortcode [sschp_search]
 * Theme template override support

## Meta

 *  Version **1.0.0**
 *  Last updated **15 hours ago**
 *  Active installations **Fewer than 10**
 *  WordPress version ** 6.0 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **6.9.4**
 *  PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
 * Tags
 * [filter](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/filter/)[product search](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/product-search/)
   [search](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/search/)[woocommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/woocommerce/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smart-search-chips/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smart-search-chips/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smart-search-chips/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ honzdev ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/honzdev/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smart-search-chips/)