Description
tlloancy Catalog Search for WooCommerce is a small WooCommerce product search for shops that do not need a heavy search engine.
It builds a compact inverted index (title, parent and variation SKUs, product category) and answers from a REST route. No external service, no jQuery.
The overlay is a real veil: the shop stays visible under a semi-transparent backdrop. A close control sits in the panel. Hidden and catalog-only products stay out of the index, same as WooCommerce search.
Search UI
- Overlay (default): dimmed backdrop, light text, centered field, close button
- Popover: panel under the magnifier, no backdrop
- Horizontal or vertical placement (Settings, not shortcode attributes)
What it does not do
- It does not replace WordPress core search
- It does not count keystrokes — only a commit (Enter, result click, or a stable empty result)
- It does not store IP addresses or WordPress accounts
Insert the Catalog Search for WooCommerce block on the shop / product archive template. Settings live under Settings Catalog Search for WooCommerce.
Privacy
Optional search-term stats (off by default) store normalized queries and counters in a dedicated table. The visitor cookie is a random UUID for deduplication only.
Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
- Catalog Search for WooCommerce Product search. Vertical / horizontal: Settings → Catalog Search for WooCommerce.
Installation
- Install and activate WooCommerce
- Upload the
tlloancy-catalog-search-for-woocommercefolder to/wp-content/plugins/ - Activate the plugin (tables are created immediately; the catalog is indexed a few seconds later via WP-Cron)
- In the Site Editor, add the Catalog Search for WooCommerce block on the shop template (same row as category filters if you want)
- Open Settings Catalog Search for WooCommerce to choose layout, overlay or popover, and optionally enable stats
FAQ
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Does it replace WordPress search?
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No. It searches published, searchable products through its own index and REST route.
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Which products are indexed?
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Published products that WooCommerce would show in search: not hidden, not catalog-only. Variation SKUs are included. Out-of-stock products are skipped when WooCommerce is set to hide them.
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How are searches counted?
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Statistics are off until you enable them. Then only a commit is stored: submit, click on a result, or a stable empty result after 600 ms. The same query from the same visitor within 30 seconds counts once.
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Is a visitor identifier stored?
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Only if statistics are on. A random UUID cookie (
tllocs_vid, 30 days, HttpOnly) is used to dedupe stats. No IP, no user login. The suggested privacy-policy text is added under Settings Privacy. -
How large a catalog can it handle?
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The index lives in two dedicated database tables. Saving a product updates that document only. A full rebuild (activation, schema bump) runs in paged batches through WP-Cron.
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Where do I put the magnifier?
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Use the Catalog Search for WooCommerce block. Layout (vertical / horizontal) is a setting, so the same block works on a row of filters or below the title. You can also use the
[tllocs_search]shortcode.
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Contributors & Developers
“tlloancy Catalog Search for WooCommerce” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
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Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- First release.