Are you referring to searching in the backend or frontend?
I believe it would be the frontent. I created a large # of pages and wish to search only the page name. When I use the search, it gives me many pages. I assume it is including the content in the search. I just want pages with the string in the name.
The frontend is what your visitors see. You need to have a search form there for this search. This is provided by your theme. Most themes use WordPress’s own search function, but sometimes they use their own search functions. Which theme are you using? And do you use any special search plugins?
So you’re talking about the backend, not the frontend. That’s a big difference in this case.
I’m also not sure what you mean by “RegEx” Are you referring to this plugin here? https://wordpress.org/plugins/search-regex/ – it doesn’t allow you to limit the search as much as you would like.
I think this plugin would be more suitable: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-extended-search/
Alternatively, you could also use custom programming: https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/45153/limiting-admin-backend-search-to-title
I installed https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-extended-search/
How do I start a search?
recommends installing Classic Widgets with Block-based Widgets plugin to manage widgets.
Do I need this?
No, you don’t need another plugin. I just took a look at “WP Extended Search” because I wasn’t familiar with it either. All you have to do is go to “Extended Search” in the menu on the left. There are three checkboxes for “General Search Setting.” Uncheck all of them except for “Search in Title.” Save.
However, as I’m now noticing while testing, it only works in the frontend – not in the backend, which is what you’re looking for. So I did some more research and found this little plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/exact-title-search-for-admin-pages/ – just install it, ignore the pro advertising, and then use the search. For me, this limits the search to an exact search for the title.
There may be other plugins for this, but despite a lengthy search, this is the only one I’ve found.
Alternatively, as mentioned above, you can also solve this with custom code.
