Getting started
Requirements
What Searchline needs to run, where it keeps its data, and what it works alongside.
Server and WordPress
| Minimum | |
|---|---|
| WordPress | 6.5 |
| PHP | 7.4 (8.1 or later recommended) |
| WooCommerce | 8.2 |
| Database | MySQL or MariaDB, as WordPress needs |
Where Searchline keeps its data
- Its own tables for the search index and the search report. The index is built from your content and can be rebuilt at any time (see The index).
- Options for the settings, synonyms, redirects and license.
- One custom field on products, pages and posts you hide from search results.
Apart from that one field, your products, pages and posts are never changed.
Themes and editors
- Block themes (such as Twenty Twenty-Five): the search template, the Search block, the Product Collection and Query Loop blocks and the Product Filters blocks all show Searchline's results.
- Classic themes (such as Storefront): the theme's search page and WooCommerce's product search show Searchline's results.
- Elementor: the Searchline search widget (free Elementor is enough). Other page builders: use the
[searchline]shortcode for a search box with the dropdown (see Live search).
Works alongside
- High-Performance Order Storage and the older posts storage, and the Cart and Checkout blocks: Searchline doesn't touch orders or the checkout.
- Multisite: each site has its own index, settings and search report. Network activation sets up every site; a site added later builds its index on its first visit.
- ACF, Meta Box and Pods: their text fields are offered on the Settings tab.
- Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress and All in One SEO: their SEO titles, descriptions and focus keywords can be searched.
- Fileline: its downloads are searched, with their categories and tags, while Fileline is active.
- Optionline: its option labels and choices can be searched.
- Labelline: its labels show as badges on products in the dropdown.
- Plugins that hide content from some visitors, such as Roleline Pro: their rules still apply to search results, so a visitor only finds what they may see.
Caching
Pages with a search box can be cached: the dropdown asks the server for results as visitors type, and those answers are never cached by the browser. On sites with a persistent object cache, Searchline keeps logged-out visitors' result lists there for two minutes; prices and stock are always fresh.
Translations
Searchline is ready for translation. The template is included as languages/searchline.pot, for tools such as Poedit or Loco Translate.