Category Wise Search vs Search Regex
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| Feature | Category Wise Search v1.3 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.8/5 Visit Details | Search Regex v3.5.1 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 400+ | 100,000+ |
| Last updated | March 26, 2019 | October 6, 2026 |
| Editions | Category Wise Search Widget | Search Regex |
| Pros | Category dropdown in a search widget; Default category and excluded categories per widget | Regex search across posts, comments, users, terms, options and meta; Saved presets for repeat searches; WP-CLI command available for scripted runs |
| Cons | Uses create_function, removed in PHP 8, so it fails on current PHP; Last tested with WordPress 5.1.1; not maintained | Bulk replacements write to the database; mistakes are hard to undo; Only the core WordPress data sources are covered |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | — |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Category dropdown in the search form, Default category selection from the query string, Exclude categories and their children | Regex search and replace, Choose sources: posts, comments, users, terms, options and meta, Save and import search presets, Tools screen for running searches, WP-CLI search-regex command |
| Requires WordPress | 2.9 | 6.6 |
| Requires PHP | — | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 5.1.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |