Category Wise Search
400+ active installs · Rated 4.8/5 · Updated March 26, 2019
A small widget plugin that adds a search box with a category dropdown, so visitors can limit a search to one category of posts. Administrators can set a default category and exclude categories, including their child categories, from the list. It suits blogs wanting a simple category filter on search. The plugin is free, but it has not been updated for several years, so compatibility should be checked first.
Pros
- Category dropdown in a search widget
- Default category and excluded categories per widget
Cons
- Uses create_function, removed in PHP 8, so it fails on current PHP
- Last tested with WordPress 5.1.1; not maintained
Topics: Search plugins
Mentioned in
Alternatives
-
FiboSearch - AJAX Search for WooCommerce
100,000+ active installs · Rated 4.9/5 · Updated October 8, 2026
Free WooCommerce product search that replaces the default search box with a live AJAX dropdown of matching products as the visitor types.
Category Wise Search vs FiboSearch - AJAX Search for WooCommerce
-
Relevanssi
100,000+ active installs · Rated 4.8/5 · Updated October 23, 2026
A search plugin that replaces the standard WordPress search with a relevance-ranked engine.
-
Search Regex
100,000+ active installs · Rated 4.7/5 · Updated October 6, 2026
Searches and replaces text across posts, pages, custom post types, comments, users, terms, options and meta fields, with full regular expression support.
-
Ivory Search
90,000+ active installs · Rated 4.9/5 · Updated October 21, 2026
A plugin, sold as Ivory Search, that improves the default WordPress search and lets administrators build any number of custom search forms.
-
HUSKY - Products Filter Professional for WooCommerce
80,000+ active installs · Rated 4.6/5 · Updated October 24, 2026
Adds product filters to WooCommerce shop and category pages, by category, attribute, tag, meta field, price, rating, stock and more, placed with shortcodes.
Category Wise Search vs HUSKY - Products Filter Professional for WooCommerce
-
Advanced Woo Search
70,000+ active installs · Rated 4.8/5 · Updated October 20, 2026
A product search plugin for WooCommerce that adds live Ajax results and a search results page.
-
Ajax Search Lite
70,000+ active installs · Rated 4.8/5 · Updated October 19, 2026
A live search plugin that replaces the default WordPress search with a responsive search bar showing results as visitors type.
-
YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter
70,000+ active installs · Rated 3.5/5 · Updated October 1, 2026
Free WooCommerce plugin that adds product filters to shop and category pages.
Category Wise Search vs YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter