Multiple Category ‘Super’ Search Box

On large websites where posts are listed under many different categories, it makes sense for readers to be able to search several categories at once to narrow down their search. The Multiple Category Selector Widget does exactly that whereas the default WordPress search widget only lets you type keywords into a box, then searches your posts and pages for these keywords.

This plugin is perfect for Real Estate websites, Car Dealer websites, shopping sites and any other website with a lot of blog posts (like mine).

See the Multiple Category widget in action at www.goodground.co.nz

Plan Your Category Hierarchy

When you add categories to your WordPress website, decide on the main (parent) categories first, then add your sub categories, each with a parent category selected. In a drop-down list in either a navigation bar or search box, the sub-categories will appear under the parent category. Here are some examples of category hierarchies:

Real Estate Website
Parent Category: Property Type    Sub-categories: Residential, Bare Land, Coastal, Lifestyle Block

Car Dealer Website
Parent Category: Make    Sub-categories: Toyota, Mazda, Ford, Holden, Volvo

Add Super Search to Your Sidebar

1. Click Plugins – add new and search for Multiple Category Selection Widget
2. Upload and activate on your plugins page
3. Go to Appearance – Widgets and drag the widget into your sidebar
4. Add the id numbers of any Parent Categories you don’t want included in the search box
5. Select the parent categories you would like readers to be able to search
6. Select ‘all’ as the default if you only want results displayed when every category selected matches
7. Select ‘any’ as the default if you want results displayed under as many as possible of the selected categories

Search Box Design

You can easily change the spacing and layout of your search box by adding a little piece of css to your theme’s style sheet. Follow these instructions from StudioPress’ Brian Gardener to add a custom heading to your search box like the one I’ve created at www.goodground.co.nz

If you love this plugin and it really changes your website for the better, consider making a donation to the plugin, author, Isaac Rowntree. Click the PayPal link on his plugin showcase website.

When I design myself a new website, this is one of the first plugins I’m adding to help you all sift through the millions of WordPress posts I’ve written.