ACF: Better Search

The ACF Better Search plugin is an efficient and powerful way to utilize Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) for searching and filtering content, custom post types, menus, widgets and more with WordPress.

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What We Think:

98%

Very highly recommended!

ACF: Better Search: A Comprehensive Review

The ‘ACF: Better Search’ plugin for WordPress is an incredibly useful search tool that can help make searching on your WordPress site quicker and easier for your visitors. The ‘ACF: Better Search’ plugin was designed to provide advanced search capabilities for the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin, which allows users to define custom post types in WordPress. The plugin uses jQuery, Ajax, and other cutting edge technologies to ensure that searches are fast and efficient. With ‘ACF: Better Search’, you can provide your visitors with a powerful search experience that allows them to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.

ACF: Better Search: Breakdown

The ‘ACF: Better Search’ plugin was designed to provide advanced search capabilities for the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin. The plugin allows users to easily search through custom post types, such as products, services, events, and more. The plugin is incredibly user friendly and can be set up without having to write any additional code. The plugin also allows users to configure their custom search fields, as well as search through taxonomies, meta fields, text fields, and other custom fields.

The plugin also uses jQuery, Ajax, and other cutting edge technologies to ensure that searches are fast and efficient. This powerful search technology ensures that visitors are able to search through your WordPress site quickly and easily. Additionally, the plugin also allows you to configure the search results, including the order of the results, as well as exclude categories, post types, and more.

‘ACF: Better Search’ also allows users to easily integrate with existing themes. With just a few clicks, users can customize the layout of the search page, and create a unique look and feel for their site. The plugin also provides users with complete control over title tags, meta descriptions, and robots meta tags, allowing them to easily control how their pages are indexed by search engines.

Pros of Using ACF: Better Search

Searching Across Renamed ACF Field Labels: The Advanced Custom Fields: Better Search Plugin allows users to perform searches across fields with new and renamed labels and names. This functionality allows users to make adjustments to their ACF fields with changing needs without breaking previous search functions. This is a great feature when it comes to web development where change is an inevitability and one important way to cut maintenance costs down is by avoiding costly redevelopments.

Advanced Custom Fields Functionality: The Advanced Custom Fields: Better Search plugin unlocks the full functionality of the Advanced Custom Fields plugin for searching purposes as well. This allows users to set up searchable fields and conditions according to their exact specifications, allowing them to really customize the search engine for retrieving the most accurate results. It also allows users to target searches to specific orders and parameters, making it great for e-commerce sites and malls.

Advanced Search Features & Results: The plugin allows users to create search options that provide advanced query conditions and generate more precise results. This makes it ideal for highly complex websites where a lot of custom fields are employed. It also enables detailed and relevant engine optimization in results orders, allowing users to get the most accurate query results.

Shortcode Support: In addition to its great search engine capabilities, the plugin also provides users with shortcode support for displaying and embedding advanced custom field search fields anywhere on the site, making it really easy to improve search engine performance and engagement.

Easy Installation & Setup: Installation and setup of the Advanced Custom Fields plugin is relatively straightforward and fast. It only requires the user to fill out a few basic information fields and then the plugin is ready to use. This makes it really easy and convenient for novice users with limited technical abilities to take advantage of the plugin's great features without running into any complications.

Cons of Using ACF: Better Search

Reduced SEO Visibility: The ACF: Better Search plugin adds a weighting feature that allows users to artificially boost or reduce the visibility of certain keywords for search engine optimization. However, using this feature for SEO purposes could result in reduced organic visibility as search engines may not accurately rank sites when artificial weighting is used. Furthermore, reducing keyword visibility too much can result in fewer search engine referrals altogether.

Difficulty Adjusting Settings: Though the ACF: Better Search plugin comes with a variety of settings and customization options, the process of properly adjusting these options to fit a user’s needs can be difficult. Depending on the user’s technical knowledge, the various settings and their specific roles may prove overwhelming or daunting. Furthermore, if these settings are incorrectly adjusted, then the plugin may not function as expected and can negatively affect the site’s performance.

Plugin Conflicts: Since the ACF: Better Search plugin works with a variety of different plugins, such as ACF and Yoast SEO, it is especially susceptible to plugin conflicts. Issues can arise when installing or updating plugins, or when changing their settings. In some cases, these conflicts may be minimal and can easily be fixed, but sometimes the conflicts can lead to more serious server issues that require extensive troubleshooting to fix.

Resource Intensive: The ACF: Better Search plugin is fairly resource intensive due to its reliance on complex algorithms for calculating search results. Additionally, the plugin does not cache search results, which may result in additional strain on server resources. Thus, the amount of resources used by this plugin may become a concern for sites that experience large amounts of traffic or have limited server resources.

Complicated & Time-Consuming Installation: Installing the ACF: Better Search plugin is more complicated and time-consuming than installing most other WordPress plugins. The plugin requires that users make several modifications to the WordPress database, which is not a quick or easy process. Furthermore, if any of the modifications are done incorrectly, then the plugin might not function as expected or could cause errors on the site. Thus, installation and setup of this plugin should not be done without the necessary technical know-how.

98% Very highly recommended!

In conclusion

The ‘ACF: Better Search’ plugin for WordPress is a powerful and easy to use search tool that can help make searching on your WordPress site faster and easier for your visitors. The plugin allows users to easily search through custom post types and custom fields, and make use of advanced search technology, such as jQuery, Ajax, and more. The plugin also provides users with complete control over title tags, meta descriptions, and robots meta tags, making it easy to optimize your site for SEO. With ‘ACF: Better Search’, you can provide your visitors with a powerful search experience that allows them to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.

Plugin Specifications

Version: 4.2.0
Last Updated: 1 year ago
Installs: 40,000+
WP Version: 5.0+
Tested Until: 6.4.2
PHP Version: 7.0 or higher

Use Case Examples

Create a product search form to filter content
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Using the ACF: Better Search plugin, you can create a powerful search form that uses ACF's custom fields for filtering and sorting content on your WordPress website. The plugin works perfectly with Advanced Custom Field PRO and it enables users to easily select the custom field parameters they want to include in the search process. Additionally, the plugin has options to customize the search form and display the results based on your preferences, like sorting by relevance or specifying a custom template for the results page.
Filter based on custom taxonomies
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Combine the power of Advanced Custom Fields and SearchWP
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Get accurate and relevant search results
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Introduce AJAX powered search forms
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