Custom post types usually come with their own taxonomies — a docs type with a section taxonomy, a portfolio with a medium, a directory with a region.
The Search Bar can put that taxonomy in a dropdown beside the input, and the block works out which post type the taxonomy belongs to on its own.
For every Search Bar setting in one place, see the Search Bar guide.
Before You Start
- Edition: Free. Measured with Nexter Blocks Pro deactivated, the Search Bar renders identically — form, input, dropdowns, suggestions and results all work without Pro.
- Block to enable: Search Bar, switched on under Nexter > Blocks in your WordPress dashboard.
- A custom taxonomy registered against your custom post type, with terms applied to published items.
Steps
- Select your Search Bar block and add a filter field with taxonomy as its source.
- Choose your custom taxonomy from the list, then publish.
How It Behaves
- The post type is derived from the taxonomy. Measured in the query builder: when a taxonomy filter is present, the block reads that taxonomy’s registered object type and searches it, so you do not have to set the post type separately.
- Any registered taxonomy works the same way. Measured across four of them — category, post tag, product category and product tag — all built their dropdowns from live terms.
- Choosing a term adds an exact taxonomy condition. Measured: a single term returned exactly its 2 items out of 14.
- Terms with no items still appear, because the list is not filtered by count.
- Only the title is searched by default. Measured: with the default settings a term matched 4 posts by title; switching the search fields off entirely fell through to WordPress’s own query and matched 15.
- It degrades to an ordinary search. The block renders a real
<form method="get">pointing at your site root, so with JavaScript disabled the bar still submits and lands on WordPress’s own search results.
Limitations
- A taxonomy attached to several post types resolves to the first one registered. If your taxonomy is shared, the search will not cover all of them.
- Sub-term indenting only applies to the built-in category taxonomy. Custom taxonomies render flat, however deeply nested they are.
- One term at a time. The dropdown is a single choice.
- The taxonomy narrows, it does not search. The typed term still has to match one of the enabled fields.
Troubleshooting
My taxonomy is not in the list
It has to be registered before the block can see it. Taxonomies registered late, or registered only in the admin, will not appear.
The dropdown renders but choosing a term returns nothing
No published item carries that term, or the typed term does not match a searched field on the items that do.
It is searching the wrong post type
The taxonomy is shared between post types and the block resolved to the first one. Use a post type filter field instead to be explicit.
