Low Search

• Keywords
• Categories
• Distance
• Field Search
• Ranges
• Relationships
• Tags
• Members (available separately)
• Table (available separately)
• Calendar (sold separately)
• Store (sold separately)

Keywords

The Keywords filter lets you filter entries by search terms (ie. keywords). You need to create at least one Collection to use the Keywords filter. It also adds a relevance score to the search results. To further fine-tune a keyword search, the following parameters are available.

Parameters for the Keywords filter

Parameter	Description
collection	Limit search results to given collection names or IDs. Will use all collections if not specified and keywords are given.
collection_lang	Limit search results to collections with the given language(s).
keywords	The search terms to filter by. You can use double quotes to group terms, eg. lion "mighty jungle"
keywords:inflect	Set to yes to enable singular & plural matching for the keywords, based on the language given in keywords:lang. Eg. searching for lions will also match lion.
keywords:lang	The language of the given keywords, eg. en. Adding this will enable keyword inflections and stemming, as well as keyword suggestions.
keywords:loose	Enables partial or substring matches: right: lion will match lions and lionized. left: lion will match dandelion and medallion. both: lion will match stallions and millionaire. no: lion will only match lion. This is the default. Note: keywords:mode needs to be set to any or all.
keywords:match	If a valid field (native or custom) is given, entries where that field exactly matches the keywords given will be pushed to the top of the search results, regardless of score. Eg. title
keywords:mode	How to treat the given keywords: any: returns entries containing any of the given terms. all: returns entries containing all of the given terms. exact: returns entries containing the given terms as an exact phrase. auto: uses operators to process the given terms. This is the default.
keywords:score	Limit the search results to entries with a score greater than the given number. Eg. >=1 or 2.
keywords:stem	Set to yes to enable matching keywords by their stem, based on the language given in keywords:lang. Eg. searching for sleeping will also match words starting with sleep, like sleeps and sleepy.

Note: Setting keywords:loose to left or both will result in a slower query than normal. It is recommended to only use this option with languages that do not have word delimiters, like Thai or Japanese.

The keywords filter also makes these variables available in the Results tag:

Variables for the Keywords filter

Variable	Description
{low_search_collection_id}	Collection ID for the collection the entry was found in.
{low_search_collection_label}	Collection label for the collection the entry was found in.
{low_search_collection_language}	Collection language for the collection the entry was found in.
{low_search_collection_name}	Collection name for the collection the entry was found in.
{low_search_score}	Relevance score of the entry.

Order by collection

By default, search results will be ordered by relevance score: low_search_score. Use orderby="low_search_collection:foo,bar" to order by collection first, where foo and bar are collection names. Search results that belong to other collections than defined here will be grouped together and shown last.

keywords:mode="auto"

The automatic keywords:mode uses operators in keywords for any/all/exact matching, excluding terms, and partial matching. The keywords:loose parameter is ignored when using this mode.

Automatic search mode examples

Keywords	Results
jungle lion	Entries containing both “jungle” and “lion”.
jungle OR lion	Entries containing either “jungle” or “lion” or both.
jungle -lion	Entries containing “jungle” but not “lion”.
"jungle lion"	Entries containing the exact phrase “jungle lion”.
jun*	Entries containing a word that starts with “jun”.
*ion	Entries containing a word that ends with “ion”.
*ung*	Entries containing a word that contains “ung”.

Singulars & Plurals

Low Search 4 supports singular and plural matching of keywords (inflections). To enable this, both the keywords:inflect and the keywords:lang parameters must be set. Low Search supports English inflections natively and you can add support for other languages by adding inflection rules to your Config file:

$config['low_search_inflection_rules'][lang] = array(
  'plural'      => array(),
  'singular'    => array(),
  'irregular'   => array(),
  'uncountable' => array()
);

lang is the 2-letter language code. The plural and singular keys should contain an array of key/value pairs to be used in a preg_replace() call. The irregular key should contain an array of irregular singulars (keys) and plurals (values). The uncountable key should contain a flat array of uncountable terms. Here are Dutch inflection rules as an example.

Stems

Low Search 4 supports matching of keywords by their stem (stemming). To enable this, both the keywords:stem and the keywords:lang parameters must be set. English stemming is supported natively, using a Porter stemmer class, and you can add support for other languages by adding this to your Config file:

$config['low_search_stemmers'][lang] = array(
  file_path,
  class_name,
  method
);

lang is the 2-letter language code. file_path is the full path to your the stemmer file, class_name is the class name the file contains, method is the method name that should be called to return the stem of a given word. Here’s a Dutch stemmer class that you could use.

Note: When enabled, inflections and stems are only applied keyword searches that do not contain wildcards or have keywords:loose set to left, right or both.

Categories

You can use the native category parameter to filter by category. For more advanced filtering by category, you can also divide categories into groups. The group syntax lets you combine AND and OR filtering (category 1 or 2 and category 3 or 4), as parameters are always combined with AND.

Parameters for the Categories filter

Parameter	Description
category	Like the native category= parameter, but it also accepts category URL titles.
category:group_name	Works just like the category parameter. When using category URL titles as the value, you can use the category group ID to limit the conversion to category IDs to that specific group, eg. category:5

Note: Use category IDs instead of URL titles for better performance.

Distance

You can use the Distance filter to limit results by a given maximum distance. This filter requires you to use two channel fields where latitude and longitude values are stored. Alternatively, you can use a single field where the two values are separated by a comma. Using the Distance filter will limit results to entries that actually have latitude and longitude values entered.

Parameters for the Distance filter

Parameter	Description
distance:from	Latitude and longitude values separated by a vertical bar, used to calculate the distance. Eg. 52.163298|4.505547
distance:to	The one or two channel field names that contain the latitude and longitude values separated by a vertical bar, used to calculate the distance. Eg. cf_entry_lat|cf_entry_long
distance:radius	The maximum distance between the from and to values. Leave blank for no maximum. Eg. 50.
distance:unit	The unit for the distances, either km, mi, m or yd. Defaults to km.

Note: Use two separate fields instead of a single one for better performance.

The Distance filter also makes this variable available in the Results tag:

Variables for the Distance filter

Variable	Description
{low_search_distance}	The calculated distance in the given unit for this entry.

Note: Using the Distance filter will return the search results ordered by distance, ignoring keyword relevance if applicable. Override by explicitly setting the orderby parameter.

Field Search

You can use the native search:field_name parameter to target specific fields. Additionally, Low Search can target the entry’s title, url_title, status, target Grid / Matrix columns, use multiple values for numeric matching (in combination with the gt, gte, lt and lte params), and use starts / ends with matching.

Parameters for the Field Search filter

Parameter	Description
search:field_name	Like the native search:field_name= parameter.
search:field_name:column_name	Works just like the search:field_name parameter, but targets a specific column in a Grid/Matrix field.
search:title	Works just like the search:field_name parameter, but targets titles.
search:url_title	Works just like the search:field_name parameter, but targets url_titles.
search:status	Works just like the search:field_name parameter, but targets statuses.
contains_words	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to match the full term, to ensure that the values are not contained within other words. Also possible by using search:field_name="value\W".
ends_with	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to match the end of the target field. Also possible by using search:field_name="value$".
exact	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to exactly match the target field. Also possible by using search:field_name="=value".
gt	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to have greater than prepended to it. Also possible by using search:field_name=">value".
gte	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to have greater than or equal to prepended to it. Also possible by using search:field_name=">=value".
lt	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to have less than prepended to it. Also possible by using search:field_name="<value".
lte	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to have less than or equal to prepended to it. Also possible by using search:field_name="<=value".
starts_with	Accepts parameter names. Force the given parameter values to match the beginning of the target field. Also possible by using search:field_name="^value".
smart_field_search	Set to yes to make search:field_name parameters that target non-Grid/Matrix custom channel fields aware of the channels they belong to. Use this if your search results contain multiple channels.

Note: using smart_field_search="yes" can affect performance, depending on the total amount of entries. Using Collections and collection="" parameter can help in such cases.

Ranges

You can use the Ranges filter to limit results by a given range, targeting a numeric or date field. If Low Search detects that the given channel field for the range is a date field, it will try and convert the given range values to timestamps. This will allow custom date ranges as well.

Parameters for the Ranges filter

Parameter	Description
range:field_name	Takes a from and to value, separated by a vertical bar: |. Use field_name:column_name to target Grid/Matrix columns (v4.2.0+).
range-from:field_name	Takes a single from value. Use field_name:column_name to target Grid/Matrix columns (v4.2.0+).
range-to:field_name	Takes a single to value. Use field_name:column_name to target Grid/Matrix columns (v4.2.0+).
range:min_field:max_field	Where min and max are two separate (non-Grid/Matrix) fields. If a single value is given, entries will be returned where the value is between the min and max fields. If a from and to value is given, entries will be returned where the min and max fields overlap the given range.
range-from:min_field:max_field	Where min and max are two separate fields. Takes a single from value.
range-to:min_field:max_field	Where min and max are two separate fields. Takes a single to value.
exclude	Accepts parameter names. Excludes a given parameter value from the range itself. For example, range:field_name="0|10" exclude="range:field_name" will result in values > 0 and < 10 rather than >= 0 and <= 10.

Note: For numeric fields, make sure the Field Content option in the field’s settings is set to Number, Integer or Decimal.

Apart from any custom numeric or date field, the following stardard channel fields are supported:

• entry_date
• edit_date
• expiration_date
• comment_expiration_date
• recent_comment_date
• view_count_one
• view_count_two
• view_count_thee
• view_count_four
• comment_total

Relationships

You can use the Relationships filter to limit results by given parent or child entry IDs. The filter works for both native Relationships and Playa.

Parameters for the Relationships filter

Parameter	Description
child:field_name	Limit results by entries that have the given entry IDs or URL titles as a child for the Relationships/Playa field defined.
parent:field_name	Limit results by entries that have the given entry IDs or URL titles as a parent for the Relationships/Playa field defined.
child:field_name:column_name	Limit results by entries that have the given entry IDs or URL titles as a child for the Relationships/Playa column defined in a Grid field.
parent:field_name:column_name	Limit results by entries that have the given entry IDs or URL titles as a parent for the Relationships/Playa column defined in a Grid field.

Note: Use entry IDs instead of URL titles for better performance.

Tags

You can use the Tags filter to limit results by given tag names or IDs. The filter works for both Solspace Tag and DevDemon Tagger. For more advanced filtering by tags, you can also divide tags into groups. The group syntax lets you combine AND and OR filtering (tag 1 or 2 and tag 3 or 4), as parameters are always combined with AND.

Parameters for the Tags filter

Parameter	Description
tag_id	Limit results by entries that have the given tag IDs assigned to them.
tag_name	Limit results by entries that have the given tag names assigned to them.
tag_id:group_name	Works just like the tag_id parameter.
tag_name:group_name	Works just like the tag_name parameter.
websafe_separator	The websafe separator character for multi-word tags. Defaults to +.

Note: Use tag_id instead of tag_name for better performance.