Low Search

• Form tag
• Filters tag
• Results tag
• Shortcuts tag
• Save tag
• URL tag
• Param tag
• Popular tag
• Keywords tag
• Collections tag
• Suggestions tag

Form Tag

Use the Form tag to create search forms. Search parameters made available by each Filter should be used as input fields (most commonly <input> and <select> elements) and can be either hidden or visible for the user.

{exp:low_search:form result_page="search"}
  <fieldset>
    <label for="keywords">Keywords</label>
    <input type="search" name="keywords" id="keywords" />
    <button type="submit">Search</button>
  </fieldset>
{/exp:low_search:form}

Parameters for the low_search:form tag

Parameter	Description
force_protocol	Set to http or https to force the protocol of the generated search results URL.
force_shortcut	Set to no to have a given query overwrite a valid shortcut. Defaults to yes (a shortcut will overwrite the query).
form_attribute	Specifies any html attribute you want the form to have. For example: form_id="search" will add id="search" to the <form> tag.
query	Use this parameter to pass through a previously executed encoded search query. Not needed when not encoding queries.
required	Set to one or more parameter names to make that parameter a required field.
remember	Set to the names of the parameters you want to pass through to the next search without having input fields for them in the form.
remember_shortcut	Set to yes to remember the given shortcut’s parameters without having input fields for them.
result_page	The Template_Group/Template where you would like the search results to be shown. If the parameter starts with http:// or https://, that URL will be used as the result page. You can optionally use %s to place the encoded search query anywhere in the URI. Defaults to the value set in your Settings.
shortcut	Name of the shortcut to use for the search query.

Variables for the low_search:form tag

Variable	Description
{collections}{/collections}	Displays all search collections for current site. Available parameters: lang: only display collections for given language(s). show: only display collections for given name(s) or ID(s). Available variables: {collection_id} {collection_name} {collection_label} {collection_language} {collection_count} {total_collections} {collection_is_active}
{error_message}	Will display an error message if something went wrong with the search.
{low_search_shortcut_id}	The shortcut ID used, if applicable.
{low_search_shortcut_label}	The shortcut label used, if applicable.
{low_search_shortcut_name}	The shortcut name used, if applicable.
{low_search_parameter_missing}	Use in conditionals to display error messages.
{low_search:url}	Short syntax for the URL tag. When used, it will automatically inherit the query set in the parent tag.

Filters Tag

The Filters tag works identically to the Form tag, without generating a search form. Use it to show search filters anywhere on your page or to create a list of URL tags in short syntax. The following example shows a list of one-click filters to refine search results:

{exp:low_search:filters query="{segment_3}"}
  {exp:channel:categories channel="entries" style="linear"}
    {if count ==  1}<ul>{/if}
      <li>
        <a href="{low_search:url toggle:category="{category_id}"}">{category_name}</a>
        {if low_search_category ~ '/(^|\|)'.category_id.'($|\|)/'}&check;{/if}
      </li>
    {if count == total_results}</ul>{/if}
  {/exp:channel:categories}
{/exp:low_search:filters}

Note: the above example contains a conditional using the Maches Operator introduced in EE 2.9.0. If you’re using an older version of ExpressionEngine, you can use the IN conditionals instead.

Results Tag

{exp:low_search:results query="{segment_3}" limit="10"}
  {if count ==  1}<ol>{/if}
    <li><a href="{comment_url_title_auto_path}">{title}</a></li>
  {if count == total_results}</ol>{/if}
  {if no_results}No search results{/if}
{/exp:low_search:results}

The Results tag supports all parameters from the native channel:entries tag and parameters made available by the Filters. In addition to those, the following parameters are available. Any parameters set will override the ones in the given query.

Additional parameters for the Results tag

Parameter	Description
alias:parameter	Point a given parameter to any other, so parameter x gets treated like parameter y. For example, to use the param q as an alias for keywords, use alias:keywords="q".
default:parameter	Set the default value of any parameter. This value will be overwritten when the parameter is present in the search query.
disable	In addition to the native values, the disable parameter allows you to disable filters per Results tag. Use the low_search:filter_name format: for example, disable="low_search:field_search" will disable Low Search’s Field Search filter. (since v6.2.0)
exclude	Set to one or more parameter names to exclude their values.
force_shortcut	Set to no to have a given query overwrite a valid shortcut. Defaults to yes (a shortcut will overwrite the query).
log_search	Set to yes to explicitly log the search on the first page of the search results. By default, searches are already logged if you’re using the search form, so only use this when you’re bypassing that.
orderby_sort	Combines the native orderby and sort parameters. Separate field and sort order with a |. For example: title|asc.
query	Use this parameter to pass through the encoded search query, which is present in the search results URI. You can override any of its settings by hard-coding the other Low Search parameters. Note that any of the hard-coded query parameters will not be reflected in the Search Log. Not needed when not encoding queries.
require_all	Set to one or more parameter names to have their values treated as an inclusive stack.
require_query	Set to yes to trigger No Results when no (encoded) query is given. Otherwise all entries will be returned.
require_shortcut	Set to yes to trigger No Results when no (valid) shortcut is given.
shortcut	Name of the shortcut to use for the search query.

The Results tag supports all variables from the native channel:entries tag and variables made available by the Filters. In addition to those, the following variables are available.

Additional variables for the Results tag

Variable	Description
{auto_path}	The URL of the entry, based on the Search Results URL setting of that entry’s Channel preferences. See also the native Search module.
{low_search_excerpt}	The search excerpt as defined in the collection settings, or as defined in the Channel preferences for keyword-less searches.
{low_search_query_string}	This contains the current Query String, when not encoding queries.
{low_search_shortcut_id}	The shortcut ID used, if applicable.
{low_search_shortcut_label}	The shortcut label used, if applicable.
{low_search_shortcut_name}	The shortcut name used, if applicable.
{if low_search_no_results}{/if}	Alternative syntax for the native {if no_results}{/if} conditional.

Shortcuts Tag

Use this to display a list of Shortcuts.

{exp:low_search:shortcuts group_id="1"}
  {if count == 1}<ul>{/if}
    <li><a href="{path="search/{shortcut_name}"}">{shortcut_label}</a></li>
  {if count == total_results}</ul>{/if}
{/exp:low_search:shortcuts}

Parameters for the Shortcuts tag

Parameter	Description
group_id	Limit shortcuts by given group ID.
limit	Maximum amount of shortcuts to display.
offset	Offset the output of shortcuts by this amount.
orderby	Field to order the shortcuts by. Defaults by the order in their group.
shortcut_id	Limit shortcuts by given IDs.
shortcut_name	Limit shortcuts by given names.

Variables for the Shortcuts tag

Variable	Description
{count}	The shortcut count.
{shortcut_id}	The shortcut ID.
{shortcut_label}	The shortcut label.
{shortcut_name}	The shortcut name.
{shortcut_url}	The full search URL for this shortcut. You can override any of the shortcut’s parameters by setting parameters to this variable, eg. {shortcut_url result_page="search/results"}
{total_results}	The total amount of shortcuts displayed.

Save Tag

Use this tag to generate a form to save a given search query as a shortcut. The form will need input fields for shortcut_name and shortcut_label values.

{exp:low_search:save query="{segment_3}" group_id="1"}
  <fieldset>
    <input name="shortcut_name" placeholder="Name" />
    <input name="shortcut_label" placeholder="Label" />
    <button type="submit">Save</button>
  </fieldset>
{/exp:low_search:save}

Parameters for the Save tag

Parameter	Description
form_attribute	Specifies any html attribute you want the form to have. For example: form_id="save" will add id="save" to the <form> tag.
group_id	Group ID the shortcut needs to be saved to. Required.
query	The encoded search query to save. Not needed when not encoding queries.

URL Tag

Use this single tag to produce a search url you can use for bookmarking or quick linking.

{exp:low_search:url keywords="foo"}

When used inside the Form or Filters tag, you can also use the shortcut syntax. Using the shortcut will inherit all the parameters set in the parent tag. You can use any of the parameters used in the Results tag. In addition to that, these parameters are available:

Additional parameters for the low_search:url tag

Parameter	Description
encode	Set to no to generate a human-readable url. Visiting this URL will add the search query to the search log.
query	The encoded search query to inherit. Not needed when not encoding queries, as this will happen automatically. Use the reset parameter to cancel this behaviour.
reset	Set to yes to not inherit the current query.
result_page	The group/template you want to link to, like in the Form tag.
toggle:parameter	Toggles a single value in the given query. If the parameter value isn’t present in the current query, it generates a URL where the value is present, and vice versa.

Param Tag

Use this tag to output a given parameter value outside of the Form, Filters or Results tag. You can also loop through multi-valued parameters.

{exp:low_search:param get="keywords" query="{segment_3}"}

{exp:low_search:param:loop get="category" as="cat_id" query="{segment_3}"}
  {cat_id}
{/exp:low_search:param:loop}

Additional parameters for the low_search:param tag

Parameter	Description
get	Parameter name you are targeting. Required.
query	The encoded query where the parameter is present. Required when encoding queries.
as	When outputting the values in a loop, use this parameter to set the variable name used in the loop. Required when looping values.
format	Set to raw for unaltered output, set to url for url-encoded output. Defaults to html-safe output.

Popular Tag

Use this tag to display a list of popular keywords. The Search Log must be enabled for this tag to work properly.

{exp:low_search:popular limit="10"}
  {if count == 1}<ul>{/if}
    <li>{keywords}: {search_count}</li>
  {if count == total_results}</ul>{/if}
{/exp:low_search:popular}

Parameters for the low_search:popular tag

Parameter	Description
limit	Maximum number of keywords to display. Defaults to 10.
orderby	Keywords are ordered by search_count in descending order by default. Set to keywords if you want to order alphabetically by keyword.

Variables for the low_search:popular tag

Variable	Description
{keywords}	The keywords, HTML escaped and safe to use in an EE tag parameter.
{keywords_raw}	The keywords, as is.
{keywords_url}	The keywords, URL-encoded.
{keywords_clean}	The keywords, cleaned by the Low Search algorithm, ie. without punctuation or diacritics.
{search_count}	The number of times these keywords appear in the search log.

Keywords Tag

Use this single tag to display the keywords used in a given search query. It is a shortcut for the Param tag.

{exp:low_search:keywords query="{segment_3}"}

Collections Tag

Use this tag to display a list of search collections.

{exp:low_search:collections}
  {if count == 1}<ul>{/if}
    <li>{collection_label}</li>
  {if count == total_results}</ul>{/if}
{/exp:low_search:collections}

Parameters for the low_search:collections tag

Parameter	Description
collection	Limit collections by names or IDs given.
collection_lang	Limit collections by their language code.

Variables for the low_search:collections tag

Variable	Description
{collection_id}	The collection ID.
{collection_name}	The collection name.
{collection_label}	The collection label.
{collection_language}	The collection language.

Suggestions Tag

Use this tag to display a list of suggestions based on given keywords, language, and the words currently present in the lexicon. It uses either Levenshtein distance or Soundex similarity (phonetics) to determine the suggestions.

{exp:low_search:suggestions keywords="jongle" keywords:lang="en" limit="1"}
  Did you mean {suggestion}?
  {if no_suggestions}No suggestions found.{/if}
{/exp:low_search:suggestions}

Parameters for the low_search:suggestions tag

Parameter	Description
distance	Depending on the method used, either the maximum Levenshtein distance or maximum Soundex word length distance from the original. Either 1, 2 or 3; defaults to 2.
keywords	The keywords on which to base the suggestions. Overrides any keywords given in the query.
keywords:lang	The language of the keywords on which to base the suggestions. Should point to the lexicon language. Overrides the language given in the query.
limit	Maximum number of suggestions to return. Defaults to 5.
method	The method used for getting the suggestions, either levenshtein or soundex. Defaults to the former.
query	The query that contains the keywords and/or keywords:lang parameters on which to base the suggestions.

Note: Using Soundex for generating suggestions is only effective for languages with a latin-based alphabet. The Levenshtein method works regardless of alphabet type.

Variables for the low_search:suggestions tag

Variable	Description
{suggestion}	The suggested word in lowercase.
{suggestion:upper}	The suggested word in uppercase.
{suggestion:ucfirst}	The suggested word with the first letter in uppercase.
{suggestion_count}	The count of the current suggestion.
{total_suggestions}	The total amount of suggestions given.
{if no_suggestions}{/if}	Alternative syntax for the native {if no_results}{/if} conditional.