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Search Everything

By Sovrn

Site Structure & Navigation / Tags & Classification

Search Everything Review - In-Depth Analysis

Search Everything enhances WordPress' default search functionality. It allows searching through pages, excerpts, attachments, and more.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

7.06/10

User Rating

4.1/5 (based on 86+ reviews)

Active Installations

10,000+

Update Frequency

Outstanding It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

9.4 / 10 (Critical Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

Search Everything improves WordPress default search functionality without modifying any of the template pages. You can configure it to search pages, excerpts, attachments, drafts, comments, tags, and custom fields (metadata) and you can specify your own search highlight style. It also offers the ability to exclude specific pages and posts. It does not search password-protected content.

Search Everything plugin now includes a writing helper called Research Everything that lets you search for your posts and link to them while writing. You can also enable Power Search to research posts from the wider web.

Better WordPress search in three steps: Activate, Configure options, Search!

Search Everything increases the ability of the default WordPress Search, options include: Search Highlighting, Search Every Page, Search Every Tag, Search Custom Taxonomies, Search Every Category, Search non-password protected pages only, Search Every Comment, Search only approved comments, Search Every Draft, Search Every Excerpt, Search Every Attachment, Search Every Custom Field, Exclude Posts from search, Exclude Categories from search.

Comparing to Alternatives

Search Everything was once a popular choice for enhancing WordPress search capabilities, but it now lags behind more actively maintained alternatives.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple to install and use with minimal configuration.
Previously supported searching custom post types and metadata.
Lightweight plugin with minimal impact on site speed.

Weaknesses

No longer maintained or supported by the developer.
Incompatible with recent WordPress versions causing fatal errors.
Breaks functionality in other plugins like WooCommerce and Advanced Custom Fields.
Lacks modern search features such as live AJAX results or advanced filtering.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights significant issues due to abandonment and compatibility problems.

Positive highlights

"Used to work great and allowed Easy Digital Downloads content to be fully searchable." - delphineous
"Simple and lightweight when it was maintained." - anonymous
"Previously enhanced search beyond default WordPress capabilities." - anonymous

Common complaints

Plugin is abandoned with no ongoing support.
Causes fatal errors on newer WordPress versions.
Breaks other plugins like WooCommerce order search and Advanced Custom Fields.
Search functionality often fails or returns zero results.

Weaknesses

Outdated codebase incompatible with modern WordPress.
No updates to fix critical bugs or security issues.
Poor compatibility with popular plugins and themes.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users with legacy WordPress sites running older versions who need a simple search enhancement and are willing to accept potential issues.

Not ideal for

Anyone running a current WordPress installation or relying on compatibility with popular plugins like WooCommerce or Advanced Custom Fields should avoid this plugin due to its abandonment and instability.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers basic search enhancements but lacks updates and support, limiting its value on modern sites.

Final Verdict

Search Everything was once a useful plugin for improving WordPress search but has been abandoned and is no longer compatible with recent WordPress versions or popular plugins.

Users should avoid this plugin due to its instability and lack of support, and instead consider actively maintained alternatives like Relevanssi or SearchWP Live Ajax Search for reliable search enhancements.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Search Everything plugin.

Search Everything

Search Highlight

Category Search

Screenshots

FAQ

Installation Instructions:

Download the plugin and unzip it.
Put the ‘search-everything’ directory into your wp-content/plugins/ directory.
Go to the Plugins page in your WordPress Administration area and click ‘Activate’ next to Search Everything.
Go to the Settings > Search Everything and configure it.
That’s it. Enjoy searching.