Search Settings

Configure how Intufind's AI-powered semantic search works on your WordPress site.

Navigate to Intufind → Search in your WordPress admin.

Zero Configuration Required

Intufind automatically replaces WordPress's default search — no code changes or theme modifications needed.

Once activated, any existing search form on your site instantly uses AI-powered semantic search:

• Header search forms
• Sidebar search widgets
• WooCommerce product search
• Search URLs (?s=query)

Semantic Search vs Traditional Search

Semantic Search	Traditional Search
Understands meaning and intent	Matches exact keywords only
"warm jacket for hiking" → finds insulated outdoor gear	Only finds items with those exact words
Handles typos gracefully	Typos return no results
Natural language queries work	Keyword-only queries
"something to keep coffee hot" → finds thermoses	No results unless "thermos" is mentioned

Search Settings

Enable WordPress Search Override

Default: On

Replace WordPress's built-in search with Intufind's semantic search. This affects:

• Standard WordPress search forms
• Search results pages
• ?s= query parameter searches

Recommendation: Keep enabled for the best search experience.

Enable WooCommerce Product Search

Default: On (when WooCommerce is active)

Replace WooCommerce's product search with semantic search. This affects:

• Product search in the shop
• Product catalog filtering

When enabled, customers can search for products using natural language like "comfortable shoes for running" instead of exact product names.

Enable Mixed Content Search

Default: On

Allow general site searches to include products alongside posts and pages.

Setting	Behavior
On	Search for "guide" returns blog posts AND products containing "guide"
Off	General searches return only posts/pages; product searches remain separate

Use case for disabling: If you want to keep your product catalog completely separate from blog/page search results.

Performance Settings

Search Results Limit

Default: 20 Range: 5-100

Maximum number of results returned per search query. Higher limits may impact performance.

Search Cache Duration

Default: 3600 seconds (1 hour)

How long to cache search results before fetching fresh data.

Duration	Use Case
60 seconds	Frequently changing inventory
3600 seconds (1 hour)	Balanced performance (recommended)
86400 seconds (24 hours)	Rarely changing content

Trade-off: Longer cache = faster searches but potentially stale results. Shorter cache = fresher results but more API calls.

How Search Works

1. Visitor searches → Query sent to Intufind
2. AI processing → Understands intent and meaning
3. Smart matching → Finds relevant content
4. Results returned → Ranked by relevance
5. Cache → Results cached per your settings

The entire process typically takes 100-300ms.

Search Trigger Shortcode

Place a search trigger button anywhere on your site using the [intufind_search] shortcode. When clicked, it opens the Intufind search widget.

[intufind_search]

Variants

Four layout variants are available:

Variant	Shortcode	Description
default	[intufind_search]	Icon + "Search" text + keyboard shortcut badge
compact	[intufind_search variant="compact"]	Icon + keyboard shortcut badge (no text)
icon	[intufind_search variant="icon"]	Circular icon only
bar	[intufind_search variant="bar"]	Full-width Spotlight-style search bar

Attributes

Attribute	Values	Default	Description
text	Any string	Search	Button label
variant	default compact icon bar	default	Layout variant
placeholder	Any string	What are you looking for?	Placeholder text for bar variant
show_shortcut	true false	true	Show ⌘K / Ctrl+K keyboard badge
theme	light dark auto	auto	Color scheme (auto follows OS preference)
class	CSS class(es)	—	Additional classes for styling

Examples

[intufind_search variant="bar" placeholder="Search products..."]
[intufind_search variant="compact" theme="dark"]
[intufind_search text="Find anything" show_shortcut="false"]
[intufind_search variant="bar" class="hero-search"]

Styling the Trigger Button

The trigger button uses CSS custom properties, so you can override its appearance without !important. The button ships with neutral colors that work on most sites, but you can match your brand in a few lines.

Where to add custom CSS:

• WordPress Customizer → Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS (easiest, no theme editing)
• Theme stylesheet (style.css) or child theme
• Page builder custom CSS field (Elementor, Beaver Builder, etc.)

Override all triggers globally:

.itf-search-trigger {
  --itf-trigger-bg: rgba(0, 100, 200, 0.08);
  --itf-trigger-color: #003366;
  --itf-trigger-border: rgba(0, 100, 200, 0.2);
}

Override a specific trigger using the class attribute:

[intufind_search variant="bar" class="hero-search"]

.hero-search {
  --itf-trigger-bg: #0084ff;
  --itf-trigger-color: #fff;
  --itf-trigger-border: transparent;
  --itf-trigger-radius: 8px;
}

Available CSS custom properties:

Property	Description	Default (light)
--itf-trigger-bg	Background color	rgba(32, 33, 36, 0.06)
--itf-trigger-bg-hover	Background on hover	rgba(32, 33, 36, 0.12)
--itf-trigger-color	Text and icon color	#202124
--itf-trigger-border	Border color	rgba(32, 33, 36, 0.15)
--itf-trigger-border-hover	Border color on hover	rgba(32, 33, 36, 0.25)
--itf-trigger-radius	Border radius	12px
--itf-trigger-font-size	Font size	14px
--itf-trigger-kbd-bg	Keyboard badge background	rgba(32, 33, 36, 0.08)
--itf-trigger-kbd-color	Keyboard badge text color	rgba(32, 33, 36, 0.5)
--itf-trigger-focus-ring	Focus outline color	rgba(0, 132, 255, 0.4)

Dark mode values are applied automatically when theme="auto" detects a dark OS preference, or when theme="dark" is set. You can also target dark mode explicitly:

.itf-search-trigger--dark {
  --itf-trigger-bg: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1);
  --itf-trigger-color: #f1f3f4;
}

Styling the Search Modal

The search modal (the overlay that opens when you click the trigger) is styled separately via the Intufind Dashboard. From the dashboard you can customize colors, fonts, and appearance for both light and dark modes. Any changes apply instantly across your site without a plugin update.

Template Tag

Theme developers can render the trigger directly in PHP templates:

<?php intufind_search_button(); ?>

<?php intufind_search_button([
    'variant'     => 'bar',
    'placeholder' => 'Search products...',
]); ?>

<?php intufind_search_button([
    'variant' => 'compact',
    'theme'   => 'dark',
]); ?>

// Return HTML instead of echoing
<?php $html = intufind_search_button(['variant' => 'icon'], false); ?>

Customization

Search Results Template

Intufind works with your theme's existing search template (search.php or archive.php). To customize how results display, modify your theme's templates as usual.

Programmatic Access

For programmatic search, use the Intufind API client directly:

$api = new Intufind_API();
$results = $api->search_products( 'outdoor camping gear', 10 );
$results = $api->search_posts( 'getting started guide', 10 );

Third-Party Plugin Compatibility

FacetWP

Intufind integrates natively with FacetWP. When the WordPress Search Override is enabled, FacetWP's Search facet automatically uses Intufind for semantic search — no additional configuration required.

If you prefer explicit control, select Intufind AI Search from the "Search engine" dropdown in your FacetWP Search facet settings.

FacetWP's facet intersection works as expected: search results are filtered by any other active facets (categories, tags, custom taxonomies, etc.) and relevance ordering is preserved.

Troubleshooting

Search returns no results

1. Check that content is indexed (Intufind → Status)
2. Verify the content type is enabled (Intufind → Knowledge)
3. Ensure Search Override is enabled
4. Check API connection on Status page

Search is slow

1. Increase cache duration
2. Reduce results limit
3. Check Status page for API connectivity issues

Wrong results appearing

1. Re-sync affected content types in Knowledge
2. Check that product/post descriptions are accurate and descriptive
3. Verify excluded items aren't being searched

Old search still working

1. Clear any caching plugins (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, etc.)
2. Clear Cloudflare or CDN cache if applicable
3. Verify the plugin is activated

Next Steps

• Chat Settings — Configure the AI chat widget
• Knowledge — Manage indexed content
• Troubleshooting — Common issues and solutions