Title: ffinder – Search & Analytics
Author: vacatiolabs
Published: Est 18, 2026
Last modified: Est 18, 2026
---
Search plugins
# ffinder – Search & Analytics
By [vacatiolabs](https://profiles.wordpress.org/vacatiolabs/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/ffinder.1.4.1.zip)
* [Details](https://cor.wordpress.org/plugins/ffinder/#description)
* [Reviews](https://cor.wordpress.org/plugins/ffinder/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://cor.wordpress.org/plugins/ffinder/#installation)
* [Development](https://cor.wordpress.org/plugins/ffinder/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ffinder/)
## Description
ffinder replaces the slow default WordPress search with a dedicated, indexed FULLTEXT
engine, and gives you an analytics dashboard so you finally know **what your visitors
are looking for** — and whether they find it.
It is built for speed (a denormalized search index keeps queries off the main `wp_posts`
tables, and repeated searches are served from cache) and for insight (every search,
click and “no results” query is recorded and visualised).
Everything described below is included and fully functional. There is no trial,
no usage limit and no feature that stops working after a while.
#### Search experience
* **Indexed FULLTEXT search** with weighted title / excerpt / content fields.
* **Live autocomplete** for posts, categories and tags, with configurable limits.
* **“Did you mean?” suggestions** for queries that return no results.
* **Term highlighting** in the results.
* **Floating global search tab** available site-wide, with an optional keyboard
shortcut.
* **Gutenberg “Search Button” block**, the `[ffinder_search]` shortcode, a classic
widget and a nav-menu item.
* Optional replacement of the theme’s native search form.
#### Search analytics dashboard
* KPIs: total searches, unique queries, success rate, average results.
* Interactive activity charts over configurable time ranges.
* Top queries, top clicked results and **queries without results** (content gaps).
* Click tracking on results.
* One-click **CSV export** of the analytics table.
#### Performance & maintenance tools
* Denormalized search index with an incremental daily refresh.
* Cached responses for repeated queries.
* Index health diagnostics and a batched “Rebuild index” tool.
* Settings export / import.
#### Privacy
**ffinder does not contact any external service.** No data leaves your site: searches,
clicks and analytics are stored only in your own WordPress database, and all bundled
assets (Font Awesome, Chart.js) are served locally rather than from a CDN.
Search records are stored in ffinder’s own tables and include the visitor’s IP address
and user agent, which is what makes bot filtering and rate limiting possible. You
can delete this history at any time from **ffinder Analytics**, and enabling “Delete
all data on uninstall” in the settings removes every ffinder table and option when
the plugin is deleted.
#### A note on ffinder Pro
A separate paid add-on adds product search — from WooCommerce or from an external
feed, with a Products tab in the results and products in autocomplete — plus GA4
revenue attribution, advanced analytics (conversion funnel, activity heatmap, content-
opportunity drill-downs), trending searches, voice search, featured products and
search-quality regression testing. It is an independent plugin: **nothing in this
plugin depends on it, is disabled without it, or checks for a licence.**
## Screenshots
[⌊The search-analytics dashboard: KPIs, activity chart and click breakdown.⌉⌊The
search-analytics dashboard: KPIs, activity chart and click breakdown.⌉[
The search-analytics dashboard: KPIs, activity chart and click breakdown.
[⌊Live autocomplete with posts, categories and tags.⌉⌊Live autocomplete with posts,
categories and tags.⌉[
Live autocomplete with posts, categories and tags.
[⌊Appearance: ten predefined colour palettes plus your own saved palettes.⌉⌊Appearance:
ten predefined colour palettes plus your own saved palettes.⌉[
Appearance: ten predefined colour palettes plus your own saved palettes.
[⌊Tools: index health diagnostics and the batched rebuild.⌉⌊Tools: index health
diagnostics and the batched rebuild.⌉[
Tools: index health diagnostics and the batched rebuild.
## Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
* FFinder Search Button Add a search button to open the FFinder search modal
## Installation
1. Upload the `ffinder` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`, or install the ZIP from **
Plugins Add New Upload Plugin**.
2. Activate the plugin through the **Plugins** menu.
3. Go to **ffinder Settings** to configure search behaviour and appearance.
4. Add a search box with the block, the widget, or the shortcode `[ffinder_search]`.
5. (Optional) Enable the floating global search tab under **ffinder Settings General**.
## FAQ
### How do I add the search box to my site?
Use the **ffinder Search Button** block, the classic widget, a nav-menu item, or
the `[ffinder_search]` shortcode in any page or post.
### Does it replace the default WordPress search?
Optionally. Enable “Replace theme search” in the settings to have ffinder take over
your theme’s search form automatically.
### Which content does it search?
Standard posts. Product catalogues — WooCommerce or an external feed — are searchable
through the paid add-on.
### Is the analytics data sent anywhere?
No. ffinder makes no outbound requests at all. Everything is stored in your own
WordPress database.
### What happens to my data when I uninstall?
By default your index and analytics are preserved, so a reinstall keeps working.
If you enable “Delete all data on uninstall” in the settings, all ffinder tables
and options are removed when you delete the plugin.
### Why is the search index empty right after activating?
The index is built in the background. To fill it immediately, go to **ffinder Tools**
and run **Rebuild index**.
## Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
## Contributors & Developers
“ffinder – Search & Analytics” is open source software. The following people have
contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ vacatiolabs ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/vacatiolabs/)
[Translate “ffinder – Search & Analytics” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/ffinder)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ffinder/), check out
the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/ffinder/), or subscribe to
the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ffinder/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ffinder/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.4.1
* The ffinder Pro page now illustrates each feature with a diagram of what it does,
drawn inline so it costs no extra request and always matches the admin palette.
* Added a compact Pro panel to the ffinder Dashboard. It appears only on that screen,
and disappears entirely once the add-on is installed.
#### 1.4.0
* Product search now lives entirely in the paid add-on. This plugin no longer indexes,
searches or displays products, and no longer creates the tables behind them.
* Added extension points so add-ons can contribute to the search UI without this
plugin knowing what they add: extra result tabs, extra autocomplete sections,
extra activity-chart series, extra click types and settings-driven CSS.
* Click tracking is now type-agnostic: an add-on records its own kind of result
through the same table posts use.
* Removed the search results cache table. Nothing had written to it since response
caching moved to transients, so it was dropped along with the code that read
it.
#### 1.3.0
* All features in this plugin are now free and fully functional; paid extras moved
to a separate add-on plugin.
* The analytics dashboard was rebuilt on the shared design system, with KPI sparklines,
period comparison and a filterable queries table.
* Every stylesheet and script is registered through the WordPress enqueue API —
no inline `