Low Search

Developer

Tom Jaeger - EE Harbor

3rd Party (Commercial)


EE Version Support

  • ExpressionEngine 2
  • ExpressionEngine 3
  • ExpressionEngine 4
  • ExpressionEngine 5
  • ExpressionEngine 6

Compatibility

If an item is crossed out, it might be untested, not applicable or incompatible. Contact the developer to be sure.

Requirements

  • jQuery for the Control Panel

Add-On Type(s)

Extension, Module

Tags

Editor's Pick
Each month the devot:ee staff picks an add-on that's especially well thought out, well built, and useful. They're add-ons that we love and think you will too!

Low Search was chosen in December 2013.

Low Search is a powerful search tool for fast and relevant searches. Easy to set up, a breeze to maintain; Low Search is the go-to search add-on.

Low Search uses several filters to generate search results. The Keywords filter uses collections based on channels to create an index, to which a MySQL full-text index is applied. This makes keyword searches fast and adds relevance to results. Using custom search collections and indexes together with the full-text functions results in a number of useful features:

  • Fuzzy searching using singulars/plurals or word stems;
  • Keyword suggestions based on your site’s content;
  • Sorting by relevance;
  • Excellent performance when searching;
  • Weighted searchable fields;
  • Multiple collections per channel, allowing for separate indexes for different uses (multi-language sites, for example);
  • Diacritic insensitive;
  • Clean search indexes — html and punctuation are filtered out.

But it doesn’t stop with just the powerful Keywords filter. Other filters include:

  • Categories: combining multiple grouped categories to enable combinations of AND/OR filtering;
  • Distance: limit entries by a given maximum distance, based on latitude/longitude values;
  • A beefed up version of the native Field Search filter, which also targets entry titles and even specific Grid/Matrix columns;
  • Custom ranges, either by number or date;
  • Relationships: filter by given parent or child entry, either native or Playa.
  • Filter entries by their author’s member fields.
  • Filter by Tags: both Solspace Tag and DevDemon Tagger are supported.
  • Filter by Author fields.
  • Filter by Grid/Matrix calculations.
  • Filter Store products or Solspace Calendar events. (EE2 only)

Still not enough? Not to worry. You can use the simple Filter API to create your own custom filters or use the many extension hooks to further customize your searches.

And on top of all that, you can save searches as shortcuts, view and export the search log, use the awesome Find & Replace utility, and much more.

For Publisher support, you will need Publisher Low Search, made available by Bold Minded.

Compatibility

     
  • For EE2, use Low Search v4
  •  
  • For EE3, use Low Search v5
  •  
  • For EE4, use Low Search v6

→ For more information and documentation: go to Low.

Hooks Used

If the add-on is an extension, and ties into ExpressionEngine's core files, it will use ExpressionEngine hooks. We are listing any hooks the add-on uses for developers to have an easier time locating other add-ons that they can reference for their own work.

  1. channel_entries_query_result
  2. entry_submission_end
  3. delete_entries_loop

This entry was created May 3, 2011, 8:47 am.
This entry was last updated February 15, 2022, 4:22 pm.

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21 Reviews:

marijan 05.09.16

marijan
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Really impressed. Works great, much much better then native search.
Have implemented id on a big project it worked out of the box with no issues.

bennobo 10.23.15

bennobo
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

One of the best add-ons on planet earth.

ucsdpubs 07.30.15

ucsdpubs
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Excellent module, AMAZING support! Thanks!!

johnniefp 03.12.15

johnniefp
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Very impressed, everything and more from a search module. Keyword suggestions are worth the admission fee alone and you don’t really have to do anything to get that bit working either.

jordan.sowers 11.24.14

jordan.sowers
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

If you’re looking for a really performant search module, this is it! Lodewijk has made a screaming fast search module. I’ve tested it against others like Super search and PHP memory usage is super low for Low Search! Lodewijk has also been REALLY helpful in the support forum. Can’t thank him enough.

PaleoSun 11.11.14

PaleoSun
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

This add-on solved problems I didn’t even know I had! Thanks, Low!

Derek Hogue 08.29.13

Derek Hogue
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Quite likely the best search module for EE, and easily manipulated via a great set of developer hooks as well. Highly-recommended.

Luke Hardiman 06.04.13

Luke Hardiman
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

I migrated from Super Search and so far I’m not looking back. Better features, faster, more active development and best of all, lightning fast support from Low via Get Satisfaction.

Ryan Masuga 04.03.13

Ryan Masuga
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

We use Low Search on devot:ee, and it’s our default search add-on for EE. It’s fast, easy to understand, and we were able to tweak it pretty easily to fit some very custom requirements. Well written and well supported (which can be said about all of Low’s add-ons).

sm9 03.11.13

sm9
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Low Search is excellent! I’ve used it to index thousands of entries on a high traffic site and it had excellent performance, was easy to use and setup, and was very flexible with it’s searching and filtering options. Highly recommended!

Lee 02.07.13

Lee
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Have to say it’s a breath of fresh air coming from Super Search - feels faster and it’s much easier to setup - feel like I’m in control! Amazing support as well…

shorn 02.06.13

shorn
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Must add to the praise, not only for the add on, but for the support. I was struggling to understand it all, and Low stepped up and helped me out no end. Top marks!

Mike Dexter 12.11.12

Mike Dexter
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

This add-on is fantastic. But what is most amazing, is the support from Low. As an EE newbie he has been incredibly helpful in teaching me how to implement complex searches. This is my “goto” add-on for search.

johnwbaxter 11.30.12

johnwbaxter
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Awesome add-on, just awesome. It’s add-ons like this, that really bring home how much better than other CMS systems EE add-ons are. So flexible, powerful and fast, i feel sorry for other CMS users, in fact, if you listen carefully, you can hear them lamenting from over yonder hill…*boo hoo, sniff*

AndrewMac 07.16.12

AndrewMac
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Quick easy to set up, and powerful as well, as people have already mentioned, so I just want to stress the absolutely first-class support you get from Low. He’s always been extremely quick to respond with help and happy to do the extra work required to make sure his products really do stand out.

littlered 07.05.12

littlered
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

This is yet-another thoughtful add-on by low. It works great out of the box for searching many diverse channels over an MSM site. The collection concept is brilliant - it makes crafting individualized searches and returning meaningful search results easy. Low’s support is unsurpassed.

JCDerrick 06.05.12

JCDerrick
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Searches always seem to be a royal pain; well - they were. Low once again exceeds expectations with Low Search. It’s easy to search channel entries again and I love how you can give weight to different fields for the results. Takes no more than 5-10 minutes to set up. An excellent add-on all around!

VosSavant 03.09.12

VosSavant
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

I decided to go with this over Super Search mostly on price and Low’s reputation, and I was glad I did. Much easier to set up, less expensive, and (according to Low) faster.

I love that you can set up “collections,” which makes it easy to search by channel. Well done!

welshfusion 03.05.12

welshfusion
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

I jut purchased this add-on, read the documentation and configured a great search feature that search multiple channels on a structure powered Multi-language website in under an hour- Thanks Low!

Foster Made 01.25.12

Foster Made
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Another amazing add-on from Low!  We are using Low Search on a site with ~30k entries and it’s fast and accurate.  Using the Low search form we built a “refine results” feature on the search results page with very little effort.

Superbia 11.17.11

Superbia
Rating - {addon_rating_average}

Relevant search and awesome support from a great member of the EE community.