How to Add a Search Bar to Your WordPress Menu

The importance of a search function for your website cannot be overstated. Even if your website is extremely easy to navigate, your visitors may have some trouble finding what they’re looking for. It’s up to you to help them. You can do this if you add a search bar to your WordPress menu.

WordPress itself has a default search function. However, you may not be happy with it or you may want to include functions that it does not come with.

A functional search bar is a feature that is often integrated into themes. This includes our own premium WordPress themes. For the purposes of this article, we will use the Bridge theme to show you how to add a search bar to your site. However, please note that the options for adding a search bar may vary depending on the theme you are using. If you’ve never used one of our themes, we’ll also cover how to add a search bar to your site using a plugin.

How to Add Search Bar to Bridge WordPress Theme

Adding a search bar to your website is very easy using Bridge.

First go to: Qode Options > Title.

once you find title screen, click Qode Search Click the button in the bottom bar and you will be redirected to the search key. You will need to enable this.

All you have to do after enabling the search bar is Save your changes. Now when you visit your site from the frontend, you will see the search icon in the header. Clicking on it will open the search bar at the top.

We also have a video tutorial with detailed instructions on how to easily add a search bar to the menu of our Bridge theme and configure it to suit your website design and functionality preferences. Check it below.

As you can see, in just a few short steps you will help your visitors rank your content and find what they are looking for.

How to Add Search Bar to WordPress Using a Plugin

Adding a search bar to your WordPress menu works a little differently if your theme doesn’t have a built-in search function. For this demonstration, we will be using the Better Search plugin, a free and simple solution that greatly improves WordPress’ default search functionality.

First, you need to install and activate the plugin. If you’re not sure how to do this, you can check out our article on installing WordPress plugins. After installing and activating Better Search, you will need to configure it. This plugin is well explained with italicized descriptions and you will never have doubts about which command does what.

For this demonstration, we won’t touch anything on the following. general settings. We just need to be sure Enable seamless integration checkbox is marked. This means that the plugin will use your theme’s settings and styling to adapt.

Inside Call In the tab, we will take a look at the three functionalities. this Number of Search Results set how many results you want to appear per page, and Post types Checkboxes must be ticked for each post type you want to appear in searches.

Then, if you scroll all the way down, Filter these words domain. There are some words that are not included in searches by default. These are swear words in English and depending on your content you may want to review this list. Note that this field can be used for all terms, not just curse words, making this an important tool in refining your search.

We will not change anything in the Heatmap tab for our demonstration as we are using the plugin in seamless integration mode. But if you want to use it, check it out. Include heatmap in search results. The options on this tab will help you customize the appearance of the popular searches “heatmap” to further help your visitors find what they’re looking for. this styles tab is there for custom CSS you might want to use.

After configuring your plugin and saving all settings, you need to find a place to add the search bar. This is done using a widget included with the plugin. Use your menu on the right to access it. Appearance/Widgets screen. We are using the Bridge theme, so the name of the widget area we add our search Header Bottom Right. Note that themes can have different names for different widget areas.

In your list of available widgets on the left, Search Form [Better Search]. In the drop-down menu, find and select Header Bottom Rightclick, then Add Widgets button.

Your search form widget is now Header Bottom Right area on the right. You can choose to change the title of the field. We went with “Looking for something special?”. once you Save your title should appear in your search field menu.

When you visit the front end of your site, you will see what your search plugin looks like.

That’s all it takes to add a search bar in WordPress via a plugin.

As a result

While WordPress offers its own search functionality, it has been described as primitive by various users. We recommend using the built-in capabilities of your theme or the search plugin that best suits your website. Either way, adding a search bar to your WordPress menu is really simple as we show. With a functional search bar, you’ll be one step closer to meeting your visitors’ content needs and you can be sure they’ll appreciate it.