Looking to enhance WordPress search with the FacetWP plugin?
Most modern WordPress websites cannot rely on WordPress’s native search because it lacks the advanced search and filtering features needed to keep site visitors engaged.
FacetWP is a premium faceted search solution that makes content navigation easier and faster, especially on sites with large amounts of information, providing a more pleasurable search experience.
This article provides a thorough review of the FacetWP plugin, taking a close look at its features, setup, pricing, and pros/cons to explain how it improves search and filtering for WordPress users.
📑 Table of Contents
What is FacetWP?
FacetWP is a premium WordPress plugin that lets users create faceted search filters and custom listing templates to enhance the website search experience.
Facets are filtering UI components that make searching through pages like shop archives, listings, recipe pages, etc., much faster and easier. FacetWP includes a variety of filtering options (or facet types), including checkboxes, drop-downs, sliders, radio buttons, and more.
The FacetWP plugin offers a user-friendly interface for configuring filters. It uses AJAX-based filtering and an index table to eliminate page reloads and speed up search.
With FacetWP, users with WooCommerce sites, listing sites, or even content-heavy WordPress blogs can better meet their site goals by making content navigation more seamless for site visitors.
FacetWP Core Features
So, what makes FacetWP a top-tier search plugin option for users? This section explores the plugin’s core features to highlight why it is a strong option for advanced filtering and search in WordPress.
Multiple Facet Types
With FacetWP, users can choose from a variety of facet types to help visitors sort content on their WordPress website.
Most facet types are built-in, while a few are available only as add-ons. Below is a list of commonly used built-in facet types that FacetWP offers:
- Checkboxes: Lets users select multiple values from a list of options
- Dropdown: Lets users choose a single value from a list of options
- Radio: Generates a single-select list of choices
- fSelect: Generates a dropdown-style box that allows users to choose multiple options. It also includes a search box for faster searches.
- Hierarchy: Enables users to navigate through a hierarchical taxonomy
- Slider: Lets users narrow search results between two set number ranges visually
- Search: Enables users to search using keywords
- Autocomplete: Displays a search box that automatically shows search suggestions as a user types. Designed for searching short data items, such as names and SKUs. Not ideal for longer phrases.
- Date Range: Enables users to filter content by start or end date
- Number Range: Allows users to filter between a number range
- Rating: Lets users sort through products or posts by the selected average rating and up
- Proximity: Enables location-based search results
The add-on facet types include Hierarchy Select, Range List, Time Since, A-Z Listing, and Color.
FacetWP lets WordPress developers take things even further by enabling the creation of custom facet types. The steps for doing so are documented in the plugin’s Help Center.
Dynamic Facet Filtering
FacetWP uses AJAX to dynamically filter content, so results load instantly without requiring manual page refreshes.
This feature not only speeds up the display of filtered results but also supports pagination.
Instead of reloading the page to see the next set of results, site visitors simply click a “Load More” button or a page number (for standard pagination), and the next batch of results is immediately displayed.
Listing Templates
To give users complete control over how filtered content is displayed, FacetWP offers a listing template feature. This feature is a visual builder that lets users create custom templates to control the HTML structure of results.
With the visual builder, users can choose which fields to display for each item. For example, a user may decide to display the post title, featured image, and post content for a blog post listing. The layout can also be adjusted to include multiple columns and rows.
Additionally, a Query tab is provided that enables users to define query parameters to control which results are displayed in a listing and the order in which they appear.
Third-Party Plugin & Theme Compatibility
FacetWP integrates with most WordPress themes, page builders, and plugins to deliver an even more seamless search and filtering experience for users.
The plugin works with themes such as Flatsome, Listable, and Listify, as well as page builders such as Breakdance, Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Bricks.
For plugins, there’s a long list of supported options, including WooCommerce, Advanced Custom Fields, MetaBox, WP All Import, Yoast SEO, SearchWP, and Relevanssi.
The FacetWP developers are also transparent about incompatibilities and known plugin issues. This is a great resource for users who are unsure about the plugin’s integration with a third-party theme, plugin, or page builder on their websites.
Performance & Speed
Outside of AJAX, FacetWP also offers a caching add-on that stores its AJAX requests in the database. This feature can speed up high-traffic pages by preventing the plugin from recalculating each facet's choices on every page load.
Additionally, the plugin uses a clean, well-organized codebase, keeping it bloat-free and lightweight for optimal performance.
Developer Friendly
For greater plugin customization, FacetWP provides numerous hooks and filters, along with tutorials for developers. The plugin also supports shortcodes to place features anywhere on a WordPress website.
Setting Up and Configuring FacetWP
Although FacetWP offers many features and settings that might be overwhelming for WordPress beginners and require reading the documentation to set up properly, the initial configuration process is quite straightforward.
Installing FacetWP
To install FacetWP, users must purchase a plugin license to access the plugin ZIP file. For those unsure whether they need the plugin, a free trial ZIP file is available for download and testing in local environments or on staging sites.
Once the plugin ZIP file is downloaded, go to Plugins › Add Plugin › Upload Plugin, then click Install Now and Activate.
With the plugin activated, click Settings to open the plugin dashboard. On the dashboard, go to Settings › General, enter the license key provided at purchase, then click Activate. The plugin is now ready for use.
Creating A Facet
To create a new facet, users can navigate to Settings › FacetWP › Facets › Add New in the WordPress admin menu.
First, give the facet a descriptive Label that makes it easy to identify in the Facets dashboard. Next, choose the most appropriate Facet type from the dropdown menu.
The Data source field tells FacetWP which information source to pull the data to be filtered from. Examples of data sources include posts (title, author), taxonomies (categories, tags), and WooCommerce (product type, price).
For example, an e-commerce store owner might create separate facets using price, product type, and product category as data sources to enable site visitors to quickly filter products.
Additional settings, including Value modifiers, Show Ghosts, Facet Logic, Sort By, Count, and Soft Limit, are available to further refine the Facet settings. These can typically be left at their defaults.
Click Save Changes once the key settings are configured, then Re-index to create the index table.
Creating A Listing Template
The next step is for users to create a corresponding listing template for the facet they created by navigating to FacetWP › Listings › Add New. The listing template controls how facet results are displayed on a website's frontend.
Give the template a descriptive name that will be used to generate a shortcode.
The Display tab is where the template is designed. Here, users can add rows and columns that contain various display elements, such as a featured image, post name, product type, product brand, and more.
Each element has styling options for colors, margins, borders, etc., on the right side of the screen.
The Query tab is where the content that should appear in search results and its sorting order are specified.
A Dev mode option is also available to allow developers add custom PHP code that fully controls the listing template's output.
Implementing Facets on the Frontend
Once a user has created a facet and its corresponding listing template, the frontend implementation is straightforward.
Users can place them on the page they created to display filterable content using shortcodes, blocks, or page-building widgets.
Once set up, site visitors can dynamically filter content without reloading the page with each filter selection.
Developers can also implement facets with code by using the PHP code snippet provided on the plugin’s documentation page.
Common Setup Issues + Fixes
Without the right setup, FacetWP may not work as intended, leaving users frustrated. Below are some of the most common issues users might face, along with ways to quickly resolve them.
- Filters don’t update the page: If filtering does nothing, the most common reason is that the listing template is not connected to that page. Facets and listing templates work together to display results, so users need to ensure they are connected to the same query for the filters to work as they should.
- Filters show no results: This often indicates that the filter is connected to the wrong data source. To resolve it, users need to double-check that the facet is linked to the correct data source that is also used in the listing template.
- Conflicts with third-party page builders or themes: Some themes and page builders override the main query, preventing FacetWP from detecting listings. The fix is to always use the FacetWP listing template or disable custom queries.
Generally speaking, users may find that simply re-indexing the data will quickly resolve most problems they might run into.
FacetWP Pros & Cons
Pros
- Powerful faceted filtering with extensive facet type options
- AJAX integration for lightning-fast display of results
- User-friendly interface
- Integrates with many third-party plugins, themes, and page builders
- Developer-friendly with many hooks
- Excellent documentation and support
Cons
- Premium plugin (no free full version)
- Slight learning curve for beginners
- Only one listing template can be added per page
- Complex implementations require coding knowledge
- Limited default styling
FacetWP Pricing
FacetWP offers two pricing plans: Basic and Professional.
The Basic plan costs $99/year and includes a license for 1-3 sites. The license allows users to filter post types, access 1 year of support and updates, access all official add-ons, and unlock a 20% discount on renewals.
The Professional plan costs $249/year for a 20-site license and includes all the features of the Basic plan, plus the ability to filter users.
Final Thoughts - Is FacetWP Worth It?
After taking an in-depth look at the FacetWP plugin, including how it works, the features that make it so beneficial for WordPress search, its pros and cons, and its pricing, the question remains whether it is worth the investment.
FacetWP is undoubtedly a powerful filtering and search enhancement tool, making it a great option for content-heavy WordPress websites where site visitors need to quickly find the content they need. It provides a search experience that outshines native WordPress search and basic filters on many levels.
However, the FacetWP plugin is not a casual plugin. Its premium pricing and learning curve make it worth the investment only for website owners who really need advanced filtering to meet their business goals.
The full feature set might be overkill for smaller WordPress websites or blogs with less content. Those types of sites could improve visitors’ search experience by using simpler, more affordable search plugins.
So, at the end of the day, FacetWP is worth it only for users who absolutely need its features. Users with smaller WordPress websites or who are on a tight budget are better off exploring simpler solutions before committing to FacetWP’s premium pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
FacetWP is a premium WordPress plugin that lets users create faceted search filters and custom listing templates to enhance the website search experience. It helps content-heavy sites meet their goals by making content navigation more seamless for visitors.
Facets are filtering UI components that make searching through pages like shop archives, listings, recipe pages, etc., much faster and easier. Examples include checkboxes, drop-downs, sliders, and radio buttons.
1. Create a new facet by navigating to Settings › FacetWP › Facets › Add New
2. Give the facet a descriptive Label
3. Choose the most appropriate Facet type from the dropdown menu.
4. Choose a Data Source.
5. Click Save Changes
6. Re-index to create the index table.
FacetWP — Related Information
