How to Add Ajax Taxonomies Filter in WordPress Search

The default WordPress search hands visitors one long list of posts with no way to narrow it down.

When they can’t filter by category, tag, or post type, most give up and head back to Google.

Adding an Ajax taxonomies filter to your WordPress search fixes that. It lets visitors instantly narrow down results by category, tag, custom field, or post type, which can lead to a more user-friendly experience.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to add an Ajax taxonomies filter to your WordPress site. By the end, you can give your visitors a fast, intuitive search experience.

Why Use Ajax Taxonomies Filter in WordPress Search?

Ajax-powered search is faster and provides a better user experience than the default WordPress search function. Ajax means the results update right on the page in real time, without a full page reload.

For example, a car dealership website might have custom taxonomies for vehicle types, price ranges, models, and more. With Ajax filters, visitors can quickly narrow down their options and find exactly what they need without reloading the page.

You can add similar filters to your own WordPress site to improve navigation and help users find content more easily.

Behind the scenes, WordPress taxonomies (like categories and tags) also make it easier for site owners to organize content in a structured way.

However, the default WordPress search is not that powerful and doesn’t offer the ability to filter content based on taxonomies, among other things. If you use custom taxonomies on your site, the default search performs even worse.

This is where you’ll need a WordPress plugin to help you out. In the following sections, I’ll cover two methods on how to add an Ajax taxonomies filter to a WordPress search.

The first method improves the WordPress search algorithm itself so it includes taxonomies in search results. The second method adds a visible Ajax filter UI that integrates natively with the first method, so visitors can narrow results with a click.

Simply click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred section:

Ready? Let’s get started.

Method 1: Add Ajax Taxonomies to WordPress Search Using SearchWP

The easiest way to add Ajax taxonomies to WordPress search is by using SearchWP. It’s the best search plugin for WordPress and makes it easy for users to find what they’re looking for on your website.

It goes beyond using just the content on your blog posts and pages to look up things. SearchWP uses custom fields, taxonomies, WooCommerce product attributes, text files, custom tables, and more.

For more information about the plugin, see our extensive SearchWP review.

Step 1: Sign up for SearchWP

First, let’s visit the SearchWP website and sign up for an account. The Standard plan ($99/year, 1 site) covers everything you need for this method.

If you’re planning to add a front-end filter UI (Method 2 below uses WPFilters, also from SearchWP), the All Access bundle ($399/year) includes both plugins and saves you the cost of buying them separately.

After that, you can download and install the plugin on your site. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you will need to go to SearchWP » Settings from the WordPress admin panel. From here, simply enter the license key, which you can easily find in your account area.

Step 2: Create Your Search Algorithm

Now, you can go to SearchWP » Algorithm from the WordPress dashboard.

From here, you can edit the search relevance for your website. For instance, you can increase weights for title, content, slug, and excerpt to help users find what they’re looking for.

To add taxonomies to the search relevance, you can click the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button.

This will open a new window.

You can click the ‘Taxonomies’ dropdown menu and select whether you’d like to include categories, tags, formats, or all of them in the WordPress search.

After selecting the taxonomies, don’t forget to click the ‘Done’ button.

You should now see the taxonomies for your WordPress blog post search algorithm. You can use the slider to increase their relevance in WordPress searches.

You can also click the ‘Edit Rule’ button to determine what content can and cannot appear in the search results.

For instance, SearchWP will include all the categories on your website. You can remove categories from which you don’t want the content to show up or add multiple conditions to customize the search results.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Done’ button when finished.

You can now edit the search algorithm for your pages, media files, WooCommerce products, and more to show up in SearchWP.

Now, whenever a visitor searches for pages and posts on your website, SearchWP will include taxonomies during the search process.

Method 2: Add a Front-End Filter UI with WPFilters

Method 1 made the WordPress search algorithm taxonomy-aware on the backend. Method 2 adds the visible filter UI that visitors interact with on the front end.

WPFilters is the natural pairing — it’s built by the same SearchWP team and integrates with SearchWP out of the box. It comes with a drag-and-drop builder, so you can set up checkboxes, dropdowns, sliders, and search filters without touching code. It also supports Advanced Custom Fields and any custom post type, which makes it a strong fit if you’ve built out custom content on your site.

Placing the WPFilters element in your search results sidebar (or any widget area that shows on the search results page) lets visitors narrow SearchWP’s results in real time, without page reloads.

For more details, you can check out our full WPFilters review.

Step 1: Installing the WPFilters Plugin

To get started, you’ll need to create a WPFilters account on the SearchWP website. WPFilters is developed by the team at SearchWP, so it integrates natively with the SearchWP setup you just completed in Method 1.

If you bought the SearchWP All Access bundle in Method 1, WPFilters is already included with your subscription — just download the WPFilters ZIP from your SearchWP account area and skip ahead to Step 2.

Otherwise, click the ‘Get WPFilters Now’ button on the WPFilters product page, choose a plan, and complete the checkout process. The Standard plan ($49/year, 1 site) covers everything you need for this tutorial.

Upon signup, you’ll want to download the plugin ZIP file to your computer and copy your license key.

Next, you’ll install and activate the plugin on your WordPress site.

In your WordPress admin area, go to Plugins » Add Plugin.

Next, you can click the ‘Upload Plugin’ button.

In the file uploader, simply click the ‘Choose File’ button to upload your WPFilters zip file from your computer. Click ‘Install Now’ and then ‘Activate’ when it appears to complete installation.

For details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is active, WPFilters will walk you through a setup wizard to complete the initial configuration. I recommend following each step carefully so that the plugin is ready to go before you start building your filters.

With that done, you can click ‘Save and Complete.’

Step 2: Setting Up Ajax Taxonomies Filters

Now, it’s time to create your first filter.

From your WordPress dashboard, go to WPFilters » Elements and click ‘Add New’ to create a new filter element.

You’ll be prompted to give your filter element a name.

Choose something descriptive that helps you identify it later, like “Category Filter” or “Product Type Filter.”

Next, you’ll need to choose a filter type.

WPFilters gives you several display options to choose from, including:

• Checkboxes – great for letting users select multiple options at once
• Radio buttons – ideal when you want users to pick just one option
• Dropdowns – a compact option that works well when you have many filter choices
• Dropdown (Multiselect) – Lets users choose more than one option from a single dropdown list
• Search – Adds a search box so users can quickly find what they need
• Slider – Ideal for selecting ranges, such as prices or other numeric values
• Reset Button – Allows users to clear all applied filters with one click

For this tutorial, we’ll use the Checkbox filter type because it allows users to select multiple categories or tags at the same time. It gives them the most flexibility when narrowing down their search.

The other filter types fit different jobs: use a Slider for price ranges or numeric values, a Dropdown when one taxonomy has 10+ terms and vertical space is tight, Radio buttons for single-value attributes like sort order, and Search when there are too many terms to scan visually.

Once you’re happy with the filter type, scroll down to the ‘Data Source’ section. This is where you’ll connect your filter to an actual taxonomy on your site.

You can select from any of the taxonomies available on your WordPress site, such as:

• Categories – the default WordPress content categories
• Tags – the default WordPress tags
• Custom taxonomies – any custom taxonomies you’ve created for your site

I recommend taking a moment here to think about which taxonomy makes the most sense for your visitors. Choosing the right one will make your filter much more useful and intuitive for the people browsing your site.

Step 3: Customizing Your Filter Element

Now that you’ve set up your filter and connected it to a taxonomy, it’s time to customize how it looks and behaves on your site. WPFilters gives you a good range of display options to help you match the filter to your site’s design and your visitors’ needs.

In the ‘Container’ section, you’ll find options like:

• Show title – displays a heading above your filter so visitors know what they’re filtering by
• Collapsible elements – lets visitors expand or collapse the filter, which is useful if you have multiple filters on one page
• See more/less – show a See More link to collapse your list if it’s too long
• Show more after – if you enable ‘See more/less,’ you can specify the number of items to show initially before displaying the link
• Horizontal layout – arranges your filter options side by side instead of stacked, which can work well for wider layouts

Go ahead and turn on the ones you want.

Next, you can customize how your filter items are displayed, such as:

• Item count – shows the number of posts available under each filter term, so visitors know what to expect before they click.
• Show empty – choose whether to show taxonomy terms that have no matching content.
• Hierarchical – turning on hierarchical display makes it much easier for readers to navigate your content, which can improve user experience.

Here’s what you see on the screen:

Once you’re happy with your settings, click ‘Save’ to store your filter configuration.

Your filter element will then be ready to be added to any post or page on your WordPress site.

If you want to create another WPFilters element, you can simply repeat the process.

Step 4: Embedding Your Filters in WordPress

Now that your filter element is saved, it’s time to add it to your site so visitors can actually use it.

For the SearchWP + WPFilters pairing we set up in Method 1, the most useful placement is the sidebar widget on your search results page — that’s where SearchWP’s results appear, and the filter will narrow them in real time as visitors click.

WPFilters gives you three placement options:

• Sidebar widget (recommended for search-results filtering) – appears on every page that uses your sidebar, including the search results page.
• Gutenberg block – place the filter on a specific page (good if you also want filtered archive pages, like a “Browse by Category” landing page).
• Shortcode – paste anywhere a shortcode is supported, including page builders and classic widgets.

To add the filter to your sidebar, go to Appearance » Widgets in your admin area.

From here, look for your theme’s sidebar (for example, a Primary Sidebar or Search Sidebar) in the list of available widget areas. Click on it to expand and view existing widgets.

Next, click the plus icon to add a new widget, then add the WPFilters Element widget.

In the Element Settings panel, select your filter from the dropdown menu.

You can add multiple filter widgets if you want to offer more filtering options (one widget per taxonomy works well — for example, one Category filter and one Tag filter side by side).

Once you’ve selected your filter, click ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ to save your changes.

Your Ajax taxonomy filter will now appear in the sidebar on your search results page, letting visitors narrow SearchWP’s results in real time.

Bonus Tips: More Things You Can Do with SearchWP

Once you’ve added Ajax taxonomies filtering, there are even more ways to improve your WordPress search with SearchWP. Here are a few extra features worth checking out:

🌫️ Use Fuzzy Search for Better Matching

By default, WordPress search only looks for exact matches. That means if a visitor misspells a word or uses a slightly different phrase, they might not find what they’re looking for.

Fuzzy search solves that problem by showing results that are close enough, like catching typos or similar word forms. It’s a simple way to customize your WordPress search to be smarter.

See our guide on how to add fuzzy search in WordPress for more details.

📄 Make PDF Files Searchable

If you share PDFs on your site, like manuals, eBooks, or brochures, SearchWP can index the content inside those files. This means when someone uses your search bar, results can include what’s written inside the PDFs, not just the file titles.

It’s especially useful for business sites, resource-heavy blogs, and even schools.

Learn more in our guide on how to add PDF indexing and searching in WordPress.

🛍️ Improve Product Search in WooCommerce

If you run an online store, SearchWP can upgrade your product search, too.

Instead of relying on WooCommerce’s default search, you can create a smarter product search that prioritizes titles, categories, tags, or even custom fields. This helps customers find the right product faster, and that can lead to more sales.

See our guide on how to make a smart WooCommerce product search.

And for more tips and tricks, you can see our guide on how to improve WordPress search with SearchWP.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ajax Taxonomy Filters in WordPress

Before I wrap up, here are some common questions our readers ask about adding Ajax taxonomy filters in WordPress.

Do I need coding skills to add Ajax filters in WordPress?

No, you don’t need any coding skills. Both methods above work without code — SearchWP is configured through its settings panel, and WPFilters uses a drag-and-drop builder plus a Gutenberg block or widget.

Do I need both SearchWP and WPFilters, or can I just use one?

They do different jobs. SearchWP makes the WordPress search engine itself taxonomy-aware on the backend. WPFilters adds the visible filter UI on the front end. You can use SearchWP alone if you just want better search results, or pair both for the full Ajax-filtering experience. The All Access bundle includes both at a single price.

Can I use taxonomy filters on WooCommerce products?

Yes, taxonomy filters work great for WooCommerce stores. You can let customers filter products by categories, tags, attributes (like size or color), and more — similar to the filtering experience on large eCommerce sites.

What’s the difference between Ajax filtering and regular filtering?

With Ajax filtering, results update instantly without refreshing the page. Regular filtering reloads the entire page every time a user selects an option, which can feel slower.

Will adding Ajax filters slow down my website?

No, not necessarily. In most cases, Ajax filters improve user experience by loading only the filtered results instead of refreshing the entire page. Just make sure you’re using a well-optimized plugin.

Improve Your WordPress Site with Advanced Search and Filter

I hope this article helped you add an Ajax-powered taxonomy filter to your WordPress search on your site.

Next, you may also want to check out our guides on:

• How to Let Users Filter Posts and Pages in WordPress
• How to Create a Filterable Portfolio in WordPress
• How to Set Up WooCommerce Product Filter
• How to Fix WordPress Search Not Working
• How to See Search Analytics in WordPress

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