Search Results template Query Loop Issues in 2024

[rawdolphe]

Description

The 'Search Results' template seems broken; when setting 'Query Loop' to Layout > Settings > POST TYPE > Post.
The search results pulls ALL posts / Always, regardless of the keyword used. Same when set to 'Page'.

Step-by-step reproduction instructions

1. Load 'Search Results' template.
2. Go to 'Query Loop' in 'List View' on the left hand side.
3. Got to Block 'Settings' and click on 'Settings' (Inherit query from template) and make it > POST TYPE > Post
4. Go to the front end and do a search (assuming you have a search Block icon OR just hit /?s=any_keyword...)
5. The Search Query will output ALL posts, regardless of the keyword used, so it doesn't filter anything, and it always output all posts.
6. Repeat for 'Page' = same issue.
7. Re-set it to default 'Inherit query from template' and it will pull posts and pages, as it should.
8. So the problem is when set to Post or page. To me it's broken, as these settings don't do anything at all.
9. I tried a plugin called Ajax Search Lite, I set to show Post only, and it worked fine, Even with the native Gutenberg Search Block.

Screenshots, screen recording, code snippet

No response

Environment info

WordPress 6.4.3 Default settings.
Problem with ALL browsers.
Problem with ALL OS.

Please confirm that you have searched existing issues in the repo.

Yes

Please confirm that you have tested with all plugins deactivated except Gutenberg.

Yes

[jordesign]

Hi @rawdolphe - just thinking on this one a little further - my expectation is that the Query Loop in a search template will need to use the 'Inherit main query' option to actually show the search results.

For any Query Loop block - selecting options manually will always set up a new query, rather than doing something like filtering the main query.

[rawdolphe]

Hi @jordesign, I am trying to make sense of this, but still can't work it out:

1. How do we output Posts only in the Search and
2. Why are the Post / page setting options there and if they don't do anything useful in the Search template.

So far, all I can see is that the Search will only output everything; Posts AND Pages. Doesn't make sense.

[carolinan]

Can I close your other ticket? It is not beneficial to keep the discussion in two places.

[t-hamano]

How do we output Posts only in the Search and

The Search block internally has a query as an attribute. You should be able to achieve this by defining post_type via a filter or registerBlockVariation.

registerBlockVariation( 'core/search', {
   name: 'test/custom-search',
   title: 'Test Search Block',
   category: 'test',
   attributes: {
      query: {
         post_type: 'page'
      }
   }
} );

See: #40585

Why are the Post / page setting options there and if they don't do anything useful in the Search template.

These setting options appear when "Inherit query from template" is disabled. That is, it is used to separate it from template queries. So even if you enter any keyword in the Search block, the query will be ignored. An example of disabling this option is to display a pre-filtered list of posts as part of the page's content.

[carolinan]

Yes you can use the search block to pass different query parameters. In other words pass both the post type and the search term that the visitor enters into the field.

This will only work when the search is initiated from that specific search block.
So if someone types /?s=whatever into the address bar it will still show both pages and posts.

These two search blocks will show different results:

<!-- wp:search {"buttonText":"Search","fontSize":"medium"} /-->

<!-- wp:search {"buttonText":"Search posts","query":{"post_type":"post"}} /-->

The plugin probably uses a PHP filter, which would change the search site wide.

[rawdolphe]

Can I close your other ticket? It is not beneficial to keep the discussion in two places.

Sure, I only posted here on your recommendation in my original post. Thank you.

PS: I am not fully clued on on the terminology and/or the ins and outs of posting WordPress related issues. Sorry.

For example, I am testing the Search Block (another 'search' related issue funny enough...) in the header and there are several bugs, where should I talk about it? can I explain it here as it's Search related or not?

[rawdolphe]

Thank you all for trying, I don't know what to do with it, sorry :)

So I chose to pay a visit to my friend chatGPT and he offered the following code, I tested it and it's working now.

My requirement is very simple in the Search 'behaviour'——Hopefully WordPress will update or fix (or improve...) the Search feature in the next update. For now, I am a happy camper.

———
Hi dear friend, I use WordPress Gutenberg and need a php code so that when I hit search with a keyword it will only output posts in the search result. At present the search is hard coded and pulls posts and pages unfortunately. Thank you

Certainly! You can customize the search query in WordPress to only retrieve posts instead of both posts and pages. You can achieve this by adding a filter to modify the search query using the pre_get_posts hook. Here's a PHP code snippet you can add to your theme's functions.php file or in a custom plugin:

// Modify WordPress search to only include posts
function exclude_pages_from_search($query) {
    if ($query->is_search && !is_admin()) {
        $query->set('post_type', 'post');
    }
    return $query;
}
add_filter('pre_get_posts', 'exclude_pages_from_search');

This code hooks into the pre_get_posts action, which allows you to modify the query parameters before WordPress retrieves posts. It checks if the query is a search query ($query->is_search) and if it's not in the admin area (!is_admin()). If both conditions are met, it sets the post_type parameter of the query to 'post', ensuring that only posts are returned in the search results.

After adding this code snippet, your search results should only include posts, excluding pages. Make sure to test it to ensure it works as expected.
———

I then asked: "Is there any potential issue with this code that I should be aware of?" to which he replied but will save the answer unless you are interested / curious...

If you have a better option please let me know, I would be interested!

[t-hamano]

For example, I am testing the Search Block (another 'search' related issue funny enough...) in the header and there are several bugs, where should I talk about it? can I explain it here as it's Search related or not?

I think it's best to report other issues as new issues.

I then asked: "Is there any potential issue with this code that I should be aware of?" to which he replied but will save the answer unless you are interested / curious...

That code should be fine. A similar code example is also introduced on the pre_get_posts hook.

I think that the search result template and query loop block are currently working as per specifications, but is it safe to close this issue?

[rawdolphe]

Sure, please free to close it. Thank for the link, will have a look.

Otherwise, where do I report the issues with the Search Block?

[t-hamano]

@rawdolphe Thank you, I would like to close this issue.

Otherwise, where do I report the issues with the Search Block?

Simply create a new issue.