Job wordpress-directory-search-and-filter · revised 11 October 2026

Add search, filters and sorting to one WordPress directory or listing page

Add keyword search, up to three filters and sorting to one existing WordPress listing, with shareable addresses, working pagination and agreed behaviour for empty results.

You might be seeing

Visitors scroll a long unfiltered list to find one entry
The built-in site search returns pages and posts mixed with listing entries
Filters reset when the visitor moves to page two
A filter address cannot be shared because it does not change the page address

Enquire — from £590 Check if it fits first What to send us

No passwords, keys, card details or admin invites needed to start.

From £590

Final price agreed before we start

The starting price covers one listing, up to three filters, keyword search and sorting on a list of up to a few thousand entries whose filter values are already stored. We confirm the price after seeing the listing and how its values are stored.

You pay: After the agreed checks pass and you sign off. No advance payment.
Includes: Search, filters and sorting on one listing; Shareable addresses and working pagination; A tested matrix of at least twelve combinations; Install and removal steps
Technology: WordPress, Search, PHP
Delivery: Start window and delivery date agreed in writing after eligibility and access checks.

This is a new fixed-price service. We agree scope and checks with you before starting, and you pay after it works and you sign off.

Enquiry only: no checkout, charge or booking. The written quote confirms the total price and any applicable tax before you accept.

What usually happened

A WordPress archive lists entries newest first and nothing else. Adding filters well means deciding where each filter value is stored, how it combines with search and sorting, how pagination keeps the choice, what happens when nothing matches, and how search engines should treat the many address combinations the filters create.

Who it’s for: Owner or agency of a WordPress site with a list of people, properties, events or resources that visitors cannot narrow down.

Usually starts when: The listing has grown past what visitors will scroll, enquiries ask "do you have one in this area?", or a filter plugin was tried and slowed or broke the page.

The result: On the one listing page you name, a visitor can search, apply up to three filters and sort, every result set has a shareable address that reproduces it, pagination keeps the choice, and an agreed fixture set returns the expected counts for each tested combination.

Check whether this job fits

A few short questions. Your answers stay on this page unless you choose to email them.

How to read your answers: any answer below means this fixed job needs a closer look or doesn’t fit.

Is each thing you want to filter on stored in a category, tag, taxonomy or custom field? It is only in the text of each entry: Free text cannot be filtered reliably. The values need to be pulled into fields first; the custom content type job does that and can be quoted with this one. Custom content type with ACF
Is each thing you want to filter on stored in a category, tag, taxonomy or custom field? Not sure: Open one entry in the admin. A box for categories or a labelled field means a value is stored; a long text box does not.
About how many entries does the listing hold? Tens of thousands: That size usually needs a dedicated search service or index and is a larger project.
Do visitors need to search by distance or on a map? Yes: Location search needs coordinates, a map or distance service and is outside this fixed job.
Have you already tried a filter plugin? Yes, and it was slow or broke the page: Say which one and what happened. We will check whether the plugin's own settings fix it before building anything, and quote a smaller job if so.

Checks you can run yourself

Try five searches yourself
Write down five things a visitor would look for and try to find each in the current list.
Look for: The ones you cannot find quickly. They become the test combinations.
Count the filter values
For each filter write how many different values there are.
Look for: Filters with a handful of values suit dropdowns; hundreds of values need a different design.

What you get

The search and filter code as a small plugin or theme files, with install steps
A test matrix of at least twelve search and filter combinations with expected and actual counts
The agreed policy for filter addresses, written out
Desktop and phone screenshots of the controls and results
Steps to add a new filter value

Included

One existing listing of posts or one custom post type whose filter values are stored as categories, tags, custom taxonomies or custom fields
Keyword search limited to that listing, up to three filters and one or two sort orders
Choices carried in the page address so a result set can be shared and reloaded
An agreed empty-results state and an agreed policy for how search engines treat filter addresses
A plain form that works with JavaScript switched off, with an optional script that updates the list without a reload

Not included

Building the content type or entering the entries: use the custom content type job
Map-based or distance search
Live counts beside every filter option on very large lists
Replacing WordPress's site-wide search
Search of text inside uploaded documents
A paid search service or plugin licence

How we know it’s done

Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.

Each of at least twelve search and filter combinations returns exactly the number and set of entries expected from the fixture set on staging
Evidence: The test matrix with expected and actual results
Moving to the next page, changing the sort or reloading the address keeps the same search and filters, and opening the address in a new browser window reproduces the result
Evidence: Recorded steps and screenshots
With JavaScript switched off the search and filter form still works and returns the same results for three combinations
Evidence: A recording or screenshots of the three runs
A combination with no matches shows the agreed empty state and returns the agreed status code
Evidence: The response code and screenshot for two empty combinations

Sign-off. You sign off after the staging checks pass and your site holder installs the code and confirms three of your own example searches on the live site.

If it fails. If the checks do not pass, you do not pay, and you keep the notes and the code written so far.

When it fits, and when we stop

It fits when

The entries are WordPress posts or a custom post type with up to a few thousand entries
Every value you want to filter on is already stored consistently in a taxonomy or a field
You can state which combinations should work, with a few examples
A staging copy exists

We stop and tell you if

The entries live in an outside system rather than in WordPress
The filter values are free text typed differently in each entry and need cleaning first
The list has tens of thousands of entries or needs live availability or distance results
The listing page is built by a page-builder widget whose query cannot be changed
The site is a multisite network, which is quoted separately

What could go wrong

The feature is a small plugin or a short list of theme files. Deactivating the plugin or removing the files restores the unfiltered listing; no entries are changed.

Scroll the table sideways to read it all.

Risk	How we handle it
The filter changes other queries on the site, such as sidebars or the admin list	The change is limited to the front-end main query of the named listing, and the reviewer checks other screens.
Many filter combinations create a huge number of crawlable addresses	We agree a written policy for them before building and explain the effect of each option.
A slow filtered query on a large list	We measure the response on a realistic fixture and stop and re-quote if it cannot meet the budget agreed first.

A second reviewer checks that visitor input is validated and escaped, that the query only changes the named listing and not admin or other loops, and that the test matrix matches the fixture set.

How we deliver

We arrange the work and independent review, then show you the result against the agreed checks. You keep authority over your systems.

Agree the filters, sort orders, empty-results behaviour and the policy for filter addresses
Build a fixture set on staging that covers every filter value and edge case
Build the search and filters on the main listing query so addresses are shareable, scoped to the listing only
Check pagination, sorting, empty results and the page with JavaScript off
Run the test matrix, measure the filtered page's response time on staging and record it against the budget agreed first
Independent review of the query handling and escaping, then hand over

This is a one-off job, not emergency cover or a subscription. We confirm eligibility, the total price, a start window and a delivery date before you accept. Work starts only after agreed inputs, secure access, any licences and necessary permissions are in place. Hosting, plugin licence and supplier charges are excluded unless the written quote includes them. No charge or booking is created by an enquiry.

Need to keep it working?

Discuss adding a further filter or a new content type later.

Ongoing work is separately scoped and quoted: no monitoring, response-time guarantee or automatic subscription is included in this job.

Explore an ongoing engineering lane, or mention the responsibility you need in your enquiry.

What you can check

This is a new service. We have not delivered this job for a client yet.

Other ways to get this done

A maintained filter plugin may do this with settings alone. If your values are tidy and your theme supports it, try a plugin on staging first.
For a short list, a single page with a jump menu of categories is simpler than a filter.

Questions

Will it slow down my site?

We measure the filtered page on a realistic fixture and record it against a budget agreed first. If it cannot meet that budget we tell you before you pay.

Can visitors share a filtered result?

Yes, the choices are carried in the page address.

What about search engines?

Filter combinations can create many addresses. We agree a policy with you and explain the trade-offs rather than choosing silently.

Send an enquiry

Send us

The address of the listing page and roughly how many entries it holds
The filters you want and where each value is stored, if you know
Three or four example searches a visitor would make and what they should find
The theme and page editor in use
Whether a filter or search plugin is already installed

Later, once you agree

A staging copy with a realistic set of made-up or anonymised entries
A staging admin login
Your choice on the empty-results and filter-address policy once we have explained the options
A company-controlled secure handoff agreed before access: no live passwords, keys, private code or customer records by ordinary email.

You keep the live site and its content. We build on a staging copy; your site holder installs the code on the live site.

Email fallback: open your mail app

If website submission is unavailable, review and send the fallback email yourself. An email fallback is not a website receipt. Or write to hello@syntheticindustry.ai with “wordpress-directory-search-and-filter” as the subject.