Compatibility and Integrations
Super Speedy Search is built on native WordPress and native MySQL/MariaDB technology, so it works with a very wide range of themes, page builders and plugins out of the box. It does not depend on any third-party search service, external index or paid add-on. This article covers the setups Super Speedy Search is known to work with and the specific integrations that ship inside the plugin.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the setup Super Speedy Search is most heavily optimised for, although WooCommerce is not required. When WooCommerce is present, the plugin recognises the product and product_variation post types and enriches product results accordingly. In the AJAX results it reads the WooCommerce price via wc_get_product() and includes the rendered price HTML, and it pulls the average rating and rating count from the _wc_average_rating and _wc_rating_count post meta. Product images use the WooCommerce shop_catalog image size rather than the generic thumbnail size, so results match the look of your shop.
Product SKUs and other custom fields are searchable through the meta search system. The _sku field is the most common choice, and for SKU-style values the STARTS WITH match type is usually the fastest. See Search Meta Keys for how to select which meta keys are indexed and how to choose the right match type, and Meta Box Search for searching custom fields more generally.
For SKU-style values that shoppers type from the start (part numbers, reference codes), the STARTS WITH match type is faster than a full contains-match, because it can use the index prefix rather than scanning every value.
Variations are handled by the Smart Variation Search feature, which is on by default and needs no configuration. If a query matches a single child variation, Super Speedy Search shows that variation’s image (for example the red image for a search of “red baseball cap”) and links through to the product page with that variation pre-selected. When a query matches two or more variations of the same parent, the parent product is shown instead (variation rollup). Both behaviours can be adjusted from wp-config.php with SSS_SEARCH_VARIATIONS and SSS_ROLLUP_VARIATIONS. Full details are in Smart Variation Search.
Annasta WooCommerce Product Filters
Super Speedy Search ships a dedicated compatibility shim at compat/annasta-filters.php for the Annasta WooCommerce Product Filters plugin (the A_W_F class). Annasta, like several filter plugins, tries to take over the WooCommerce search query, which would override the results that Super Speedy Search is producing. The shim only loads when the A_W_F class is present, and on the main search query it removes Annasta’s search override so that WooCommerce’s own search_products() never runs and Super Speedy Search stays in control of the results. This happens automatically with no settings to configure. For guidance on combining Super Speedy Search with faceted filtering more generally, see Narrowing Super Speedy Search results with filters.
Ultra Ajax external image integrations
Super Speedy Search can serve AJAX search requests through an “Ultra Ajax” (Fast Ajax) must-use plugin that bypasses full WordPress loading for a large speed gain. Because that fast path deliberately loads only a minimal set of code, sites that store product images externally need their image plugin explicitly loaded into the fast-ajax context. Two such integrations are wired in, each gated by a constant you add to wp-config.php.
WOOSA (SSS_ENABLE_WOOSA). This targets the Woosa VidaXL DS plugin (woosa-vidaxl-ds), a dropshipping plugin that sources products, including their images, from the VidaXL catalogue. Setting define('SSS_ENABLE_WOOSA', true); tells the Ultra Ajax handler to include the Woosa plugin loader so that its externally hosted images resolve correctly inside fast AJAX search results. The constant defaults to false, and the loader is only included when the Woosa plugin file actually exists on disk.
FIFU (Featured Image From URL) premium (SSS_ENABLE_FIFU_PREMIUM). FIFU stores a product’s featured image as an external URL rather than as a media-library attachment. Super Speedy Search added Ultra Ajax compatibility for FIFU premium, activated by adding define('SSS_ENABLE_FIFU_PREMIUM', true); to wp-config.php, so that FIFU’s external images appear in fast AJAX results. As with the other Ultra Ajax integrations, the constant defaults to false and you opt in only if you use that plugin.
There is a matching constant for WP Offload Media (SSS_ENABLE_WP_OFFLOAD_MEDIA_FAST_AJAX) that loads the Offload Media Pro plugin into the fast-ajax context when your media lives on S3 or a CDN. Separately from these constants, Super Speedy Search will also use an external image URL stored in the _external_image_url post meta if one is present, before falling back to the WordPress featured image.
Every Ultra Ajax external-image constant defaults to false, and the matching plugin loader is only included when that plugin’s file actually exists on disk. You only need one if your product images live outside the media library (Woosa VidaXL, FIFU premium, or S3/CDN via Offload Media) and they are missing from fast AJAX results.
Themes: classic and block
Super Speedy Search works with both classic themes and block (Full Site Editor) themes. You place the search in three interchangeable ways:
- Widget. The plugin registers a Super Speedy Search widget, which you drag into any widget area under Appearance then Widgets. You can name it, set placeholder and button text, and even restrict a single widget to specific post types so different pages search different things. See Search Widget.
- Shortcode.
[superspeedysearch]outputs the search anywhere shortcodes run. With no parameters it inherits your global settings, which makes it ideal for dropping into theme templates. See How to add the Super Speedy Search widget into your header for placing it via the Customizer, a themedo_actionhook, or aheader.phpedit. - Gutenberg block. A Super Speedy Search block (
sss/search-block) is available in the block editor and the Full Site Editor, so block-theme users can add and configure search directly in the header template or any page.
Because these cover widgets, shortcodes, block editor and raw template edits, there is a working method for essentially every theme regardless of how it exposes its header.
Page builders and filter plugins
Since placement is via a standard shortcode and a standard block, any page builder that can render a shortcode or a WordPress block can host the search. Filter and faceting plugins generally coexist with Super Speedy Search: the search itself is handled by Super Speedy Search, while your filter plugin narrows the browse and archive pages. The Annasta shim above is the one case where an explicit hand-off was needed; for other combinations see Narrowing Super Speedy Search results with filters.
Hosting and database requirements
Super Speedy Search relies on native MySQL/MariaDB fulltext indexing against its own search table ({prefix}superspeedysearch), so your database needs to support fulltext indexes. InnoDB fulltext indexes arrived in MySQL 5.6, so any current stack (MySQL 8, MariaDB or Percona) is fine, and InnoDB is preferred over MyISAM for its row-level locking. See Fulltext Index for the details.
The one hosting setting to be aware of on larger catalogues is MariaDB/MySQL’s max_allowed_packet. The rebuild builds a few very wide INSERT ... SELECT statements, and the default 16MB is not always enough. The Readiness Status panel on the Main tab warns you when the value is below 64MB. Raise it in your database config (128MB is a safe headroom for most shops), then restart the database and re-run the rebuild. The full procedure, including why the plugin cannot change this from PHP, is in Raise max_allowed_packet for rebuilds and Rebuilding Super Speedy Search tables from the command line: wp sss rebuild.
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