Skipping searches made only of short words
A search such as “re”, “XL” or “2m” has no word of 3 characters or more. The database’s full-text index only holds words of 3 characters or more, so it cannot answer that search, and Super Speedy Search has to read every row of the search index to find matches. On a small store that is quick. On a large catalogue it takes seconds, and the dropdown asks for it on almost every first keystroke. The setting Skip searches made only of words shorter than 3 characters answers those searches with no products instead.
Available since 5.95.0.
Where to find it
Go to Super Speedy Search > Multi-search and scroll to Large Catalogues and Archives. Tick Skip searches made only of words shorter than 3 characters and save. It is off by default, and no rebuild is needed.
What changes when it is ticked
| Search | Off (default) | Ticked |
|---|---|---|
| Only short words: “re”, “XL”, “q7 bw” | Reads the whole search index to find titles and SKUs containing them | Returns no products, on the dropdown and on the search results page |
| A short word with a longer one: “dress xl”, “cable 2m” | Matches titles and SKUs containing the short word | Unchanged |
| A fragment of a SKU on its own: “X2” | Finds products whose SKU contains it | Finds nothing; the full SKU is still found |
| Taxonomy results in the dropdown (categories, brands and other terms) | Matches the short word anywhere in the term name, description or term meta | Matches the start of the term name only, so “ca” finds Caterpillar but not Excavators |
| Searches in wp-admin | Unaffected | Unaffected |
Search suggestions and taxonomy combination suggestions behave the same either way, because they match by the start of a word in both cases.
wp-admin list screens are deliberately left out, so an administrator looking up a SKU fragment on the Products screen still finds it.
The full-text index is what makes Super Speedy Search fast, and a search with no word long enough for it falls back to a scan of every indexed row. One such search on a large catalogue does more database work than many normal searches together. Shoppers rarely want the results of a 2-letter search anyway: by the time the dropdown has fetched them, they have typed the next letter.
When to tick it
- Large catalogues, where a search for “re” or “xs” takes seconds
- Stores whose dropdown fires on the first or second keystroke
- Busy stores, where those scans from many shoppers add up on the database server
- Stores whose shoppers search by short codes on their own, such as a 2-character size, model or part code
- Stores where shoppers paste a fragment of a SKU rather than the whole SKU
If shoppers search by short codes but always alongside another word (“dress xl”, “bolt m6”), ticking it is safe: those searches match the same products as with the setting off.
Pairing it with Cancel Superseded Searches
The two settings tackle the same problem from different ends. This one avoids the most expensive dropdown searches altogether. Cancel Superseded Searches, on the Front-end tab, stops the searches for letters a shopper has typed past. A large store gets the most from both.
Troubleshooting
A product with a short SKU cannot be found. If the SKU itself is 1 or 2 characters, or the shopper types only part of it, the search is skipped by design. Untick the setting, or ask shoppers to search with the full SKU or with another word.
Category or brand results look different for short searches. With the setting ticked, taxonomy results for a short-only search match the start of the term name. Descriptions and term meta are not searched for those searches.
Further reading
Written for Super Speedy Search 5.95.0.
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