I want to replace word/character in wordpress search using the below code, though it works but not well.

E.G: if i search for only var it replaces var to foo and its works properly fine.

but if i add more words to it, it won't work anymore. E.G: if i search for happy var or some var link it probably doesn't work anymore.

I dont know why, here is the code below:

$search_replacements = array(
    '-' => ' ',
    '&' => 'replace2',
    'var' => 'foo'
);
function modify_search_term($request_vars) {
    global $search_replacements;
    if (!empty($request_vars['s']) && !empty($search_replacements[$request_vars['s']])) {
        $request_vars['s'] = $search_replacements[$request_vars['s']];
    }
    return $request_vars;
}
add_filter('request', 'modify_search_term');

I want to replace word/character in wordpress search using the below code, though it works but not well.

E.G: if i search for only var it replaces var to foo and its works properly fine.

but if i add more words to it, it won't work anymore. E.G: if i search for happy var or some var link it probably doesn't work anymore.

I dont know why, here is the code below:

$search_replacements = array(
    '-' => ' ',
    '&' => 'replace2',
    'var' => 'foo'
);
function modify_search_term($request_vars) {
    global $search_replacements;
    if (!empty($request_vars['s']) && !empty($search_replacements[$request_vars['s']])) {
        $request_vars['s'] = $search_replacements[$request_vars['s']];
    }
    return $request_vars;
}
add_filter('request', 'modify_search_term');

• search

1 Answer 1

Your code says, "If the search term isn't empty, and that exact search term is in my search replacements array, then replace the term." So, instead of this:

!empty($search_replacements[$request_vars['s']]

(which means, if this exact search term [$request_vars['s'] is in my $search_replacements array)

you'll need to instead loop through your search replacements array every time someone searches, and in the loop check whether the current search term is a substring of the current key in the loop. If so, then do your replacement - but only replace the substring and not the full string.

So, you'll need something like this:

<?php
function modify_search_term($request_vars) {
    // Global is usually not ideal - include the terms inside your filter.
    $search_replacements = array(
        '-' => ' ',
        '&' => 'replace2',
        'var' => 'foo'
    );
    // Loop through all of the Search Replacements
    foreach($search_replacements as $key => $replacement) {
        // Check for current Key in the Search Term
        if(stripos($request_vars['s'], $key)) {
            // Replace the Key with the Replacement - but don't affect the rest of the Search Term
            $request_vars['s'] = str_replace($key, $replacement, $request_vars['s']);
        }
    }
    // Always return
    return $request_vars;
}
add_filter('request', 'modify_search_term');
?>