Boolean Search

Current version: 1.4.3

SearchWP Boolean Query is a lightweight add-on that adds exclusion capabilities to your search queries. Unlike many SearchWP extensions, this one doesn’t add any settings pages or configuration screens. You simply install and activate it alongside SearchWP, and it immediately starts recognizing exclusion patterns in search queries.

How It Works

The Boolean Extension introduces support for two exclusion patterns within search queries:

Hyphen Exclusion (-word)

Any word prefixed with a hyphen (-)—without a space—will be excluded from the search results. The word is removed from the main query and added to an exclusion list.

NOT Operator (NOT word)

The keyword NOT (case-insensitive) can be used as a standalone term to exclude the word that follows it. The NOT keyword itself is removed from the search query, and the next word is treated as an exclusion.

Both methods allow users to easily refine results using natural search input.

Examples

Using the Boolean extension is straightforward—users type their search keywords normally and add exclusions using either the hyphen or NOT pattern. Words should be separated by spaces for the extension to recognize the patterns correctly.