Ghost search plugins provide an efficient way to enhance your website's search functionality. These plugins allow users to easily locate specific content, files, or sections within your site. Whether you're managing a personal blog or a large content site, Ghost search plugins make it easier for users to find the information they need. They are especially helpful for organizing large volumes of content and making the user experience more seamless.

Search functionality plays a vital role in delivering a better user experience by enabling visitors to find relevant information quickly. Implementing search plugins can help streamline content discovery, ensuring users stay engaged and can easily navigate through your site. These plugins also support a more organized and focused browsing experience, especially for users searching for specific articles, posts, or resources.

Best Ghost CMS Search Plugins

Ghost CMS offers a wide range of search plugins, each tailored to specific needs and designed to integrate smoothly with your website. These plugins are popular due to Ghost’s simple and intuitive user interface, and the extensive plugin library makes it easy to find one that matches your site's requirements. Below, we explore the top 5 Ghost CMS search plugins and libraries that can improve search capabilities on your site:

1.) Native Search (Ghost Official)

The Ghost Native Search plugin allows you to add a robust search feature directly into your website, enabling visitors to quickly find the information they need. This plugin is perfect for businesses and websites that need to track customer information, product details, and services. Ghost Native Search offers user-friendly features such as sorting content by popularity, date, or relevance, making the browsing experience more intuitive.

This plugin was one of the most-requested features, and now it is incredibly easy to integrate into any Ghost theme. There are two ways to add this feature:

a.) Add a navigation link to #/search.
b.) Use the data-ghost-search attribute on any element in Ghost.

Both methods produce the same result by opening a search popup when clicked, making it easier for visitors to access the search functionality without additional coding knowledge.

Visit Ghost Website

2.) Fuse.js

Fuse.js is a powerful, lightweight fuzzy-search library designed for websites looking for an efficient and minimalistic search tool. One of the key benefits of Fuse.js is that it doesn’t require a separate backend, simplifying the setup process. It integrates smoothly with Ghost CMS, allowing users to perform fuzzy searches directly on their site content. This library is also highly customizable and easy to implement, making it a popular choice among developers.

Requirements:

  • Ghost Content API
  • Input field for search
  • Custom integration setup

Basic options include:

  • isCaseSensitive: Whether the search is case-sensitive.
  • includeScore: Option to include the search score in results.
  • includeMatches: Adds matching results to the set.
  • minMatchCharLength: Sets the minimum length for matching terms.
  • shouldSort: Enables sorting the result list by score.
  • keys: Defines which fields should be searchable.
Visit Fuse.js Website

Ghost Search is a simple, yet effective search plugin designed specifically for Ghost CMS. It works seamlessly with Ghost 3.0 and higher versions, allowing users to search for specific content, articles, or posts directly from the site. Ghost Search utilizes fuzzy sorting under the hood, making it a highly accurate and reliable search tool. This plugin is available on GitHub and is a go-to option for developers looking for a solid search solution for Ghost websites.

Requirements:

  • Ghost Content API
  • Input field for search
  • Integration of ghost-search library

Options include:

  • url: URL of the custom integration.
  • key: API key for the content.
  • version: Set to v3 for Ghost 3.0.
  • input: Field ID for search input.
  • results: Element ID where search results will display.
  • button: Element ID to trigger search.
  • template: Custom template for displaying results.
Visit Ghost Search GitHub Repository

4.) Ghost Finder

Ghost Finder is another excellent search plugin available for Ghost CMS. This plugin helps you keep your content well-organized and easy to find. It provides an efficient way to search through posts, articles, or pages on your site without having to manually sift through content. Ghost Finder is particularly useful for bloggers or websites with a lot of content, as it helps visitors locate specific posts quickly.

Requirements:

  • Add the search script to your theme.
  • Create a search input element.
  • Set up custom integration in Ghost Admin.

Options include:

  • input: Input field for search queries.
  • showResult: Element where search results appear.
  • homeUrl: URL of your website.
  • contentApiKey: API key for accessing content.
  • resultTemplate: Template for search results.
  • excerptLength: Number of characters in the result excerpt.
Visit Ghost Finder GitHub Repository

5.) Ghost Hunter

Ghost Hunter was one of the first search plugins made for Ghost. Although it provides decent functionality, the major drawback is its reliance on jQuery, which can increase the size of the scripts on your website, potentially slowing down performance. However, if your site already uses jQuery, Ghost Hunter can still be a good option for integrating basic search functionality.

Requirements:

  • Include the Ghost Hunter script in your theme.
  • Set up a custom integration in Ghost Admin.

Options include:

  • results: The ID where search results will be placed.
  • onKeyUp: Enables real-time search as you type.
  • resultTemplate: Handlebars template for displaying results.
  • displaySearchInfo: Displays total search results.
  • onComplete: Function to run after the search is complete.
Visit Ghost Hunter GitHub Repository

To Sum Up

In conclusion, Ghost CMS offers a variety of search plugins and libraries that can improve the user experience by enhancing search functionality on your website. Whether you're looking for a simple, lightweight search plugin or a more advanced library, the options listed here can help you meet your site's needs. For premium Ghost templates and more resources, be sure to check out our site at themeix.com.