WooCommerce: Search By Custom Field (Frontend)

The default WooCommerce frontend product search returns results based on whether the search term is present in the product title, short and long description. Also, you can optionally search products by SKU.

But what if you also want to search for a custom field value e.g. you have a custom field called “_brand” and you want to get the products where “_brand” is equal to “apple“?

Now, I’m not sure I’ve explained this in plain English, so let’s take a look at a practical example. Enjoy!

PHP Snippet: Search Products By Custom Field Value @ WooCommerce Search

The only thing you need to change in the snippet below is ‘_brand‘. Change it to the key of your custom field, and you should get results based on that. Let me know in the comments if it works!

/**
 * @snippet       Search By Custom Field @ WooCommerce Search
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 7
 * @donate $9     https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/
 */

add_filter( 'posts_search', 'bbloomer_product_search_by_custom_field' );

function bbloomer_product_search_by_custom_field( $where ) {
    global $wpdb, $wp;
    if ( is_admin() || ! is_search() || ! isset( $wp->query_vars['s'] ) || 'product' != $wp->query_vars['post_type'] ) {
        return $where;
    }
    $product_ids = array();
    $terms = explode( ',', $wp->query_vars['s'] );
    foreach ( $terms as $term ) {		
		$products = $wpdb->get_results( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT ID, post_parent FROM {$wpdb->posts} LEFT JOIN {$wpdb->postmeta} ON {$wpdb->posts}.ID = {$wpdb->postmeta}.post_id WHERE meta_key IN ( '_brand' ) AND meta_value LIKE %s;", '%' . $wpdb->esc_like( wc_clean( $term ) ) . '%' ) );       
		$products = array_merge( wp_list_pluck( $products, 'ID' ), wp_list_pluck( $products, 'post_parent' ) );
        if ( sizeof( $products ) > 0 ) {
            $product_ids = array_merge( $product_ids, $products );
        }
    }
    $product_ids = array_filter( array_unique( array_map( 'absint', $product_ids ) ) );
	if ( sizeof( $product_ids ) > 0 ) {
        $where = str_replace( 'AND (((', "AND ( ({$wpdb->posts}.ID IN (" . implode( ',', $product_ids ) . ")) OR ((", $where );
    }	
    return $where;	
}

Where to add custom code?

You should place custom PHP in functions.php and custom CSS in style.css of your child theme: where to place WooCommerce customization?

This code still works, unless you report otherwise. To exclude conflicts, temporarily switch to the Storefront theme, disable all plugins except WooCommerce, and test the snippet again: WooCommerce troubleshooting 101

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Rodolfo Melogli

Business Bloomer Founder

Author, WooCommerce expert and WordCamp speaker, Rodolfo has worked as an independent WooCommerce freelancer since 2011. His goal is to help entrepreneurs and developers overcome their WooCommerce nightmares. Rodolfo loves travelling, chasing tennis & soccer balls and, of course, wood fired oven pizza. Follow @rmelogli