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Frequently asked questions

Do I need an Algolia or Meilisearch account?​

No. The Local backend indexes your content into your own WordPress database and needs no account or keys. Algolia and Meilisearch add typo tolerance and more sorting options, and take the search load off your server.

Is personalised filtering secure?​

It depends on what the filter is for.

  • Preference filters, such as "only my favourites" or "only courses I'm enrolled in", run in the browser. That's safe because they only ever narrow the visitor's own view of content they're already allowed to see.
  • Access control, which hides content a visitor isn't allowed to see, is enforced on the server, so it can't be bypassed by editing the page. It's off by default and a developer switches it on per index. See Hooks and filters.

Does SearchSync store data about my users in the search index?​

No. Enrollments, progress and favourites are looked up when a visitor searches, not written into records. See How personalisation works.

Author details (name, username, avatar and archive link) are indexed if you include the post_author attribute. The index editor also lets you add user fields such as email addresses; don't add personal data to an index unless it's meant to be searchable.

My shortcode shows nothing. Why?​

Log in as an administrator and look at the page again. Broken shortcodes show a red message to administrators explaining the problem, such as a view slug that doesn't exist or a filter name that doesn't match. Visitors never see these messages. See Shortcodes.

Why do I see "This looks like a staging site"?​

SearchSync detected a staging environment and paused its connection so the copy can't overwrite your live index. See Staging mode.

How do I let visitors sort results?​

Add a Sort By filter. How you set up each sort order depends on your backend: replica indexes on Algolia, a sort suffix on Meilisearch, or one of three sort fields on Local.

What happens if my search backend goes down?​

The admin screens keep working. SearchSync shows a notice explaining the problem, with a link to Connection Setup so you can fix your credentials. The Index Settings screen still lets you edit your indexes, though nothing can be indexed until the backend is back.

On the front end, search pages show no results rather than an error.

What happens to my data when I uninstall?​

Uninstalling removes SearchSync's settings. Records in Algolia or Meilisearch stay in your account until you delete them there. The Local backend's tables are kept by default, so reinstalling picks up where you left off.

I used Tangible Algolia. Will my site still work?​

SearchSync is the new name for Tangible Algolia. Old shortcodes, hooks, class names and JavaScript globals still work. See Backwards compatibility.