# Match Category and Tag Names in Search

> Makes the site search also return posts whose categories or tags match the search words, so searching "recipes" finds everything filed under Recipes.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Search](https://wpide.com/library/category/search/)
- Tags: search, categories, tags
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/search-category-and-tag-names/

## Code

```php
// Taxonomies whose term names are searched.
$wpide_search_taxonomies = array( 'category', 'post_tag' );

add_filter( 'posts_search', function ( $search, $query ) use ( $wpide_search_taxonomies ) {
    global $wpdb;

    if ( '' === $search || is_admin() || ! $query->is_main_query() || ! $query->is_search() || ! $wpide_search_taxonomies ) {
        return $search;
    }

    $taxonomies = "'" . implode( "','", array_map( 'esc_sql', $wpide_search_taxonomies ) ) . "'";
    $pattern    = '/\(' . preg_quote( $wpdb->posts, '/' ) . '\.post_title LIKE (\'(?:[^\'\\\\]|\\\\.)*\')\)/';

    $result = preg_replace_callback( $pattern, function ( $m ) use ( $wpdb, $taxonomies ) {
        return $m[0] . " OR ({$wpdb->posts}.ID IN (SELECT tr.object_id FROM {$wpdb->term_relationships} tr INNER JOIN {$wpdb->term_taxonomy} tt ON tt.term_taxonomy_id = tr.term_taxonomy_id INNER JOIN {$wpdb->terms} t ON t.term_id = tt.term_id WHERE tt.taxonomy IN ({$taxonomies}) AND t.name LIKE {$m[1]}))";
    }, $search );

    return null === $result ? $search : $result;
}, 10, 2 );
```

## Notes

Add custom taxonomies to $wpide_search_taxonomies to include them too.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Match Category and Tag Names in Search" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/