Changelog

Complete version history for Glance Live Search. Each release includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes to make your WooCommerce product search faster, smarter, and more reliable.

Need help upgrading? Check our documentation or contact support.

1.4.0 — February 2026

Major release: FULLTEXT search, Redis/Memcached caching, FSE support, and 20+ improvements.

New Features

  • FULLTEXT search support: Automatic detection of the glse_ft_content index on wp_posts. When present, content and excerpt searches use MATCH...AGAINST in boolean mode instead of LIKE — dramatically faster on large catalogs (10,000+ products).
  • Full Site Editing (FSE) support: The Plugin detects the search bar in wp_template and wp_template_part posts and loads assets accordingly. Template scan results are cached for 1 hour.
  • Object cache integration: Server-side search cache now uses wp_cache_set() / wp_cache_get() with the glse cache group — fully compatible with Redis, Memcached, and other persistent object caches.
  • Automatic cache invalidation: Search cache is flushed on product create, update, delete, and stock status change via save_post_product, woocommerce_update_product, woocommerce_product_set_stock_status, and deleted_post hooks.
  • Text button mobile adaptation: When the search button is set to « text » mode, it automatically switches to icon-only on mobile to save horizontal space.
  • Pro/Free dual-activation guard: GLSE_PRO_ACTIVE sentinel constant prevents « Cannot redeclare » fatals. The Pro version auto-deactivates the Free version with a dismissible admin notice.
  • Body-offset aware positioning: Dropdown results container now accounts for position: relative or position: absolute on document.body (Elementor, Divi compatibility).

Improvements

  • Minified assets in production: search.min.js (56% smaller) and search.min.css loaded automatically when SCRIPT_DEBUG is false.
  • Late-rendering asset safety: ensure_assets() method guarantees CSS/JS loading when shortcode renders after wp_enqueue_scripts has fired (AJAX page builders, lazy-loaded widgets).
  • FULLTEXT boolean operator escaping: Special characters (+, -, *, ", (, ), ~, <, >, @, ^) are stripped from FULLTEXT queries to prevent syntax errors.
  • Cache stores total_found: last_total_found is included in the cache entry, eliminating a duplicate COUNT(*) query on cache hits.
  • CSV export memory optimization: Export streams results in 1,000-row chunks via fputcsv() instead of building the full CSV in memory. Includes UTF-8 BOM for Excel on Windows.
  • Server-side max_results enforcement: max_results is capped at 1-50 in the AJAX handler, regardless of the value stored in settings.
  • Asset detection expanded: is_product() added to the list of conditions that trigger asset loading.
  • ARIA on mobile overlay: Mobile overlay input inherits role="combobox", aria-autocomplete, and aria-expanded from the original input.
  • Keyboard navigation polish: ArrowUp from no selection selects the last result. Tab key closes the dropdown.
  • Network error fallback: A user-facing error message is always displayed on fetch failure, replacing the silent fail.
  • Focus restored on overlay close: When the mobile overlay closes, focus returns to the original input element.
  • Reduced motion support: prefers-reduced-motion media query disables CSS animations in both frontend and admin.
  • Multi-instance form IDs: Unique IDs generated for each search bar instance, fixing outside-button mode when multiple bars are on the same page.
  • Hook naming standardized: All hooks now use slash format (glse/search/filters). Underscore-format hooks (glse_search_filters) remain as backward-compatible aliases.
  • Defensive CSS reinforced: Extended !important overrides on result items, images, and links to prevent 38+ themes from breaking the search layout.
  • CommerceKit compatibility: CommerceKit AJAX Search is automatically disabled when Glance is active on Shoptimizer.

Removed

  • Modal display mode: Removed in favor of the mobile overlay, which provides a better full-screen experience with focus trapping.
  • Inline display mode: Removed. The dropdown mode with portaled positioning covers all use cases.

Bug Fixes

  • Search bar was unstyled on homepage when placed via widget — ensure_assets() now enqueues in theme header context.
  • WC_AJAX requests not loading the search engine — $_GET['wc-ajax'] detection added to the conditional class loader.
  • Pro/Free simultaneous activation caused a PHP fatal (« Cannot redeclare ») — resolved with GLSE_PRO_ACTIVE sentinel constant.
  • Free version color picker and display options were not properly locked behind the Pro gate.
1.3.0 — January 2026

 Client-side caching, search history, mobile overlay, and developer extensibility.

New Features

  • Client-side multi-term cache: Up to 20 search results cached in a JavaScript Map with 5-minute TTL and FIFO eviction. Instant results on repeated queries — zero network requests.
  • « View all results » link: When total matches exceed the displayed results, a « View all results (N) » link appears at the bottom of the dropdown, linking to the WooCommerce search results page.
  • Search history: Recent searches stored in localStorage (configurable, 1-20 items). Displayed on input focus when the field is empty. Clear button included.
  • Full-screen mobile overlay: On screens below the configurable breakpoint (default: 768px), focusing the search input opens a full-screen overlay with its own input, results, and close button. Includes focus trapping and body scroll lock.
  • Search in descriptions and excerpts: Optional setting to include post_content and post_excerpt in search queries (uses LIKE fallback or FULLTEXT when available).
  • Product tag search: Tags matching the search term are displayed in a dedicated section above product results.
  • WC_AJAX endpoints: Search requests now use wc_ajax_glse_live_search by default, bypassing the full admin bootstrap for faster response times. Falls back to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php automatically.
  • Developer hooks: 10 new PHP filter hooks added
  • Gutenberg block: glance-live-search/search block with live preview in the editor.
  • Elementor widget: Drag-and-drop search bar widget for Elementor page builder.

Improvements

  • Analytics recording now fires only on network requests (not on cache hits), reducing unnecessary database writes.
  • Search history items are XSS-protected via escHtml() before rendering.

Bug Fixes

  • Mobile overlay body scroll lock was not releasing on orientation change.
  • WC_AJAX class existence check added before registering WC_AJAX hooks, preventing fatal on rare WooCommerce configurations.
1.2.0 — December 2025

Click tracking, upsell recommendations, and design presets.

New Features

  • CTR / click tracking (Pro): Product clicks from search results are tracked via navigator.sendBeacon(). Data includes query, product ID, product name, and result position. Stored in wp_glse_clicks table.
  • Upsell recommendations (Pro): A « You might also like » section below search results, populated from the first result’s WooCommerce upsells. Falls back to featured products if no upsells are configured.
  • Design presets: Three built-in presets — Sharp (square corners, high contrast), Clean (subtle borders, 8px radius), and Pill (fully rounded, 24px radius). Each preset auto-fills all color and dimension settings.
  • Category search results (Pro): Product categories matching the search term are displayed in a dedicated section with thumbnails and product counts.

Improvements

  • Rate limiting now uses separate transient keys per endpoint, preventing shared counters between search and analytics requests.
  • Cache key now includes active filters and language code, preventing cross-language cache collisions on multilingual sites.
  • Database migration system introduced. Migrations run automatically on version change via glse_db_version option.
1.1.0 — November 2025

 Analytics dashboard and multilingual support.

New Features

  • Search analytics dashboard: A dedicated Analytics tab in the admin settings showing total searches, average response time, zero-result rate, top keywords, and daily search volume chart.
  • WPML and Polylang support (Pro): Search results are automatically filtered to the active language. Analytics track searches per language with breakdown charts.
  • Price range filter (Pro): Filter search results by minimum and/or maximum price.
  • In-stock filter (Pro): Restrict search results to products with _stock_status = 'instock'.
1.0.0 — October 2025

Initial release.

Features

  • AJAX live search for WooCommerce products by title and SKU.
  • Search results dropdown with product image, title, and price.
  • Configurable search delay (debounce), minimum characters, and placeholder text.
  • Search button with icon or text mode, inside or outside the search bar.
  • WordPress nonce verification and IP-based rate limiting (60 requests/minute).
  • Direct SQL queries via $wpdb->prepare() — bypasses WP_Query for reliable, fast results.
  • 4-tier relevance sorting: exact title match, title prefix, exact SKU, title contains.
  • Shortcode [glance_search] and WordPress widget.
  • Freemius SDK integration for licensing, updates, and optional analytics.
  • Compatible with WordPress 6.0+ and WooCommerce 8.0+.

For questions about a specific release, contact us at help@glancelivesearch.com