get_search_form( array $args = array() )

Display search form.


Description

Will first attempt to locate the searchform.php file in either the child or the parent, then load it. If it doesn’t exist, then the default search form will be displayed. The default search form is HTML, which will be displayed. There is a filter applied to the search form HTML in order to edit or replace it. The filter is ‘get_search_form’.

This function is primarily used by themes which want to hardcode the search form into the sidebar and also by the search widget in WordPress.

There is also an action that is called whenever the function is run called, ‘pre_get_search_form’. This can be useful for outputting JavaScript that the search relies on or various formatting that applies to the beginning of the search. To give a few examples of what it can be used for.


Parameters

$args

(array) (Optional) Array of display arguments.

  • 'echo'
    (bool) Whether to echo or return the form. Default true.
  • 'aria_label'
    (string) ARIA label for the search form. Useful to distinguish multiple search forms on the same page and improve accessibility.

Default value: array()


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Return

(string|void) String when the $echo param is false.


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Source

File: wp-includes/general-template.php

function get_search_form( $args = array() ) {
	/**
	 * Fires before the search form is retrieved, at the start of get_search_form().
	 *
	 * @since 2.7.0 as 'get_search_form' action.
	 * @since 3.6.0
	 *
	 * @link https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/19321
	 */
	do_action( 'pre_get_search_form' );

	$echo = true;

	if ( ! is_array( $args ) ) {
		/*
		 * Back compat: to ensure previous uses of get_search_form() continue to
		 * function as expected, we handle a value for the boolean $echo param removed
		 * in 5.2.0. Then we deal with the $args array and cast its defaults.
		 */
		$echo = (bool) $args;

		// Set an empty array and allow default arguments to take over.
		$args = array();
	}

	// Defaults are to echo and to output no custom label on the form.
	$defaults = array(
		'echo'       => $echo,
		'aria_label' => '',
	);

	$args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );

	/**
	 * Filters the array of arguments used when generating the search form.
	 *
	 * @since 5.2.0
	 *
	 * @param array $args The array of arguments for building the search form.
	 */
	$args = apply_filters( 'search_form_args', $args );

	$format = current_theme_supports( 'html5', 'search-form' ) ? 'html5' : 'xhtml';

	/**
	 * Filters the HTML format of the search form.
	 *
	 * @since 3.6.0
	 *
	 * @param string $format The type of markup to use in the search form.
	 *                       Accepts 'html5', 'xhtml'.
	 */
	$format = apply_filters( 'search_form_format', $format );

	$search_form_template = locate_template( 'searchform.php' );
	if ( '' != $search_form_template ) {
		ob_start();
		require( $search_form_template );
		$form = ob_get_clean();
	} else {
		// Build a string containing an aria-label to use for the search form.
		if ( isset( $args['aria_label'] ) && $args['aria_label'] ) {
			$aria_label = 'aria-label="' . esc_attr( $args['aria_label'] ) . '" ';
		} else {
			/*
			 * If there's no custom aria-label, we can set a default here. At the
			 * moment it's empty as there's uncertainty about what the default should be.
			 */
			$aria_label = '';
		}
		if ( 'html5' == $format ) {
			$form = '<form role="search" ' . $aria_label . 'method="get" class="search-form" action="' . esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ) . '">
				<label>
					<span class="screen-reader-text">' . _x( 'Search for:', 'label' ) . '</span>
					<input type="search" class="search-field" placeholder="' . esc_attr_x( 'Search &hellip;', 'placeholder' ) . '" value="' . get_search_query() . '" name="s" />
				</label>
				<input type="submit" class="search-submit" value="' . esc_attr_x( 'Search', 'submit button' ) . '" />
			</form>';
		} else {
			$form = '<form role="search" ' . $aria_label . 'method="get" id="searchform" class="searchform" action="' . esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ) . '">
				<div>
					<label class="screen-reader-text" for="s">' . _x( 'Search for:', 'label' ) . '</label>
					<input type="text" value="' . get_search_query() . '" name="s" id="s" />
					<input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="' . esc_attr_x( 'Search', 'submit button' ) . '" />
				</div>
			</form>';
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Filters the HTML output of the search form.
	 *
	 * @since 2.7.0
	 *
	 * @param string $form The search form HTML output.
	 */
	$result = apply_filters( 'get_search_form', $form );

	if ( null === $result ) {
		$result = $form;
	}

	if ( isset( $args['echo'] ) && $args['echo'] ) {
		echo $result;
	} else {
		return $result;
	}
}

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Changelog

Version Description
5.2.0 The $args array parameter was added in place of an $echo boolean flag.
2.7.0 Introduced.

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More Information

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Usage

get_search_form( $echo );