Title: WP_Widget_Search
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# class WP_Widget_Search {}

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#description)
    - [See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#see-also)
 * [Methods](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#methods)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Core class used to implement a Search widget.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

### 󠀁[See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#see-also)󠁿

 * [WP_Widget](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget/)

## 󠀁[Methods](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#methods)󠁿

| Name | Description | 
| [WP_Widget_Search::__construct](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/__construct/) | Sets up a new Search widget instance. | 
| [WP_Widget_Search::form](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/form/) | Outputs the settings form for the Search widget. | 
| [WP_Widget_Search::update](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/update/) | Handles updating settings for the current Search widget instance. | 
| [WP_Widget_Search::widget](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/widget/) | Outputs the content for the current Search widget instance. |

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    class WP_Widget_Search extends WP_Widget {

    	/**
    	 * Sets up a new Search widget instance.
    	 *
    	 * @since 2.8.0
    	 */
    	public function __construct() {
    		$widget_ops = array(
    			'classname'                   => 'widget_search',
    			'description'                 => __( 'A search form for your site.' ),
    			'customize_selective_refresh' => true,
    			'show_instance_in_rest'       => true,
    		);
    		parent::__construct( 'search', _x( 'Search', 'Search widget' ), $widget_ops );
    	}

    	/**
    	 * Outputs the content for the current Search widget instance.
    	 *
    	 * @since 2.8.0
    	 *
    	 * @param array $args     Display arguments including 'before_title', 'after_title',
    	 *                        'before_widget', and 'after_widget'.
    	 * @param array $instance Settings for the current Search widget instance.
    	 */
    	public function widget( $args, $instance ) {
    		$title = ! empty( $instance['title'] ) ? $instance['title'] : '';

    		/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-pages.php */
    		$title = apply_filters( 'widget_title', $title, $instance, $this->id_base );

    		echo $args['before_widget'];
    		if ( $title ) {
    			echo $args['before_title'] . $title . $args['after_title'];
    		}

    		// Use active theme search form if it exists.
    		get_search_form();

    		echo $args['after_widget'];
    	}

    	/**
    	 * Outputs the settings form for the Search widget.
    	 *
    	 * @since 2.8.0
    	 *
    	 * @param array $instance Current settings.
    	 */
    	public function form( $instance ) {
    		$instance = wp_parse_args( (array) $instance, array( 'title' => '' ) );
    		$title    = $instance['title'];
    		?>
    		<p>
    			<label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'title' ); ?>"><?php _e( 'Title:' ); ?></label>
    			<input class="widefat" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'title' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'title' ); ?>" type="text" value="<?php echo esc_attr( $title ); ?>" />
    		</p>
    		<?php
    	}

    	/**
    	 * Handles updating settings for the current Search widget instance.
    	 *
    	 * @since 2.8.0
    	 *
    	 * @param array $new_instance New settings for this instance as input by the user via
    	 *                            WP_Widget::form().
    	 * @param array $old_instance Old settings for this instance.
    	 * @return array Updated settings.
    	 */
    	public function update( $new_instance, $old_instance ) {
    		$instance          = $old_instance;
    		$new_instance      = wp_parse_args( (array) $new_instance, array( 'title' => '' ) );
    		$instance['title'] = sanitize_text_field( $new_instance['title'] );
    		return $instance;
    	}
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-search.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-search.php#L17)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-search.php#L17-L94)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [WP_Widget](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget/)`wp-includes/class-wp-widget.php` |

Core base class extended to register widgets.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_search/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [2.8.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/2.8.0/) | Introduced. |

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