I'm trying to limit the search in the WP admin area to just post titles.
I found code that offered a suggestion, however, this is not limiting the search to only the post/page titles:
add_filter( 'posts_search', 'wpse_45153_filter_search', null, 2 );
function wpse_45153_filter_search( $search, $a_wp_query ) {
if ( !is_admin() ) return $search; // work only in the dashboard
$search = preg_replace( "# OR \(.*posts\.post_content LIKE \\'%.*%\\'\)#", "", $search );
return $search;
}
Try this instead:
add_filter( 'posts_search', 'search_by_title_only', 10, 2 );
function search_by_title_only( $search, $wp_query ) {
if ( !is_admin() || empty( $search ) ){
return $search;
}
global $wpdb;
$q = $wp_query->query_vars;
$x = ! empty( $q['exact'] ) ? '' : '%';
$search = '';
$searchand = '';
foreach ( (array) $q['search_terms'] as $term ) {
$term = esc_sql( $wpdb->esc_like( $term ) );
$search .= "{$searchand}($wpdb->posts.post_title LIKE '{$x}{$term}{$x}')";
$searchand = ' AND ';
}
if ( ! empty( $search ) ) {
$search = " AND ({$search}) ";
}
return $search;
}
It essentially adds another clause (using 'AND') to the end of the query where the name must contain the search string provided.