How To Create a Searchable Database on a WordPress Site

Want to create a searchable database on a WordPress site? The right WordPress plugins make adding a searchable database to WordPress easy!

Approximate read time: 5.5 minutes

If you're like most business owners, you receive a lot of data from users on your website every day. 

Hidden inside those numbers and statistics are the secrets to potential income. But what's the best way to manage all that data?

Build a searchable database website!

But before we proceed, let's discuss the differences between a standard WordPress database and a searchable database.

Differences between a WordPress database and a searchable database

All WordPress sites have a database built into every installation. However, the basic database has few tools for searching or analyzing your database stores.

In other words, WordPress collects and holds the data for a website, but making heads or tails of it is up to you.

A searchable database allows you to store, search, and connect all information. It is the best way to take all the valuable data pouring into your website and turn it into actionable trends.

That leads to the following question: How do you add a custom database to WordPress websites?

After all, what good is a database of information if you can't do a database search in WordPress?

👉 Want to know more? This is the best relational database plugin for WordPress

Searchable database options for WordPress

The easiest solution? A searchable database plugin for WordPress! Or at least a plugin that will help you make one!

A good WordPress database search plugin will have these core elements:

• Methods to input data (forms or data import)
• A user interface or dashboard to search, sort, and filter data through forms, fields, and search functions
• Tools to visualize data and create data relationships
• Search and Replace for WordPress

So, to get you started, we'll show you three of the most common ways to create a searchable database in WordPress.

Let's get to it!

How to make a searchable database in WordPress

To start, here are the database creation methods we'll cover today:

1. Code the database yourself from scratch
2. Use a powerful form-building plugin
3. Install a WordPress database plugin

1. Code the database from scratch

Ready to test your coding skills?

You must ask yourself: Will your database be as huge as websites like Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube? Or are you building something smaller in scale?

If you're not planning to scale, custom coding may not be worth the hassle or money to hire a programmer to set up everything.

We guess you’re looking for an easier way to create a website with a searchable database! After all, why spend time and money reinventing the wheel?

Let's move on to the next method for creating a WordPress search database: plugins.

2. Use a form-building plugin to create a database

As mentioned above, making a searchable database website might be challenging unless you are a big-time code wizard. 

There is another way to set up your WordPress website with the online database you're hoping for: use an advanced WordPress form builder plugin!

But first, what's the difference between form builders and database plugins?

Form builders do more than just databases! You can create contact forms, conversational forms, landing pages, and more with an all-in-one form plugin. 

On the other hand, WordPress database plugins can only do one thing: be a database management system.

So save yourself a ton of time and effort, and download the best form- and database-building plugin: Formidable Forms. And you don't have to take it from us; the experts agree!

The free version gives you many of the WordPress searchable database plugin features you need, and it works with any WordPress theme. Or, go premium to take advantage of all the plugin's powerful features.

For example, here's more about Formidable's approach to database management:

Methods to input data

Form builders are all about data collection.

So you can be sure Formidable has you covered there. Create a form, add your fields, and publish it on any WordPress blog post or page. You're done!

Making forms is simple, too. Just drag and drop form fields in the visual builder.

Search, sort, and filter data

Wondering where to find the information collected from your forms? 

In Formidable, all input data is stored in your WordPress database. But don't worry about having to hack the code in your WordPress site to find it. 

The Formidable Forms plugin has a user interface where you can manage entries from the back end. You can even use a search bar to get a better search experience.

That creates a WordPress database with an interface that can:

• View data
• Sort, filter, and search results
• Show/hide data
• Add, edit, or delete entries

And that's all you need, at least for most WordPress users looking to create a searchable database. It's almost like the simplicity of having a database in Excel.

But what if you're using forms to create posts, pages, or other post types? What happens with the data then?

Good news! Formidable hates database duplication as much as you do, so it stores the entries with WordPress posts and custom fields.

That means you can view and edit the data from anywhere; it'll be the same no matter how and where you use it.

Formidable's interface lets you view data tables, import data from CSV files, and filter to help you find data.

And if you're looking for even more customization, check out Formidable's tools for advanced data visualization below.

👉 Learn more: How to create a custom search form in WordPress

Visualize data & build data relationships when you create a searchable database

With features like Lookup Fields, Formidable simplifies building dynamic field relationships.

For example, lookup fields create cascading fields for long lists (sometimes called chained-selects or dependent drop-down lists) like an auto dealership form:

In addition, every searchable database needs different methods of retrieving and displaying data. You can easily do this with Formidable's Dynamic Fields. 

Take this example of a student database that filters by class:

And there are more ways to make dynamic relationships.

For starters, you can input data into database forms with dependent fields. Furthermore, you can create a searchable database to access the data and perform calculations. 

You can also build data relationships between multiple forms.

Real-time updates and frontend charts and listings

But one more tool that Formidable has makes it easy to visualize your data. It's called Formidable Views.

This handy feature allows you to take any data and display it visually however you see fit. For example, you can show your data in listings, menus, and charts.

Even better, your data is updated in real-time based on form submissions. Congrats! You can now create a personalized or targeted experience for each user!

With Formidable's unique Views, you can create a WordPress searchable database better and faster than you thought possible.

3. Install a WordPress database plugin

The final option takes us back to the WordPress.org plugin directory. This time, you'll look for a WordPress database plugin. 

Guess what? There are a lot of them!

Some honorable mentions include the Participants Database and wpDataTables. If we had to choose, it would be the latter.

Fortunately, wpDataTables has a Formidable Forms add-on that makes it easy to combine the plugins. Formidable's data collection tools are great, and wpDataTables has options to display your data.

For more info, check out this awesome video:

How will you build your WordPress database?

So, which method will you choose? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know!

Good luck using WordPress to create a database for your site! If you're eager to learn even more, read up on how to save form entries to a database easily.

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