The question of searching and filtering content on Oxygen Builder consistently comes up on the Facebook group. In this article, we're going to talk about the best facet, search, and filter plugins for the Oxygen Builder.

Because Oxygen handles WordPress websites differently than some other tools, for example, completely disabling the theme system, some plugins don't have 100% compatibility with the platform. Additionally, other plugins are created with specific integration to the tool.

When looking for a search, filter, and facet plug-in for Oxygen, we need to consider the compatibility, ease of integration, and pricing. In this article, we're going to discuss plugins that we have personally tried out in the past, and what the best searching and filtering plugin for the Oxygen Builder is.

TLDR: The best solution is GridBuilderWP – Link To Website – Our Feature Review

With that being said, the first entry on this list is free and works relatively well:

Isotope JS Library

If you're looking for a free, expandable, and relatively powerful solution, the Isotope JS library is a great option for you. The main problem here is that it is something that you'll need to figure out. Even if you don't know JavaScript, you can follow the official Oxygen Builder tutorial and get it to work, but if you were looking for simplicity and ease of integration, then you'll probably want to go with a plug-in. Unfortunately, all of the plugins on this list are paid ☹.

Tutorial on how to use it if you're interested:

GridBuilder WP

From our testing, determined over the course of multiple client projects, and when completely rebuilding our own blog here at Isotropic, the best plug in that adds advanced filtering, facets, and search features to Oxygen is GridBuilder WP. It's an incredibly powerful platform, and it integrates directly into the Oxygen archive template pages, as well as anything else that uses easy posts or repeaters.

If you'd like a real world example of this plug-in being used with the Oxygen Builder, check out our blog archive page, as well as our blog search feature (upper right menu). Both of these functionalities use GridBuilder WP to search and filter the content. All of the content is built using the Oxygen Repeater block.

We really like this plug-in and wrote a complete feature review about our experience with it. If you'd like to learn more about this tool, and how we use it with the Oxygen Builder, feel free to read that article.

If you would like to check out the plugin itself, and the features that it has to offer, head on over to the official website.

Search And Filter Pro

Both Search And Filter Pro and FacetWP are the most recommended solutions on the Oxygen Facebook group, and both offerings officially support Oxygen. This one has fewer features but is also much less expensive.

We use this in projects that don’t need to features of FacetWP to save a bit of money. Great company, great support.

FacetWP

If you're looking for shear features, FacetWP is the most mature plug-in on this list. Because of that, it's also the most expensive plug in. we have used this on many Oxygen Builder projects, and it works well, integrates easily, and is very powerful. If you're looking for advanced filtering, search, and facets for an Oxygen Builder website, this is one of the best options available.

Also, this looks to be the Oxygen Team’s favorite option, as they have a bunch of tutorials on it:

Visual Portfolio Pro

A plug-in that we used on one of our most recent projects, and one that is incredibly amazing and relatively unknown of, visual portfolio pro is a killer option if you're looking for ajax search and filter that works with Oxygen.

If you'd like to try before you buy, there's also a free version, but it's relatively limited in terms of filtering.

With this plugin, you build the interface, layout, and filters in the backend, and insert it via a short code, or PHP in a code block (be sure to set the width and height or it won’t show).

Toolset

Toolset works well with Oxygen and we’ve heard of many people using it simply for their filtering and search capabilities. We’re not users of the product, so can’t really comment on it.

AjaxSearch Pro

We have not personally used this tool, but seen it mentioned multiple times in the Oxygen Builder Facebook group. After taking a look into the features and compatibility of it, it will work with Oxygen, and looks to be a very powerful platform.

Because you purchase it through the Envato platform, you get unlimited lifetime updates for a single purchase price, and six months of installation support.

According to the 4.19.4 - 2020.09.19 changelog, there’s official compatibility for Oxygen Builder.

Conclusion

We hope that this article was helpful in listing the best plugins that help you advanced filtering and search capabilities to your Oxygen site. If you have any other questions or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments (especially if you know of any good free plugins!).