Filter Posts Item Block
The Filter Posts Item block is a single filter control. It must be nested inside a Filter Posts block and defines what visitors filter by and how the control is displayed.
Add one item per filter field—category dropdown, price slider, keyword search, product attribute swatches, and so on.
Filter source
Under Main → What do you want to filter?, choose the data source:
Free sources
| Source | Filters by |
|---|---|
| Categories | Post categories (or product categories for WooCommerce) |
| Tags | Post tags |
| Taxonomy | Any registered taxonomy—choose the taxonomy in the next dropdown |
| Search | Keyword search across post content and titles |
| Custom meta | A custom meta key on the post |
| Published date | Post publication date (date or date range picker) |
| Product attribute | WooCommerce attribute (colour, size, etc.) |
| Product price | WooCommerce price range |
| Product weight | WooCommerce product weight |
| Stock status | In stock / out of stock |
Product-only sources appear when the parent Filter Posts post type is Product.
Pro sources
These filter sources require WPEnhanced Ajax Filter Blocks Pro:
- Post types — Filter by post type on multi-type archives
- ACF — Advanced Custom Fields with editor field picker
- ACF map — Radius search on ACF Google Map fields
- Product rating — WooCommerce star rating filter
See ACF fields and map and Filter sources and control types.
Source-specific options
After choosing a source, additional fields appear:
- Taxonomy — Pick the taxonomy when source is Taxonomy
- Custom meta key — Meta key name for Custom meta
- ACF field — Field name when using ACF (Pro)
- Product attribute — Attribute slug for Product attribute
- Include / exclude options — Comma-separated term slugs or IDs to limit visible choices
- Term order — Sort options by name, slug, ID, or count
Control types
Under Layout options → Filter type, choose how the filter renders:
| Control type | Best for |
|---|---|
| Select | Dropdown—compact, many options |
| Checkbox / radio buttons | Visible choices; supports single or multi-select |
| Number / range | Sliders for price, weight, numeric meta |
| Date / date range picker | Published date or date-type meta/ACF fields |
| Search | Text input (automatic when source is Search) |
| Swatches | Colour or image chips for attributes and taxonomies |
Not every control type applies to every source. Search always uses a text field. Published date always uses the date picker.
Select settings
- Enable Select2 — Enhanced searchable dropdown (also enable globally under plugin settings)
- First option text — Placeholder row (default: “-- Select Option --”)
- Display mode — Single or multi-select
See Select2.
Checkbox / radio settings
- Radio style — Standard radio, button-style, or checkbox multi-select
- Multiple relation — OR (match any) vs AND (match all) for multi-select
- Show “All” option — Include a deselect-all choice
- Inline layout — Horizontal vs stacked options
- Limit height — Collapse long lists with Show More / Show Less
- Hierarchical categories — Indent child terms, collapsible parents
Range settings
- Range type — Single handle or dual-handle min/max
- Min / max — Use store min/max (price) or custom values
- Step, prefix, suffix — Slider granularity and labels
- Custom breakpoints — Non-linear steps for price sliders
Search settings
- Placeholder text — Input hint (default: “Search…”)
- Typing delay — Milliseconds to wait after keystrokes before AJAX (default: 2000 ms; lower for snappier live search)
- Browser autocomplete — Allow or block browser suggestions
See Live search.
Swatches
Enable Swatches on checkbox/radio layouts for visual attribute filtering:
- Swatch source — WooCommerce attribute colours or ACF image field (Pro)
- Style — Circle or square
- Size, border, active state — Visual design in the Design tab
- Show name — Label above or below each swatch
Labels and width
- Show label — Toggle the field label above the control
- Custom label — Override the default label text
- Admin label — Editor-only name shown in the block list (does not appear on the front end)
- Filter width — Column width when the parent uses horizontal layout
Empty options
Control whether options with zero matching posts appear. See Empty filter options for full detail.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Show empty options | Display choices even when count is zero |
| Hide empty options on page load | Hide zero-count options until filters are applied |
| Display current terms only | Limit to terms present in the current result set |
| Hide filter when empty | Remove the entire filter item if no options remain |
Counts
Enable Show count to append result counts to each option (e.g. “Hoodies (12)”).
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Show count | Master toggle for this item |
| Duplicate count on parent | Show parent category count alongside child terms |
| Duplicate count on child | Roll child counts up to parent display |
Parent Filter Posts → Update filter count controls whether counts refresh globally after each AJAX request.
On large WooCommerce catalogs, slow counts may improve with Catalog Index (Pro).
Conditional logic (Pro)
Conditional filters—show or hide this item based on other filter selections—require WPEnhanced Ajax Filter Blocks Pro.
Active filter parameters
Show parameters displays selected values as removable chips above the loop or in a designated container. Set Filter parameter container to a CSS selector when chips should render outside the filter item.
Design basics
Per-item design overrides include field background, text colour, focus state, radio/checkbox colours, swatch borders, and count badge typography. Most sites style fields once on the parent Filter Posts block and only override individual items when needed.
Example combinations
| Goal | Source | Control type |
|---|---|---|
| Blog category dropdown | Categories | Select |
| Shop colour swatches | Product attribute | Checkbox + swatches |
| Price slider | Product price | Number / range |
| Keyword box | Search | Search (automatic) |
| Event date range | Published date | Date range picker |
Step-by-step recipes: Common filter setups.
What's next
- Filter sources and control types — Full matrix of sources and controls
- Empty filter options — Faceted UX patterns
- Live search — Tune search responsiveness