Modifying the Search Results

Question

I want to inject additional search results along with the search results provided by WordPress for the site search feature. Basically, I need to find the WP_Query object that the search uses, and modify it.

I figure I should use the posts_pre_query filter, and return an array of post objects - some of which will be real post objects, and others which will be "fake" posts objects that represents results from the other sources.

The problem I have is, how do I detect that this is a public search query - what characterizes a WP_Query instance that is a public search result?

Answer 1

add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', '__filter_pre_get_posts' );
function __filter_pre_get_posts( $query ) {

    // this is to detect a public search query 
    if ( ! is_admin() && $query->is_search ) {

        // DO your magic here...

    }
}