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Search form Builder type

Create a Search form from Store Locator → Builder → New → Search form. It modifies a Layout's live query; it does not create a Lead or Store-registration submission.

Where a Search form can be used​

One saved Search form can be selected in three Layout locations:

  • Search widget → Search form for an ordinary form placed in the Layout grid;
  • Map widget → Search overlay → Search form for a form positioned over the map;
  • Store List → Show filter drawer button → Filter search form for controls inside a drawer.

These are references to one Design ID. Editing that Search form changes every location that selects it.

You can also publish the Search form directly with the Cliq Store Search Form block, Elementor/WPBakery widget, or [cliq_search_form] shortcode. Enable Open results on another page to replace live AJAX submission with a redirect to a page containing the complete locator.

Build the form​

  1. Add a row and choose its columns.
  2. Select + Field inside a column.
  3. Select the field and choose its Type.
  4. For data fields, set Search parameter and Comparison.
  5. Configure its label, Name/key, placeholder, required state, choices, and width where applicable.
  6. Add a Search button field if the form should submit explicitly.
  7. Save the Search form.

Set one predictable minimum field height​

Select the Search form itself (click the empty canvas area or use the breadcrumb above the canvas). Its settings are divided into Search behavior, Labels, and Fields, so submission behavior is not mixed with visual controls.

Open Fields. Minimum control height sets the shared baseline used by single-line text inputs, location fields, dropdowns, sliders, toggle rows, and Search/Use-my-location buttons. Choose:

  • Small — 38px for dense toolbars;
  • Medium — 46px for the standard locator form;
  • Large — 54px for prominent search areas;
  • Custom to enter a CSS length such as 50px, 3.25rem, or 4em.

The minimum belongs to the Search form, so controls stay aligned even when the active WordPress theme styles input, select, or button elements differently. It is intentionally not a forced height: field padding and larger content can increase the final rendered height instead of being clipped or silently making the padding ineffective. Multiline controls and option groups remain content-sized. Multi-select tags wrap onto additional rows, expanding the dropdown control as selections are added.

To make one field different, select that field and use Presentation → Minimum control height:

  • Use form minimum inherits the Search form setting and should be used for most fields;
  • Custom minimum changes only the selected field;
  • Automatic from button style is available for Search and Use-my-location buttons when the button should size from its own padding instead of matching the form.

Open Labels to set the label font family, font size, weight, color, gap below the label, and line height for the entire form. Long labels defaults to One line — truncate, which keeps every control on the same horizontal baseline. Choose Allow wrapping only when the design has enough vertical room for multi-line labels.

Send a Search form to a results page​

Use this when the Search form appears in a homepage hero, header, sidebar, or other page that does not contain the full results interface.

  1. Build the destination Layout with its Store List and Map.
  2. Publish that Layout on the destination WordPress page.
  3. Edit the Search form and select the form container.
  4. Open Search behavior and enable Open results on another page.
  5. Enter the destination under Search results page, such as /find-a-store/.
  6. Add Cliq Store Search Form on the source page and select this saved form. The block/widget URL override is optional and takes priority over the saved URL.
  7. Submit a test search and verify the destination loads the same category, Brand, radius, coordinates, open status, sorting, keyword, and custom-field filters.

The redirect uses namespaced parameters beginning with sl-, for example:

/find-a-store/?sl-action=search&sl-category=8&sl-radius=25&sl-unit=km

Custom-field values use sl-meta[field_key]. The destination ignores ordinary marketing or page parameters. On the destination page, those parameters initialize both the visible form controls and the locator's first search request. Disable Open results on another page to restore live AJAX behavior in the current Layout.

Shortcode example:

[cliq_search_form id="45" results_url="/find-a-store/"]

results_url is optional. Supplying it is a placement-level override and enables redirected submission. When omitted, the Search form's saved Open results on another page and Search results page settings are used.

Search parameters​

Fields can map to Location, Keyword, Category, Brand, City, Country, Distance/radius, or meta:<custom-field-key>. A field left at — Not mapped — is displayed but does not filter stores.

Location has extra controls: Show “use my location” action, Address autocomplete (Google), and per-field country restriction. Category, Brand, and Country choice fields automatically use their corresponding records unless you change the choice source.

Fields not available in a Search form​

Search forms deliberately exclude reCAPTCHA and Hidden field. They do not store a submission. Search forms add four types that lead/registration forms do not have: Search button, Use my location button, Open now toggle, and Sort by dropdown.

Read Search form field types and Search parameters and comparisons before mapping custom fields.