With the Modern theme, the search opens useful before the visitor types: a Popular Searches list built from what real visitors search for, and the visitor’s own Recent Searches. Both have toggles in Elevated › Site Search › Settings › Theme & Style when Modern is selected, and both are on by default.

Table of Contents

• Step 1: Switch to the Modern Theme
• Step 2: Toggle Popular and Recent Searches
• Where the Lists Come From
• Troubleshooting

Step 1: Switch to the Modern Theme

Popular and recent searches are Modern theme features. Select Modern under Theme & Style (see Classic vs Modern Search Themes).

Step 2: Toggle Popular and Recent Searches

With Modern selected, Theme & Style shows a Popular searches toggle and a Recent searches toggle (“Show user’s recent searches before typing”). Both are on by default; the counts shown default to five each.

Save, then open the search on the frontend without typing:

Where the Lists Come From

• Popular searches are site-wide. The plugin counts what visitors search for through the search box and shows the most frequent queries. Searches made by a connected AI agent are not counted.
• Recent searches are personal. They are stored in the visitor’s own browser, shown only to them, and removable with the Clear control next to the list.
• You can reset the popular list. The Clear Popular Searches button lives under Settings › Advanced Options › Indexer; see How Popular Searches Are Tracked.

Troubleshooting

The lists never appear. They are Modern theme features and only render before the visitor types. In Classic, the search opens empty by design.

Popular searches look sparse. The list grows from real visitor searches, so a fresh install starts empty and fills with traffic.