Hey @everyone,
I stumbled upon a small but super useful feature today that I completely overlooked before, and I figured some of you (or your users) might find it useful!
Since HivePress integrates deeply with the native WordPress search engine, it actually inherits some powerful, built-in search operators by default. If you want to refine your search results on your directory, you don’t need extra plugins for basic filtering—you can use these right in the standard search bar:
Exclude Specific Words (The Minus - Operator)
If you want to search for something but completely exclude listings that contain a specific keyword, just put a minus sign (-) directly before the word you want to hide (no space after the minus).
Example: Imagine a user is looking for an apartment but absolutely does not want a shared room. They can search:
apartment -shared
- This will pull up all apartment listings but automatically filter out any that mention the word “shared.”
Find Exact Phrases (The Quotes " " Operator)
By default, standard search looks for any of the keywords typed in. If you want to find listings that contain a very specific phrase in an exact order, wrap the terms in quotation marks.
Example: If someone is looking for a specific service or brand, they can search:
"web design"
- Instead of showing every listing that has “web” or “design” scattered around, it will only return listings where those two words sit exactly next to each other.
Essentially, any standard search customisation that natively works in WordPress should work right out of the box in your HivePress search bars.
It’s a great little tip to add to your site’s FAQ page or to share with your community members to help them find exactly what they’re looking for! 
I hope someone finds this useful! Let me know if you’ve uncovered any other cool native search tricks.
Cheers,
Chris 
