Why was omnisearch removed?

The Omnisearch feature still exists, and should be activated by default on your installation of Jetpack unless you deactivated it in the past.

You can use the feature by clicking on the little Search icon in the top right corner of your dashboard, in the admin bar. Here is how it looks by default:
https://i.wpne.ws/kNmG
And when you click on the icon:
https://i.wpne.ws/kOL4

If you do not see the icon in your dashboard, it means the module was deactivated. You can activate it back on this page:
https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=jetpack_modules

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Unfortunately, your instructions do not help me at all.

One: I cannot find a way to get to the Modules page you show the link for. I can manually enter the URL but how would I ever know where that Module page is? It’s not under the either the Dashboard or Settings menu.

Two: If I search for “Omnisearch” or “Search” nothing comes up. I look at every single tab, nothing there. So where the heck is the setting?

The removal of the old Modules page–with everything in one place–was a terrible decision, IMHO. It’s extremely difficult to find anything. Waaay too much upselling noise! Ugh.

One: I cannot find a way to get to the Modules page you show the link for. I can manually enter the URL but how would I ever know where that Module page is? It’s not under the either the Dashboard or Settings menu.

We’ve indeed removed most links to this page and made other design changes in Jetpack 4.8, in order to make things less overwhelming and easier to understand for new Jetpack users. You can read more about the redesign and our goals here.

Our work isn’t over though; we keep iterating, and we’re continuously making more changes based on all the feedback we receive from site owners like you! We realize that module list is still useful, and should be easier to access (the only way to get to the page right now is to know the URL or click a link at the bottom of the “Debug” page in your Jetpack dashboard). We’re discussing some possible improvements in this GitHub issue. Feel free to chime in with your ideas!

Two: If I search for “Omnisearch” or “Search” nothing comes up. I look at every single tab, nothing there. So where the heck is the setting?

The new Settings interface doesn’t list all modules; some of them, like Omnisearch, cannot be controlled through the new settings; that’s why the searchform doesn’t bring up any info about the feature.

I agree it can be confusing; we’ve started discussing solutions in the GitHub issue I linked to earlier, and we would really appreciate all feedback you have about the different options listed there!

Thank you!

We’ve indeed removed most links to this page and made other design changes in Jetpack 4.8, in order to make things less overwhelming and easier to understand for new Jetpack users.

Um, you know many of us have had Jetpack installed for a long time? What if a user turned a module off in a previous version of the plugin, and now it’s impossible to find to turn on again?

I have no earthly idea why the designers decided to hide the modules setting. The blog post does nothing to explain this move, other than to say that it’s to align the Jetpack and WP.com UI better (largely immaterial to self-hosted blogs) and to emulate other annoying mobile designs obsessed with hiding stuff.

From the blog post:

If you’re having a hard time finding a setting, you can just search for it.

Um, NO, you CAN’T, many modules are hidden from search!.

This is self-hosted WordPress. We get control with self-hosted as opposed to WP.com. Taking a mature plugin like Jetpack and suddenly, without any warning, removing the key control UI AND making it impossible to find common modules is.. just.. breathtakingly contemptuous of the user.

And yes, I will comment in the GitHub thread.

What if a user turned a module off in a previous version of the plugin, and now it’s impossible to find to turn on again?
[…]
Um, NO, you CAN’T, many modules are hidden from search!.

That’s indeed a real issue, and something we definitely need to fix. As I mentioned above, that module list is still useful and should be easier to access. It’s just too hard to get to it today.

it’s to align the Jetpack and WP.com UI better (largely immaterial to self-hosted blogs)

That was indeed the main idea. However, and as you (and others) pointed out, this is only useful for new users, discovering WordPress and Jetpack today. It is confusing for everyone who was already familiar with Jetpack.

I will comment in the GitHub thread.

I just saw your comment. Thank you! If you have some specific ideas to improve the current design, either by adding new elements or by removing some of the new things that were added, don’t hesitate to comment again and share your ideas.

There are also a few mock-ups in this comment; don’t hesitate to give us feedback about it!

Taking a mature plugin like Jetpack and suddenly, without any warning, removing the key control UI AND making it impossible to find common modules is.. just.. breathtakingly contemptuous of the user.

I completely understand your frustration.

The good news is, although the main module list is now harder to access it is still there. Until Jetpack’s interface is updated so things are easier to find, you could use a little plugin like this one that I created a few weeks ago to make it easier to access the full module list.

In addition to the UI, the filters are also still there. If you build a lot of client sites and rely on Jetpack for specific features, I would strongly recommend using some of the Jetpack filters to create your own Jetpack functionality plugin. It will allow you to save some time when creating new sites and configuring Jetpack modules. I talked about some of the filters that can be useful when doing client work here:
https://jeremy.hu/customize-the-list-of-modules-available-in-jetpack/

You can also find other filters in our code reference:
https://developer.jetpack.com/

I hope this helps!

Revisiting this thread…

OK, so I installed the latest update (5.2.1) and went looking for Omnisearch again. I went to Settings and entered the search term “omnisearch.” The results returned the following:

“Omnisearch
Search your entire database from a single field in your dashboard.”

There was no way to find or activate this module from Search. I clicked the little “i” icon for “Learn More,” clicked the link and got a 404 on https://jetpack.com/support/omnisearch/

We STILL need to click the tiny Debug link to find a link to the list of all modules.

This is garbage UI, frankly, and the fact that it persists speaks volumes about the terrible design direction WP is moving in. Calypso breaks existing workflows and functions and no one seems to care. The chaos of trying to work between Classic and Calypso (because you still can’t do everything in Calypso) makes working with WP an enormous pain in the behind. If I weren’t maintaining legacy WP sites I’d say goodbye to the platform forever. So sad!

There was no way to find or activate this module from Search.

Omnisearch has indeed been sunset and removed from Jetpack entirely. If you’d like, you can use this standalone version of the plugin instead.

I clicked the little “i” icon for “Learn More,” clicked the link and got a 404 on https://jetpack.com/support/omnisearch/

That was a bad oversight, sorry about that. I have now restored the support document, and added a note to the top of the page to mention that the feature was removed from the plugin.

We STILL need to click the tiny Debug link to find a link to the list of all modules.

This is garbage UI

Since you commented on the GitHub issue about those changes, you most likely received updates about that discussion, as well as links to other issues where we discussed potential improvements. Don’t hesitate to jump in there with your ideas.

Omnisearch has indeed been sunset and removed from Jetpack entirely. If you’d like, you can use this standalone version of the plugin instead.

From the announcement of the feature June 2013:

Omnisearch: one search box, global results. Don’t waste time digging for that one comment with the useful link — or was it a post you saw it in? Search once and get results from all of your posts, pages, comments, and plugins.

Well that was fun while it lasted. A really useful feature, killed without notice. I love how its removal was listed under “Enhancements” in the changelog for 5.3 :-/

I also just figured out the Omnisearch is gone and echo the sentiments of aradams.

1. Omnisearch was very useful. I just used it to fix a broken website for someone else who fortunately hasn’t been updating his plugins and thus still has Omnisearch.

2. The stand alone Onmiseach plugin has broken every site I’ve activated it on.

3. The UI overall – Jetpack is becoming more unusable with every upgrade. I get that you programs always want to “improve” things. The Mona Lisa can’t be “improved” by adding more paint.

Thanks @skippy. I just looked at the link that @jeherve had provided as an “alternative” –a standalone version of OmniSearch– an abandoned plugin that has not been updated in four years! No wonder it’s breaking your sites.

And I agree that Jetpack is “becoming more unusable with every upgrade.” I simply won’t install it any longer for clients due to two reasons: crapification of the UI and features being removed without warning. If I can’t rely upon a plugin to be stable and user-friendly I won’t force my clients to use it.

2. The stand alone Onmiseach plugin has broken every site I’ve activated it on.

Don’t hesitate to report the issue to the plugin author here:
https://github.com/georgestephanis/Omnisearch/issues

If you do not have a GitHub account, I’d be happy to do it for you. If you’re willing to run more tests, you could add the following to your site’s wp-config.php file:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );

if ( WP_DEBUG ) {

        @error_reporting( E_ALL );
        @ini_set( 'log_errors', true );
        @ini_set( 'log_errors_max_len', '0' );

        define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
        define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );
        define( 'CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false );
        define( 'SAVEQUERIES', true );

}

Your wp-config.php file may already include a line that says “define(‘WP_DEBUG’, false);”. You can remove it, and replace it by the code above.

Once you’ve done so, try to activate the plugin again, and then check the wp-content/debug.log file for errors. You can paste the results here and I’ll forward them to the plugin author. You can then replace define('WP_DEBUG', true); by define('WP_DEBUG', false); in the code above.

3. The UI overall – Jetpack is becoming more unusable with every upgrade. I get that you programs always want to “improve” things. The Mona Lisa can’t be “improved” by adding more paint.

We’ve indeed be making changes to the interface in the past few releases, and will continue to do so based on the feedback we receive from site owners like you. If there are specific things that bother you with the current interface, don’t hesitate to let me know.

You can also comment on the GitHub issues I linked to earlier, where @aradams also chimed in with her own feedback — thank you again for that.