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Search query character limit on the modern template

  • Sep 28, 2026 2:12 AM UTC
  • 2 replies
  • 59 views

The search bar on the modern Help Center template doesn't return results for queries under 3 characters. For example, searching "플랜" (plan) or "가격" (price) returns no results, while "플랜이" or "가격은" (the same root word with a particle attached) works fine.

This minimum length may work reasonably for English, where 2-letter inputs are often low-signal, but it's overly restrictive for Korean, where 2-character words are frequently complete, high-value search terms. A language-aware minimum, or a lower threshold for CJK queries, would better serve non-English Help Centers.

Could you let us know if this minimum length is configurable, or if there are plans to make it language-aware?

2 replies

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Hey ​@Opensurvey team (Amber) thanks for posting, hope you’re doing good! 😄 The modern Help Center search waits until a query has at least 3 characters before it runs. That limit is fixed right now, it isn't configurable, and it's the same for every language. If the behaviour on the legacy Help Center was better for you, I recommend reverting to that for now.

Let me know if you have any further questions regarding this!


Thanks for the reply, Ryan. This limit is causing a lot of friction for our users right now, so I’d appreciate it if you could help with a few more questions:

  1. Why does search work for these queries on the legacy Help Center but not on the modern template?
  2. What is the reason for the 3-character minimum?
  3. Has this been logged as a feature request? I’d like to know if there are any plans to change it.

Looking forward to your reply. Thanks.