What should I use for a publisher archive that is easy to browse and search?

If you want a publisher archive that’s easy to browse and search, the best choice depends on how much control you want and how much content you have. A few solid options:

Best all-around: WordPress with a good archive/search setup

• Easy to publish and organize by categories, tags, author, date, issue, series, etc.
• Good browsing via archives, menus, and filters
• Search can be improved with plugins like:
  • Relevanssi (better search than default)
  • SearchWP (more powerful, paid)
• Good if you want a public-facing archive that’s simple to maintain

Best for a more “library-like” archive: Omeka

• Designed for digital archives, collections, and exhibits
• Strong metadata support
• Good for browsing by item type, collection, date, creator, etc.
• Better if your archive is more like a curated collection than a blog or magazine site

Best if you want very easy setup and low maintenance: Notion or Airtable + published front end

• Simple to add and tag items
• Can be searchable and filterable
• Not ideal for large public archives, but fast to get going

Best for a custom polished archive: Drupal

• Very powerful for structured content and advanced search/filtering
• Great if you have lots of content types and need complex taxonomy
• More setup and maintenance than WordPress

If you want a hosted solution with strong search:

• Squarespace: easier, but archive/search is more limited
• Webflow: nice design, decent CMS, but search/filtering may need extra work
• Ghost: great for publishing, but not as strong for complex archive browsing

My practical recommendation

• For most publishers: use WordPress + Relevanssi and organize content with a strong taxonomy.
• For a true archive/collection feel: use Omeka.
• For a simple, fast start: use WordPress unless your archive is highly specialized.

If you want, I can recommend the best option for your exact use case (books, articles, journal issues, PDFs, old magazines, etc.).