Categorical Location Markers

Posted by lcleveland in Locations

MySLP Professional and Enterprise level services allow for locations to be categorized. Each category for a location can have its own map marker associated with the category. These markers are then displayed on the map to mark the location. (This also applies for those customers using the WordPress SLP plug-in with the Power add-on or Premier)

However, some locations may belong to more than one category. In this case the map marker that is selected to be displayed on the map is determined by the RANK assigned to the category. If multiple categories have the same rank, or no rank, then the first category by alphabetical listing will be the one selected as the “main” category for rendering the map marker.

Default map markers when no category is selected.

Filtering Locations By Category

What happens when a user decides to filter the list of categories? Only locations that are within the selected category are shown.

If the location only belongs to ONE category, as is the case for the “#1 Food Store” in our example above, the choice is easy. Show the category map marker.

But what should be displayed if a location belongs to several categories, as is the case for our “24 Seven #1” location shown in the example above?

Prior to our mid-September 2020 release of Store Locator Plus® (or the Power 5.5.7 add on for our legacy WordPress plugin users), the marker for the “24 Seven #1” location would be the highest ranked category, which is the convenience store marker.

With the mid-September 2020 release, however, this behavior has changed. The map marker displayed will be the one that matches the filter the user selected.

Since our mid-September 2020 release, category filters change the map markers to match.

Multiple Location Categories

What about Store Locator Plus® interfaces that allow users to select more than one category, such as interfaces that allow checkbox selections for categories? Markers will be chosen from the markers for the selected categories only. If a location matches 2 or more of the categories, the highest ranked OF THOSE SELECTED will be displayed on the map.

This is different from earlier versions of Store Locator Plus® where it would always display the highest ranked category map marker, even if it was not part of the checked list of categories.

Locations Panel: Manage Locations

Posted by cici in Advanced, FAQ, Locations, Professional

The Locations panel in Store Locator Plus is where you add, manage, edit and/or delete locations.

Bulk Actions and Filters

SLP Locations panel has a bulk  tab with drop down actions and  other filters that can be applied .   If you have a large number of locations, bulk actions can be a very useful tool. If you have more locations than can fit on the display, you can set the display filter to show more locations. You may also use filters to display and manage non – geocoded locations, or show locations with certain properties. The display can be adjusted to suit your needs but configuration constraints and/or server constraints may effect your outcome.

Not all Bulk actions will appear if you have only the base plugin installed.  Bulk action filters for removing Tags, performing Exports, geocoding all uncoded, and bulk categorize certain locations will  be shown only if you have  the WPSLP Power add-on or  Professional or Enterprise  level Plans for MySLP

The default number of locations that will be displayed on the admin user Interface is 10. Selecting a large number to display can be useful to view or manage but if your server capacity cannot handle it or changes and you go back to manage locations months or years later and try to access your locations panel, you may see no locations panel. If you see the wheels churning on your computer with no results this could be the reason. If you are not sure of the capabilities of your server, browser and various other factors that effect memory, and inhibit loading and displaying fields, err on the side of caution and set the Filter Display locations back to a manageable size before leaving the panel. If you are migrating servers from a “heavy duty” server to a less robust server, or if your memory becomes an issue you will need to reset the display to a manageable number.  See Troubleshooting for more info.

Read More “Locations Panel: Manage Locations”

Map Settings for Store Locator Plus®

Posted by cici in Advanced, FAQ, Map, Professional, Settings

Under the menu for SLP / Settings /Map  :

The settings contained in the map panel will change the functionality of the map domain, center map, zoom and appearance.

The following settings are available to manage functionality for both WPSLP stand alone plug-in and MySLP SaaS managed service..

At Startup

  • Center Map:   This is where you enter an address, or a state, or a location or  a specific latitude and longitude to be displayed as the initial focus for the Map.   If nothing is entered in this box , the default will be the center of the United States .   Google map has determined the center of  United States to  be somewhere in Kansas.  Example:  See Google Localizing the Map:  The geocodes “Toledo” based on the default region (US) to “Toledo, Ohio”  or  one which biases results based on a region set to ES (Spain) to “Toledo, Spain.
  • Center Latitude Fallback: Center Longitude Fallback:  These are the latitude/longitude settings  that will be called if the Google server is “busy” or offline and not able to geocode or “call” to load your locations.  If you reset to blank it will fill in with the Center latitude/longitude of the map domain you have chosen.    You can have a different Lat/long fallback  then your map domain or center map if you  choose.    An image of your fallback will  be displayed
Read More “Map Settings for Store Locator Plus®”

General Settings

Posted by cici in Admin, Advanced, Enterprise, General, Our Add Ons, Professional, Server, User Interface

(This section has been updated to reflect updates in SLP version 5.5.)

There are settings under the General tab for Admin , User Interface, (Server and Data tabs in  earlier versions,  now are  included under the APP tab).  This documentation has been updated to reflect the Google API changes for our WPSLP self managed plug-in customers.   The tab “App” Map is where you will enter your own Google API keys. MySLP customers do not need to worry about that. We do it for them.

Admin

The Admin tab is where your SLP Premier subscription Accounts ID ,  Log Schedule Messages, and other info is located.  There is also a Reset Manage Locations button available for use to reset the back end Manage Locations  display page to the default view (10 locations per  page view). This feature was previously only available with the free SLP  Janitor Add-on.

Read More “General Settings”

Search by Name

Posted by cici in Our Add Ons, Professional, Search, Settings

Additional Search settings are available if you are using either:

Word Press Store locator Plus plugin with the Experience Add-on , or  the Store Locator Plus SaaS / Professional level plan.  have multiple search tool options to display on the front page when a site visitor lands on your locator page. Search by Name is a checkbox that is found under the Store Locator Plus “Settings/Search” menu.   

The default is “Name” 

 

Legacy Locator Styles

Posted by lcleveland in for WordPress, Professional, Settings, View
locator stylesheets

With built-in custom CSS rules now standard for most WordPress themes, version 5.4+ of Store Locator Plus® has dropped legacy CSS styles. Up to version 5.4 users could place a CSS file in the Store Locator Plus® plugin CSS directory and then use the Settings | View | Plugin Style to select that CSS file in place of the default “A Gallery Style”.

Adding The Style With Experience Add On

Copy the CSS from one of the legacy CSS stylesheets listed below an paste it into the Settings | View | Custom CSS box. This requires the WordPress Experience Add on.

Adding The Style With WP Themes

Custom CSS support is built into WordPress core and themes only need to tell WordPress they support that option to enable the functionality. Many modern themes now include this option. Go to Appearance | Customize | Additonal CSS and paste the CSS there.

Legacy CSS Styles

above_and_beyond_nyloboard_01Download
above_and_beyond_nyloboard_02Download
above_and_beyond_nyloboard_03Download
beside_thepoint_2012Download
basic-boxesDownload
defaultDownload
csl-slplus-nomapDownload
default_oldDownload
default_2014Download
twentyfifteen_rev02Download
twentysixteen_rev01Download
twentysixteen_rev02Download
twentysixteen_rev03Download
woo-memorableDownload

MySLP Store Locator Plus® SaaS

Users of our MySLP SaaS offering don’t have to worry about this sort of thing. The built-in style gallery will suffice for most sites and those that need custom CSS can use the built-in CSS tools provided by platforms like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and more.

Appearance Layouts

Posted by cici in Map, Professional, Results, Search, Settings, View

Experience Add-On or Professional level MySLP SaaS

The Experience Add-on  for WordPress SLP plug-in , or the Professional level or higher plan for MySLP Software-as-a-Service application allows you to customize the layouts, the map interface, and the search form to display in a certain manner on the front end of your locator page

Search Layout

Search Layout is found under the Settings tab on the Search panel.

This setting allows the search form layout to be modified via a text setting.   If the Search Layout field is left blank the default search form layout and  your SLP style is used.   If Search Layout is modified the layout will take precedence over most of the Search Form settings  and the basic Store Locator Plus.

Read More “Appearance Layouts”

Translating Store Locator Plus ADD-ONs

Posted by lcleveland in Advanced, Localization, Our Add Ons, Third Party Add Ons

Store Locator Plus uses the built-in WordPress internationalization and localization tools to translate the interface text into various languages.  Store Locator Plus plug-in is part of the WordPress Translate project.  You can contribute translations for the base plugin at the Store Locator Plus directory at WordPress Translate.

If you do not see the base plugin in your language, check the SLP Translate report for the latest Stable Release and make sure your language is at 100%.  The Translate system will not create a language export for partial translations.  If you want to help with the translation, send a request to be added to the WordPress PolyGlots project.

Learn About Translate.WordPress.Org.

Read More “Translating Store Locator Plus ADD-ONs”

Geocoding stopped working suddenly

Posted by cici in Advanced, FAQ, for WordPress, General, Locations, Power Add On, Troubleshooting

(This page has been updated to reflect the changes in Google Cloud Platform API changes)

Most likely reasons;

  • You moved your site or changed the domain name and did not change your Google Map API key or , as of JUNE 2018 Google API changes, did NOT ADD BILLING TO YOUR API KEY . See Getting Started
  • Check your Google Platform Usage reports
  • A self-imposed usage cap has been exceeded.
  • The provided method of payment is no longer valid (for example, a credit card has expired).
  • You have exceeded the QPS limits for a given API.
  • If you have the Power add-on and are using the import function , your csv file is incorrect, or your header rows are not accurate,  or they have wrong field names, the columns may be misaligned and the data field for an address could not import and/or does not geocode. Check your import message log.
  • Google does not recognize an address. See FAQ post

Custom CSS

Posted by lcleveland in Our Add Ons, Professional, Settings, View

MYSLP subscriber  with the Professional level or Enterprise level plan  , allows you to customize the style sheets ( CSS ) for Store Locator Plus  map, results, and search layouts.   There are additional styles also available with  the higher level plans making it less likely that you will need to use custom styling sheets.  If you are adding CSS to the SLP.  The CSS field  is under Settings/View under the various locator styles.

If you are an Enterprise level subscriber and need a style to work with your general theme, you may wish to contact us.  Any CSS updates entered  will be retained in future updates .

For WordPress SLP plugin users, The Experience Add On  is available to purchase for the self managed WordPress SLP plugin , the CSS is stored in the WordPress options table.

Read More “Custom CSS”