Deploying A SquareSpace Map

Deploying a SquareSpace map is a simple process that uses the SquareSpace embed block and a simple My Store Locator Plus (our SLP SaaS solution) JavaScript snippet.

Setting up a SLP  SaaS account, adding locations, setting up a SquareSpace account, adding the map, and deploying a site can take as little as 15 minutes.

Squarespace map.
Using Store Locator Plus to deploy a SquareSpace map.

Removing distance fields and editing Results

Settings > Results > Results Layout

Removing the distance from the results can be done by editing the Results Layout. You will see the results layout box if you have the Experience add-on for WPSLP or have the professional level plan or higher for MYSLP.

For MySLP go to Store Locator Plus > Settings > Results > Appearance
For WPSLP go to Store Locator Plus > Settings > Results > Appearance

With the Results Layout setting find the HTML span tag with the slp_location distance shortcode.

Delete that line.

Release Notes and Updates SLP 4.9.2 and above

Store Locator Plus 4.9.2  

Please check your versions on our Home site to ensure you are using the latest versions of the plug-in and add-ons.  A lot has changed since release 4.9.2.  See our News channel for latest information regarding WordPress, SLP, and Google changes. Changes to the terms for Google API  use went into effect or or about June 11, 2018.  This effected every plug-in that utilized Google APIs.  Newer Versions of  WPSLP  added fields for Google API key placement. This means, if you had been using older versions in order to keep legacy add-ons, and never added your Google MAP API key to SLP, your map will not display correctly. See News for current information

Our MySLP locator service  updates the versions for you and takes care of the Google Maps and geocode API s.  You add your locations and adjust your map look-and-feel settings– then when you are ready paste a JavaScript snippet into your website. It doesn’t even need to be running WordPress.

Store Locator Plus 4.8 and above updates will disable Legacy add-ons

Legacy Add-ons

The   auto-update of WordPress v 4.8.2 and above required a major update to the WP Store Locator Plus free base plug-in resulting in the end of compatibility with the popular Pro Pack , Tagalong and other Legacy add-ons.  The Legacy add-ons are no longer supported nor maintained and have been retired over the past two years as announced in news posts, blogs , changelogs, mail campaigns  and social media.  If you are not sure if your add-on is considered Legacy, see the FAQ comparison featured to Legacy add-ons

Time to invest in your future

Some of our customers were surprised by the change and retirement of the  Legacy Add-ons.  We tried to give as much of a heads up as possible using news blogs,  content news to the home site and reached out using a  Mail Chimp campaign for those most likely effected.   Ultimately, there is no sure fire method to reach the thousands of customers who may have had these older add-ons installed.  If there is one thing we know, change in the technical genre is inevitable.  The SLP support team will always endeavor to help our customers transition to the new age.  We pledge they will see real value-added from updating their site and software . Please take a moment to review the multiple benefits of utilizing the newer Experience add-onPower add-on.

Although downgrading to an earlier version of SLP is an option, you may note that changes to the WordPress code and their security patches may disable features. Before making any changes to your site you should ensure you are backing up your site WP database and files.  It is very important to take this step before you have issues or worse, site crashes.    WordPress security has become more robust over the years.

For more information please see this important message from the author:

Store locator Plus  updates and retired add-ons

 

Import using WordPress Store Locator Plus Power add-on

This page /information does not apply to SLP SaaS. This information is provided for the SLP do it yourself plug-in only

WPSLP   Power add-on  uses the built-in file up-loader provided by WordPress Core instead of a custom file import script.   Look in the Media Library in WordPress.  Make sure your install has not disabled the default WordPress media up-loader.

NOTE: As of July 2018,  if you are using the WPSLP “do it yourself” plugin with Power add-on and you have not included the latitude and longitude and require geocoding , make sure you have a Google API account and have checked off the Maps and Geocoding APIs in your library.

What to look for when importing

Do you see the CSV file you just imported? If not then your site has disabled the WordPress media uploader.

If your file IS in the media library but never gets past  the offset “0” setting check to make sure your server  has not disabled the WordPress Cron .

WP CRON can be found under Forms WP environment

Check to see if your server is preventing the wp-cron.php from being triggered.

Check your import file in the media library by clicking on it.  It should show what the file size is and the current offset. The offset is where the background process is shown while importing the file.  If it is shown as “zero” then your WordPress Uploads directory for the media library has been set to non-standard restricted access meaning the background location import process is not allowed to open the file after it was uploaded.

Click on the file to see the file size and meta data

Scroll To Map

By adding the scroll_to_map class on any of the Results Layout HTML elements, WordPress Premier or MySLP Enterprise subscribers can enable the scroll to map functionality on any Store Locator Plus plugin style.    When the class has been added to an element in the results layout that element becomes clickable.  Clicking that element will scroll the map back into view and open the map marker and info bubble for the location that was clicked.

We have used this feature in the new Bennett plugin style.

To add the feature to other styles you will need to have the Premier plugin installed for WordPress. Under Settings/Map in the functionality section see the check box ,

For MySLP Enterprise users the feature is already enabled.

Go to Store Locator Plus (MySLP) or Store Locator Plus (WPSLP) | Settings | Results | Results Layout.

Results Layout With Scroll To Map
Results Layout With Scroll To Map

Edit the layout and add scroll_to_map to an existing class on an html element you want to trigger the scrolling feature or add class=”scroll_to_map” if the HTML element does not have a class assigned.

Learn more about other Premier / Enterprise features like the new Category Button Bar.

Category Button Bar

Bennet Plugin Style with Button Bar

*Included with  WPSLP Premier subscription or MySLP Enterprise level Subscriptions. 

The category button bar is a  category selection interface available to WordPress Premier and MySLP Enterprise subscribers.   This feature is enabled under the Store Locator Plus menu  select Settings | Search | Appearance | Category Selector.

The button bar will show clickable links that display the icon and category name for the category which will filter locations that match.    The styling for the display will vary based on which plugin style you select.  Currently the Bennett style from our Settings/View /Gallery CSS is configured to appear when you have an active Premier or Enterprise  subscription.

Bennet Plugin Style with Button Bar
Bennet Plugin Style with Button Bar

Functionality is based on a single-category selection. Clicking a new category will turn off all other categories.

The map center, either the Center Map for initial map loading or the address a user entered, is retained as is the initial or current radius.  The map will zoom in-and-out to show all locations that match within the radius of the center point.

Shown is the button bar using the Bennet  Gallery plugin style on a modified version of Exists theme  deployed on the Bennet Trim Tabs site.  This video is on our development servers.

 

 

Learn about other Premier / Enterprise features.

CSV File Import Header

All Store Locator Plus CSV files must start with a file import header that indicates what data is in each column.

The  first row of the Store Locator Plus import file should look like this, you do not need the (sl in front of the header name for the basic import function to work):

sl_store,sl_address,sl_address2,sl_city,sl_state,sl_zip,sl_country,sl_latitude,sl_longitude,category,sl_tags,sl_description,sl_email,sl_url,sl_hours,sl_phone,sl_fax,sl_image,sl_private,sl_neat_title

Please see the Example CSV files post for a sample base file with a header.

To speed up imports you should NOT include columns that have no data.

For imports that did NOT start out as a CSV export from the SAME SITE you should NOT have an sl_id column.

For geocoding, assigning a latitude and longitude, to work during import you need to have at least one of the address fields in your file and preferably these main fields:

  • sl_address
  • sl_city
  • sl_state
  • sl_zip

All field names can drop the leading “sl_” for readability.   For example sl_address can become address. The field names usually match the field label, for example if you have  the Experience add on  or the Professional level or higher SaaS plan , you can have “Featured” and “Rank” as import columns.