Premier URL Control

Enabling URL Controls

Enabling URL Control features will require an active Premier Subscription.

Location Selection

When the URL Control module is active you can enable location ID passing by turning on “Location Selection” under the General / User Interface tab.

When this is enabled you can pass in a location ID by adding ?location=<id> to the end of the page address where your locator map is deployed with the [slplus] shortcode.

When the location ID is present and the settings is enabled the specified location will be activated on the location map as if a user had clicked the marker on the map.  This will show the info bubble by default.

Note: If cluster map markers are enabled they will be turned off for the initial page load.   Subsequent input or searches by the user will re-activate the cluster map markers.

Note: When passing in a location ID via a URL the location latitude/longitude will become the center point for the map display.  The location that is shown will be at the top of the result listing if sort by distance (default) is in place.

 

Location Limit

When the URL Control module is active you can enable location ID passing by turning on “Location Limit” under the General / User Interface tab.

When this is enabled you can pass in a limit for the number of locations to be returned when the map initially loads and when a search is performed by adding ?limit=<id> to the end of the page address where your locator map is deployed with the [slplus] shortcode.

Filter By Tag

When the URL Control module is active you can filter locations to show only this matching the tag(s) by turning on “Filter By Tag” under the General / User Interface tab.

This setting will require the Power Add On to be installed and active.

This setting will also require the following shortcode to be present in the Results Layout.  The shortcode is standard in most Store Locator Plus provided Style Gallery Styles.  It can be removed or changed if you have the Experience Add On active.

[slp_search_element selector_with_label="tag"]

An example of a Results Layout where locations are assigned a single tag.  With multiple tags the entire list will be hyperlinked and will not likely perform as expected.  Note the [slp_location data.sl_tags] takes the place of the [slp_location pro_tags] shortcode that is set by default on most Style Gallery styles.

 

[slp_addon section=primary position=first] [slp_location name] [slp_location uml_buttons] [slp_location gfi_buttons] [slp_location distance_1] [slp_location distance_unit] [slp_addon section=primary position=last]

 

[slp_addon section=secondary position=first] [slp_location address] [slp_location address2] [slp_location city_state_zip] [slp_location country] [slp_location phone] [slp_location fax] [slp_addon section=secondary position=last]

 

[slp_addon section=tertiary position=first] [slp_location web_link] [slp_location email_link] [slp_location directions_text] [slp_location hours] [slp_location data.sl_tags] [slp_location iconarray wrap=”fullspan”] [slp_location eventiconarray wrap=”fullspan”] [slp_location socialiconarray wrap=”fullspan”] [slp_addon section=tertiary position=last]

</div>

If you have URL controls enabled you can now pass in location filters based on a tag by adding ?only_with_tag=red to the end of your locations page URL.

Combining URL Options

You can combine the URL control options by using standard URL notation for parameter passing.

The standard is to define the first parameter by starting with a question mark.

Additional parameters are started with an ampersand.

To pass a location ID and a location limit, in this example to show ONLY the location specified, you would add ?location=32&limit=1 to your map page URL.

 

Videos

Map display options

Map Display

The Experience add-on for the WP Store Locator Plus or the MySLP/Professional Plan  allows you to customize the way your Map  is displayed and behaves.

With the WPSLP Experience add-on installed and activated  go to Settings/Map.

  • Show Map (default)
  • Hide map until search
  • Image until search
  • Do not autozoom
  • Full Screen (With  WPSLP Experience add-on or Professional level MYSLP)

Appearance

Additional options such as Hide the Map entirely or to change the layout  are available with add-ons. (See   Map layout and appearance   WPSLP Experience Add-on.   or if you have  purchased the Professional and /or Enterprise level MYSLP SaaS . If you do not have the Add-on or the corresponding MySLP plan,  the  optional settings will  NOT appear.   (Note: With MYSLP there is a sidebar menu  called Store Locator Plus/Settings where you will find the same. See Adjust Locator styling for more information)

The additional options with the above mentioned plans or add-ons allows you to  hide the map , change the map layout, change the map bubble display, and/or  hide the map info bubble.  The Plugin Style under View (WPSLP) may supersede these settings. Choose one that  will compliment your theme or utilizes the add-on features available to you.

Power (WPSLP)add-on or Professional Level (MySLP/SaaS) Overview

The Power add on for WordPress Store Locator Plus and the Power level for MySLP product line is within the Professional plan share similar features and functionality.  Whereas they are similar, they are not interchangeable.   There is a feature for MySLP subscribers that will allow some basic location loading from your SLP or other WP locator base plug-in. See News feed here for more info. MySLP SaaS version does not have SEO Pages or Directory Builder capability.

Note: Where the WP symbol appears below, those features are built into the WordPress SLP Power add-on only.

Categorization

Assign categories to your locations that allow users to pick a category and show only those locations.  Great for showing service versus retail centers or locations that carry specific products.

Paying With Credit Card

Note: Starting in March 2017 you can now pay with a credit card via Stripe.  This will not interact in any way with PayPal and allows you to purchase subscriptions on a credit card.

Store Locator Plus subscriptions or add-ons  can be purchased with a credit card.   To do so go through the normal checkout procedure.   When the PayPal login screen appears choose the “Pay with Debit or Credit Card” button on the bottom of the screen.   Fill out your details for the credit card information.

This will allow you to make the purchase and have it billed directly to your credit card WITHOUT going through a PayPal account.

Q. Why am I seeing a message that I do not have sufficient permissions when I am trying to manage my locations?

You Do Not Have Sufficient Permissions

If you are getting the message “you do not have sufficient permissions to access this page” when trying to access the “Manage Locations” or “Map Settings” page, but “Add Locations ” is working it is because another plugin is interfering with the submenu management module in WordPress. You will likely find that any plugin that has a separate sidebar menu with multiple entries underneath will only work on the first entry. There is little we can do to remedy the situation without risking breaking other plugins. We suggest deactivating other plugins, one-at-a-time, until you find the plugin causing problems then ask them to rewrite their menu and submenu process and admin panel filters to ensure the basic menu system remains intact.

Gray map or blank map and/or search does not work

JavaScript Problems:

Note: Major Updates to WordPress versions (example 5.0 , 5.5 ,5.7) may effect themes behaviors and plug-ins and cause additional errors. We strongly advise updating on a staging site or dev or  test site first instead of allowing AUTO UPDATES)

Many times we hear that an update to SLP plug-in  broke “everything”.  Upon asking  for clarification  we find out that they also updated WP and/or  other plugins or did not update their themes.   WordPress explains how to  use your browser to diagnose javascript error

Issues with the JavaScript part of the plugin usually manifest themselves by showing the search form but either a blank map, a map that is all gray, or a map that appears but search does not wor properly. To identify what is causing your issue use the Firebug add-on with Firefox or any Browser developer tools (see above info in the link to WordPress on how to diagnose with browser).

The WordPress Store Locator Plus map rendering is managed by the slp.js JavaScript file.  It sets up the communication with the built-in WordPress AJAX handler, admin-ajax.   Your server must be setup to allow the built-in WordPress AJAX handler to execute.  Additionally, ANY PLUGIN or THEME that is breaking javascript will break SLP functionality. This is rarely an issue with the SLP plugin.

Common errors or issues:

The PHP JavaScript connector did not load

We have come across this error on several installations. The short answer to this problem is that something in the WordPress installation prevented the Store Locator Plus JavaScript component from loading. This means that the map system cannot communicate with Google. This prevents the map from appearing and search results from working properly on your locations page.

Here are some issues we’ve come across that cause this to happen:

    • PHP version is < 5.3, this generates an error message that you will not see in the browser. Any error message will prevent the JavaScript PHP file from loading. SLP will not work with versions lower then PHP 5.3.
    • PHP Error Reporting Enabled, if PHP error reporting is enabled and ANY PLUGIN has bugs, uses deprecated WordPress functions, or uses deprecated PHP functions they will generate an error message. This error message can be hidden in the browser if the error happens in something that is creating page header information. This will also break the page loading process and prevent the JavaScript PHP from loading.
    • Plugin Errors, any plugin that does not load properly and does ANYTHING with page header output will break and thus cause a domino effect prevent the Store Locator Plus PHP JavaScript component from loading.

In many cases the cause of the maps not loading is because our PHP JavaScript file could not load. We can often detect this and pop-up the “PHP JavaScript connector did not load” warning. However we cannot catch all errors. Why good Javascript is critical.

One of the best tools for searching for errors in the HTML page headers is to use Firefox with the Firebug plugin or any browser developer tool. Turn on the console and check the responses tab under console for any errors. We have resolved many client installation and map problems with this plugin. More often than not we are finding errors in other plugins, themes, or server/site  configuration settings.

The PHP JavaScript page header is a critical part of a working Store Locator Plus installation. Since it loads very late in the page creation process it is susceptible to failures from almost anything else you may be loading on the page or your WordPress site. The the map is not loading and you are receiving this message get some page debugging/tracking tools like Firebug and isolate any plugins that are generating coding/output errors.

IF YOU Update your WordPress environment , BE SURE TO  review  the WordPress VERSION changes  as they have changed.

Review the WordPress suggested requirements

  • Update PhP to 7 or higher
  • Update MySQL to 5.6 or higher
  • Site move to HTTPS 

2017 was  the year  WordPress was requiring   hosts to have HTTPS available. Just as JavaScript is a  necessity for smoother user experiences ,  updated PHP versions are critical for performance,  and SSL just makes sense as the next hurdle  users are going to face.   Note: Google also weighs SSL as a search engine ranking factor and have begun flagging unencrypted sites in Chrome.

Search and results not loading

AJAX Blocked

It is common for web hosts and system administrators to disable the built-in WordPress AJAX processing.   Store Locator Plus requires AJAX to be enabled.   This typically manifests itself with the AJAX call to the admin-ajax.php script not executing.

You can test this by directly surfing to the admin-ajax script on your server with a URL similar to this:

/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=csl_ajax_onload&addressInput=&ignore_radius=1

This should return a JSON response showing curly braces that start with {“success”:true,…

If it comes back with nothing, or a warning/error about being blocked, your AJAX security is not set properly.  Check you web server log files and talk to your system admin for assistance on configuring access to WordPress AJAX scripts.

Q. I paid for email support what happens next?

A.   For an  email support order:

  • If you pay and order support on Monday morning before 9 A.M EST , someone in customer support will answer you on, or before Wednesday no later than Thursday of the same week.  If you want to speed things up,  you may follow up with  an email to support letting them know you have submitted an order for support and provide your Plugin environmnet information and a brief explanation of your issue.
  • If you order and Pay for support on a Friday, realize that we are on the east coast.   If the support request comes in at 4 PM EST (which is 1PM Pacific time), do not count that Fri,Sat/Sun. The clock would start ticking Monday for a 3 Biz day email query and an acknowledgement of your paid support or a reply , if you have already provided the info concerning your issue, a reply would be forthcoming on or before Wed the following week.

Featuring Locations – Top of Results and Highlighting

Store Locator Plus allows you to feature specific locations in your search results.   This requires the Experience add on  (or Premier ) for WordPress or a Professional or Enterprise account for My Store Locator Plus.    Some of the interface styles provided by the style gallery support featured location highlighting “out of the box”, such as the Default With Font Tweaks style.

Select A Style That Supports Featured Locations

The Default With Font Tweaks Style is one of the styles that highlights locations and is a good starting point for testing this functionality.  You can adjust the layout and styling afterwards to meet your specific design requirements.

WPSLP – Select the Store Locator Plus entry in the side menu.

MYSLP – Select Store Locator Plus in the side menu.

Go to the Settings Tab and select the View subtab.

Click on the activate button on Default With Font Tweaks in the style gallery.

Settings/View for styles