Cluster Map Markers is available as part of the Premier plugin included with the Premier Subscription for Store Locator Plus or the Enterprise levelof MySLP. Cluster Markers show a single map marker graphic (circle with number inside it) when two or more (you set this number) markers are within close proximity to one another on the current map view. As a user zooms in on the cluster, the clusters break apart to show the individual markers. When zoomed out the individual location markers combine into a single marker graphic with the count of locations represented by the graphic shown in the center. You determine the default radius and minimum number of locations before cluster map marker is engaged. Your “center map at” and default radius setting will effect where the map center is located.
Turn On Cluster Markers
Go to the Store Locator Plus : Settings / Map and look under the Appearance section for “Enable Cluster Markers”.
Create a list of location pages, the Store Pages created by the Pages option of the Power add on, requires version 4.5 or later of the Power add on with the Pages option enabled.
Listing location pages is done by adding the [slp_pages] shortcode to your WordPress page or post. Only published Store Pages are shown. By default new pages created via the Manage Locations interface are created in ‘draft’ mode.
The [storepage] shortcode is used by the Pages and Power add ons to render live location data on a location (store) page. The template is set under the Pages / Settings tab in the Initial Page Features group via the Page Template setting.
The [storepage] Shortcode
By default the [storepage] shortcode does not output any content. You need to use one of the following attributes to generate location-specific output.
Attributes
class – augments the tag attribute with the specified CSS class
field – specify which location field to display
hard_coded_value – output the text in the wrapper
map – show a map with the location marker
post – output the WordPress post attributes for the page
CSV Imports are the most-used feature for our MySLP Professional users and for our WordPress SLP self managed DIY customers that purchased the Power add on.
A full address format of the 10 Restaurants Basic CSV Import format. It includes the Store Name (Store), Address, Address 2, City, State, and Zip, and Country columns.
The same 9 places with full address and latitude and longitude. Including latitude and longitude gets the locations online and active on the site faster. This was created from an Export CSV of the above Full Address file when we stripped the sl_id column and all the blank columns at the end, relabeled the header row to be user friendly.
One quick way to tell if your file is accessible is to put the URL you are using for your imports into your browser. Does it download a CSV file you can open with a text editor? If No; It isn’t a “vanilla” CSV file readable by the “Internet”.
This is the link you can use to see if remote file retrieval is working
it shows you a web page. That second link above from our demo site is NOT a valid remote CSV file URL
Google changed how share links on drives are working and we have found no way to get to the raw CSV file with any links they provided to us.
So Google Drive hosted CSV files is likely never going to work again. Just one more way for them to track everything you do online by using an embed object vs. a flat CSV that they give you access too.
The Premier Add On provides territories for locations. Each location can have a territory assigned that describes a rectangular area with a boundary specified in miles or kilometers north, south, east, and west of the location.
You can restrict the list of locations a user sees via the Radius Behavior setting in Store Locator Plus. The options and their influence on results returned is described in Radius Behavior.
Importing locations with territories follows the same procedure as importing a standard locations file. As with all location files the format must be a proper CSV file exported using the UTF-8 character set with no special or non-printable characters.
Your CSV file should add the following five columns to the file. Make sure you add the field names to the top of each of these new columns as listed here:
territory_distance_unit
territory_distance_north
territory_distance_south
territory_distance_east
territory_distance_west
Within each column you will want to have the following values:
territory_distance_unit can be ‘miles’, ‘km’, or be blank. If this is not set to ‘miles’ or ‘km’ it will assume the territory is not enabled for this location.
territory_distance_north , south, east, and west should be the distance north, south, east, or west from the location that is part of its territory.
The territory boundaries will automatically be calculated for each location during the import.
Once a location is setup with a territory the map markers that are sent back from the server during a user search will include a ‘in_territory’ property set to ‘1’ if the user’s location is within the territory and ‘0’ if not. An additional ‘in_territory_class’ property will also be set to either ‘in_territory’ or a blank string. Both settings are part of the ‘data’ property of the location marker.
Before you can use the territories features of the Premier add on, you will need to enable the feature under the General / Data tab. This is off by default to reduce the data storage and processing overhead of Store Locator Plus for sites that do not need territory services. Go to the General / Data tab and check off “Enable Territory Bounds” and click save. This will create the necessary data fields and enable territory settings and features within the application.
SLP 4.5 Premier 4.5 General Data Tab
If you later disable this feature any of the existing location territory data will be retained until you delete the location. However the location search process will no longer restrict search results to locations within a territory nor output data related to locations being inside or outside of a territory; assuming those features are enabled in the Experience settings.
Location Data
Locations will now show several new fields when managing a location.
Premier 4.5 Editing A Location Territory
Territory Distance Unit – what is the distance unit used with this location to determine the territory coverage. None disables the territory.
Distance North – how many miles to the north of the location is the northern boundary of the territory.
Distance South – how many miles to the south of the location is the southern boundary of the territory.
Distance East – how many miles to the east of the location is the eastern boundary of the territory.
Distance West – how many miles to the west of the location is the western boundary of the territory.
When the location is saved the Territory Bounds is calculated. Editing the location will show the location point as well as the territory it covers.
User Experience Settings
Under the experience tab there is a setting the dictates how locations are shown to the user.
If you check of the Only Show If In Territory checkbox under the Experience / Results tab in the Functionality group the list of locations shown to the user will only include the locations where the user’s address is within the location’s territory. The radius is still used to limit the results that the server processes. If the radius is hidden and set to a default value, caution should be taken to set a reasonable radius. Checking if a point lies within a territory can be time consuming. First limiting the locations to a reasonable list by first filtering those within a certain distance of the user can sped up processing.
For example, if none of your territories are more than 100 miles from the location you can reasonably set the default radius to be all locations within 100 miles. This will limit how many locations need to have their boundaries tested to see if the user’s address is within. This will improve your territory matching performance.
Create data-driven WordPress pages for each location in your Store Locator Plus locations table. The layout that builds the initial pages can be modified and pages created, or re-created, en- masse. Once the initial Store Pages have been created they can be modified on a per-location basis.
You must have the Experience Add-on to change the Search Layout appearance, and along with other add-ons, also allow you to to use the shortcode on SLP WP page.
These shortcodes only apply to the Search Layout admin setting when you have the appropriate Add-on installed and activated.
slp_search_element
This shortcode provides a simple mechanism to place standard search form elements on a custom search form layout, including the wrapping divs and classes around labels and input fields.
