Upgrading Store Locator Plus

Posted by lcleveland in for WordPress

The base Store Locator Plus plugin and add ons are updated on a regular basis. Often the updates include security and bug fixes or fundamental changes that are designed to improve performance by reducing the memory and/or disk request load when your visitors are interacting with the map.

The most common reason your legacy add on stopped working is because it is no longer supported with the latest version of Store Locator Plus or vice versa

You may wish to choose to stay with your WPSLP Self Managed plugin and upgrade to the replacement bundled add-ons or switch to the managed MySLP.

Make sure you have a backup copy of the current version of SLP you have installed that IS working with your add on packs. We ALWAYS recommend that your site uses VaultPress or JetPack

Whenever you update the base plugin make sure ALL of your SLP add-on packs are updated to the latest version.

Mixed Content Warnings and Site migration

Posted by cici in Advanced, FAQ, Support, Troubleshooting

Google’s push for all websites to be HTTPS has been a game changer over the past few years with many companies switching from HTTP to HTTPS with some hiccups along the way. Some of the site transfer mishaps are minor, but if done incorrectly can cause your plug-ins to misbehave , and often is the case, after the transition team has left the building.

Mixed Content Warnings – Loading Assets Over HTTP

If you have never had HTTPS on your site, you will undoubtedly run into an issue with how your site assets are loaded. By assets we are referring to things like images, JavaScript, and even your CSS. Insecure assets may not stop the green padlock from showing in browsers, but it will add an exclamation point warning to your users that information is being loaded insecurely.

Site Migrations Vary

Occasionally we see comments from customers that Store locator Plus broke their site or is not working. When asked if they recently migrated their site they often state nothing has changed. On further investigation , or by inspecting their console we often see the “Mixed Content warnings” quite often for images or icons from older versions of Store Locator Plus. This is a sure fire clue that there was indeed a “site migration”. They started out with their site when the SLP plug-in was originally installed as HTTP and now , at least part of their site, is HTTPS. This is known as a protocol migration. If you migrate your site from HTTP to HTTPS, Google treats this as a site move with a URL change. That means you may need to obtain a new Google API key for SLP to work properly. With version SLP 4.9.15 you are allowed to add HTTP referrers now as long as you also obtain a geocode key. See info about those changes under news

Upfront Investment

A site migration is a great opportunity to address legacy issues. If you have outdated legacy add-ons this is a good time to invest in your future by planning for and including any update expenses in your overall budget. Including these costs in the project scope is the most cost-effective method to ensure your site stays relevant and on-track. When you consider that issues that may arise after going live will require additional time , resources and, yes, may even create downtime and loss of traffic to your site it is worth including the new versions in your budget.

Q: I am receiving error messages and something isn’t working the way it used to, what is wrong?

Posted by lcleveland in FAQ

The most common issue is that there were updates in Store Locator Plus, WordPress, a non-Store Locator Plus plugin, or your theme that may be interacting with and breaking Store Locator Plus.

Update Your Store Locator Plus Add Ons

The first step should always be to check the Store Locator Plus versions page and make sure you are running the latest version of your Store Locator Plus plugins. There is often a free upgrade to a newer version of a Store Locator Plus add on that works with the current release of the base plugin.

How to upload and install your Word press Store Locator Plus and Add-Ons

Posted by cici in Advanced, FAQ, Our Add Ons, Professional, Professional, Troubleshooting

Obtaining SLP Add On Pack

Note This page does not apply to our SLP SaaS subscription customers. All updates for those customers are taken care of by us. SLP SaaS is also referred to as MySLP. It is not a plug-in. It is a managed Software service. No need to worry what version you are on.

All add-on packs are available from the WordPressStore Locator Plus website. Power Add-On , Experience Add-on , or you can purchase a Premier Subscription that provides access to all of the add-on packs as well as preferred access to the Premier support forums, pre-release products, new features and functionality that is available only to subscribers.

Note: If you purchase the Power or Experience add-ons as an upgrade to your existing (Legacy) add-ons, the legacy add-ons will automatically be deactivated. Delete the legacy add-ons. First “always have a full backup of your site” We strongly recommend looking into the WordPress backup, or Jet Pack. One of the features included , besides real-time incremental backups of your site with restore points, is the ability to restore the site to an alternate site

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Install An Add On Pack

SLP version 5.10 and above are not listed in the WordPress Plugin Directory. Ditto any add-ons you purchased from our Store front . As such the first time you add the plug-in it will need to be installed via the below installation process.

Login To Your Store Locator Plus Account
Download the latest zip file version
Login to your WordPress admin panel for your website.
Go to the plugins sidebar menu.
Select Add New.
Select Upload.
Browse to your downloaded zip file.
Click Install now.
Activate

Updating An Add On Pack

Once installed a query from the WordPress Admin Panel communicates with the Store Locator Plus servers and a message or red line will be shown as updates are available. Occasionally, the WP server times out before it gets to the SLP plugin servers. Use the check again tool in the WP Admin sidebar or check the versions at the Store Locator Plus home page.

Some third-party plugins and WordPress themes can prevent the update notice appearing from the Store Locator Plus server. It is prudent to visit the Versions Page and only if necessary, perform a manual update.

You should perform updates on your test site or a staging site first to avoid downtime or potential issues effecting your production (live) site. You should always have a recent back-up to restore to. The safest way to do manual updates, follow these steps

Deactivate the plugin you are updating
Delete the plugin
Go to Plugins | Add New
Select Upload
Upload the latest release zip file
DO NOT click the Activate button
Go to Plugins on the sidebar
Check off the plugin you just installed
Go to bulk actions and select activate