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LotsOfLocales - Google Maps Store Locator for WordPress

Target Users

  • Those of you who create sites for clients using WordPress
  • Those of you who want to show your important locations (stores, buildings, points of interest, etc.) in an easily searchable manner.

Also referred to as a dealer locator (locater), shop finder, and zip code or zipcode search. Its strength is in its flexibility to allow you to easily manage a few or a thousand or more locations through the admin interface.

Great Built-In Functionality & Features

  • You can use it for numerous countries, which will continue to be added as Google adds new countries to their Google Maps API. See the documentation for the latest
  • Supports international languages and character sets
  • Allows you to use unique map icons or your own custom map icons --- great for branding your map
  • Gives your map the desired look by using our Map Designer™ interface in the WordPress admin section
  • Pick other cool Google Maps options, such as an inset box, zoom level, map types (street, satellite, hybrid, physical), and more
  • You can use miles or kilometers
  • Automatically restricts loading of Javascript & CSS to only pages that display the map (or that might need access to the JS & CSS) for better site performance
  • Option to show dropdown list of cities allows visitors to quickly see where your locations are and choose their search accordingly

Download Store Locator Now

Upgrades

If you need additional features, enhance your store locator with addons & themes. Upgrade Now

Important Links

Downloads | Upgrades | Blog - New Features & Updates | Documentation

Special Thanks to Translators

  • Simon Schmid: German (Deutsche), Italian (Italiano), Czech (Čeština), French (Français)
  • Gwyn Fisher: Spanish (Español)
  • Josef Klimosz: Czech (Čeština)(Updated)
  • Willem-Jan Korsten: Dutch (Nederlands)

(Email new translations to info{at}viadat{dot}com. If you provide your web address, we'll link back to you also)

Installation

Main Plugin

  1. Upload the store-locator/ folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
  2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
  3. Sign up for a Google Maps API Key for your domain at http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html
  4. Add your locations through the 'Add Locations' page in the Store Locator admin panel
  5. Place the code [STORE-LOCATOR] (case-sensitive) in the body of a page or a post to display your store locator

Addons

  1. Unzip & Upload the entire add-on folder to the /wp-content/uploads/sl-uploads/addons/ directory (for 1.2.37 and later). Use /wp-content/plugins/store-locator/addons/ for versions before 1.2.37.
  2. Activate the addon by updating the Activation Key that you receive after purchase at the bottom of the "News & Upgrades" Page.

List of Current Addons

  1. CSV Importer / Geocoder / Exporter & XML Exporter
    1. Installation & Frequently Asked Questions
  2. Database Importer
    1. Sample Database Queries
  3. Multiple Field Updater
  4. Point, Click, Add Mapper

Themes

  1. Unzip & upload the entire theme folder to the /wp-content/uploads/sl-uploads/themes/ directory (for 1.2.37 and later). Use /wp-content/plugins/store-locator/themes/ for versions before 1.2.37.
  2. Select theme from the theme dropdown list under the "Design" section on the "Map Designer"™ store locator admin page.

List of Current Themes

  1. Jack Black
  2. Ever Clear
  3. Silver Hawks
  4. Mellow Yellow
  5. Green Machine
  6. The Browns

Icons

  1. There are some default icons in the /wp-content/plugins/store-locator/icons/ directory.
  2. Add your own custom icons in to /wp-content/uploads/sl-uploads/custom-icons/ (note the new location for custom icons as of v1.2.37).

Custom CSS (Stylesheets)

As of version 1.2.37, you can modify you the default 'store-locator.css' and place it under /wp-content/uploads/sl-uploads/custom-css/. The store locator will give priority to the 'store-locator.css' in the 'custom-css/' folder over the default 'store-locator.css' in the main 'store-locator/' folder. This allows you to upgrade the main store locator plugin without worrying about losing your custom styling.

Tutorials

  1. Tutorial: How to add forms to Store-Locator plugin in WordPress


Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Google Account to use this store locator?

Yes, you will need a Google account in order to retrieve an API for your maps to work properly

  1. To sign up for a Google Account, visit: https://www.google.com/accounts/
  2. To sign up for a Google Maps API Key, visit: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html

How do I use a translation?

  1. Place .po & .mo translation files into the `/wp-content/plugins/store-locator/languages` folder, and then change the `WPLANG` constant to the corresponding language abbreviation in the `wp-config.php` file in the root wordpress directory
  2. Example: to use French, make sure `lol-fr_FR.po` & `lol-fr_FR.mo` are in the `languages` folder, then change make sure update the code in `wp-config.php` to read `define('WPLANG', 'fr_FR')`, and Voila, Il sera en francais (It will be in French).

Which countries is this compatible with?

This plugin is compatible with all countries that have Google Map domains. This includes:

  • Austria (updated as of v1.2.28)
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Switzerland
  • Czech Republic
  • Germany
  • Denmark
  • Spain
  • Finland
  • France
  • Italy
  • Japan (updated as of v1.2.28)
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • New Zealand
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • Sweden
  • Taiwan (updated as of v1.2.28)
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Added (as of v1.2.28):

  • China
  • India
  • Hong Kong
  • Liechtenstein
  • South Korea

Removed (inactive domain or domain can't be used to embed a map on a website yet):

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina (as of v1.2.28)
  • Hungary (as of v1.2.35.1)
  • Kenya (as of v1.2.35.1)
  • Malaysia (as of v1.2.35.1)
  • South Africa (as of v1.2.35.1)
  • Thailand (as of v1.2.35.1)

Added (as of v1.2.34):

  • Argentina
  • Chile
  • Mexico
  • Portugal
  • Singapore

I've placed the shortcode on the page, and I see the address search form, but why is the map area blank and not loading?

  1. Make sure that you have the code <?php wp_head(); ?> in your theme's header.php file
  2. Press ctrl+F5 to refresh your browser's cache to use the latest javascript from the 'store-locator/' folder if you've recently updated the plugin
  3. Make sure that the permissions of your WordPress folders are 755 and the permissions of the files are 644, include the files and folder of the store locator plugin (you can change permissions using the chmod command in many FTP programs)

Does this support non-English characters?

Yes, it does. Since 1.2.37, you can choose the character encoding you wish to use from the "Localization & Google API Key" store locator admin page

Why am I not seeing any icons on my map?

If icons aren't showing up on the map, go to the "Map Designer" store locator admin page, and make sure to click on your desired icons.

Why is the city dropdown list not showing even though it's activated?

Cities will only show up if the "State" field is also filled out in addition to the "City" field. For non-United States locations, fill in the Province or the Country in the "State" field.

On the "Manage Locations" page, why are locations highlighted red?

Sometimes, Google's geocoding service may not recognize the address you've tried to submit. On this rare occasion, it won't geocode the location, thus the red allows you to quickly identify such a location --- which also won't show up during a store locator search.

Suggestion: Type the same address into Google.com's search field and use the reformatted version of the address that Google provides.

After uploading my addon files to the "addons/" folder, I'm not seeing the option to activate it on the "News & Upgrades" page

When you extract you addon folder (e.g. "csv-xml-importer-exporter/") from your zip file, make sure that you upload the entire extracted folder and its contents to the "addons/" folder, not just the files. Your directory structure should look like this: "addons/csv-xml-importer-exporter/"

How do I enter non-US addresses?

The "General Address Format" above the form on the "Add Locations" store locator admin page is a rough guide of how the address should look.

If there is no "State", fill in the country, for instance. If the zip code (also called a postcode) of your location should be written in a different position within the address, Google should still figure it out even if you type it as the form arranges the address.

Note: a city will show up in the city dropdown list only if the "City" and "State" fields are filled in.

I'm seeing a "You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page." error in my Store Locator admin

This issue occurs if you update to WordPress version 2.8.1 or later, but are still using an old version of the Store Locator plugin. Store Locator version 1.2.28.3 is required, so make sure to update.


Download Store Locator Now