Locator Styling Updates

Updating the locator styling default settings is the latest customer concern to be addressed as we continue to improve the overall Store Locator Plus® user experience. Updates are being made on a regular basis for both our SaaS platform users and WordPress plugins users. The latest update focuses on changing the default layout that users see when they first use Store Locator Plus®.

The Locator Styles

Locator Styles is a pre-defined set of Store Locator Plus® settings combined with a set of cascading style sheets (CSS) to go with those settings. The idea is to help users by providing a set of pre-defined layouts for the locator applet along with common settings users prefer when using our locator and directory software. For example, the pre-defined settings will change things like the internal applet layout — when a visitor searches for your retail locations do the list of locations appear on the left side of the map, or below? It can also set things like “do you want to show the label Phone ” before displaying a phone number or show nothing at all?

The idea is to provide a solid starting point of pre-loaded settings that can be modified after the base style is set.

Results Layout Logic : ifnotset

Store Locator Plus® has a new release coming soon that adds some new features to the product offering.    The new 5.3 release builds on the current Results Layout formatting by adding a new ifnotset attribute to the [slp_location] shortcodes.    This allows user to display location data or option values by using either the “ifset” or “ifnotset” logic.

Display Phone Number If Set, Otherwise Display Fax Number

In this example, the results layout will show users the location phone number when that field has data in it.   If the phone number is not set it will render the fax field.    This goes in the Store Locator Plus® | Settings | Results | Results Layout setting.

Store Locator Postal Code , City Address Format

Store Locator Plus® 5.2 brings a new search results shortcode to assist in proper formatting of European addresses — especially German addresses which list the postal code followed by the city.   Prior to the 5.2 release the standard shortcode was [slp_location city_state_zip] which displayed a standard US-format address with a comma between the city and state when warranted.

A new variation of the shortcode [slp_location zip_state_city] puts the zip (postal code) first followed by the state and city WITHOUT any commas.   The new shortcode goes in the Store Locator Plus® | Settings | Results Layout setting.     To swap the address format change the [slp_location city_state_zip] entry in the Results Layout setting with [slp_location zip_state_city].

In addition to the new layout option, the [slp_location city_state_zip] output was patched to ensure a space remains in place between city and postal code if the state is not set.

MySLP Users

Users of our My Store Locator Plus®  SaaS service will automatically receive this new feature  as our servers are updated.    That is one of they many benefits of having a monthly MySLP subscription — no more plugin updates or migration concerns.   As soon as the newest features have been tested and scanned for security issues we update our servers.    Your JavaScript embed code keeps on working, automatically getting the latest features.

If you wish to change your Results Layout setting you can login at the MySLP Dashboard.

WordPress Plugin Users

Users that opt to stay with our legacy Store Locator Plus® products, we are continuing to patch these self-managed/self-installed plugins.   You are responsible for making sure your WordPress account is backed-up prior to upgrading and will need to manage the installs on a site-by-site basis.

Remember, WordPress users are not required to upgrade to the MySLP SaaS subscription.   If you have purchased the WordPress plugins and want to check on what was ordered and what updates are available you should login at the WordPress Plugin Store.