FAQ’s

Yes. It’s not a built in feature, but yes you can import locations using a third party plugin. Your locations in the csv need to have lat/lng defined otherwise they will not show the correct location.

• Download and install “WP Ultimate CSV Importer Plugin” (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-ultimate-csv-importer/)
• Click on the WP Ultimate CSV Importer option on the menu (normally near the bottom).
• Choose Imports->Custom posts Choose Browser, and select your CSV file.
• Click Next.
• Choose the following options:
  • Select post type : maplist
  • Import with post status : Publish (assuming you want all locations to be live immediately).
  • csv_post_title : post_title
  • maplist_description : CF:post_content
  • maplist_shortdescription : CF:maplist_description
  • maplist_address: CF:maplist_address
  • maplist_latitude: cf:maplist_latitude
  • maplist_longitude: cf:maplist_longitude
  • csv_ctax_map_location_categories : map_location_categories
• Click next.
• Choose Detect duplicate post content and post title options
• Set the No. of posts/rows per server request to 10.
• Click Import Now.

That’s it. The locations should all import without any issues.

If you’re having issues with the map list showing correctly there are a few things you can check to see if you can find out why:

jQuery version

You should be using a recent version of jQuery – this is often bundled with your theme, and will need to be updated there. Versions from 1.4.2 and backwards will most likely not work with Map List Pro.

Theme conflict

Sometimes theme’s run their own filtering on any html that may appear on the page, and can incorrectly filter the html that Map List Pro outputs. Try switching to a default theme for a minute to see if the maps work then.

Plugin conflict

Sometimes other plugins may load their own version of Knockout.js or Google Maps and this can cause issues if they don’t use the same names as Map List Pro. Try disabling plugins one by one to see if this fixes the problem.

Something else

Tried the above, but still got problems? Get in touch and I’ll try to help – the more information you can give me about your setup/issue the better.

Yes, from version 3.9.8 onwards Map List Pro looks for parameters passed via the url and uses these to prefill the search. These parameter are:

• locationSearchTerms
• textSearchTerms
• searchDistance

“locationSearchTerms” is the default parameter used for searching and is all you need to location and text search modes. If you’re using the combo search mode you’ll need to use “locationSearchTerms” for the location bit, and textSearchTerms for the text search part. If you want to specify a distance filter for the location search then add searchDistance. Examples of search urls are:

www.yousitedomain.com/yourmappage/?locationSearchTerms=london – This would find all locations with the word “london” in for text only search, or all locations close to london in location search mode.

www.yousitedomain.com/yourmappage/?locationSearchTerms=london&textSearchTerms=tower – This would find all locations close to london containing the word “tower” when used in combo search mode.

Adding a search box elsewhere on your site

You can add a search box on any page of your site using the following html:

Simple search (location or text only)

You can add a search box on any page of your site using the following html:

Combo search (location and text)

Map List Pro uses your theme’s post layout by default. If you want to change this, make a copy of your single post file in the root of your theme and name it single-maplist.php. Map List Pro will then use that file. If you want to use the page layout rather than post, copy and rename the page template file rather than the post template file.

Prior to version 3.5.4:

To make the map location detail page look more like your theme’s standard look and feel you need some additional changes.

1. In your theme’s folder make a copy of single.php and name it single-maplist.php.
2. Open your new single-maplist.php file for editing, and remove the loop code. Normally this will start with:

   <!--?php if(have_posts()): the_post(); ?-->
   

   and end with:

   <!--?php endwhile; ?--></pre>
   </li>
   </ol>
   </ol>
   &nbsp;
   <ol>

3. Paste the following code where you just removed the other code from:

<!--MAP STUFF FROM HERE--></pre>
<div class="FullMapPage"><!--?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); 		//Get the custom fields 		$custom_fields = get_post_custom($post--->ID);
?>
<div id="SingleMapLocation"></div>
<h2 id="Maplocation-<?php the_ID(); ?>"></h2>
<div class="cf" id="MapDescription">
 <!--?php 	//Post featured image 	if(has_post_thumbnail($post--->ID)){
 the_post_thumbnail(array(150,150), array('class' => 'float_left maplist_featuredimage'));
 }

 //Get the main content, format it, and display it
 $content = get_the_content();
 $content = apply_filters('the_content', $content);
 $content = str_replace(']]>', ']]>', $content);
 $content = do_shortcode( $content );

 if($content != ""){
 echo $content;
 }
 else{
 //If it's empty use the description field
 echo $custom_fields['maplist_description'][0];
 }
 ?></div>
<!--?php //Show address if it is set if(isset($custom_fields['maplist_address'])){ ?-->
<div id="MapAddressContainer"><span id="MapAddressLabel">
 <!--?php _e('Address:','maplistpro') ?-->
 </span>
<div id="MapAddress"></div>
</div>
<!--?php } ?-->

<!--?php endwhile; endif;// end of the loop. ?--></div>
<pre>
<!--MAP STUFF TO HERE-->

The mlp_location_description filter gives you access to the description field before it is sent to the front end. Here you can get fields from the database and do string transforms. Custom fields created with the Map List Pro mlp_location_metaboxes filter are passed to the function along with the description html.

This is an example of the two fields created by the mlp_location_metaboxes example being used to add a telephone number and opening hours:

Version 3.3.4 and newer (now gets access to full location location post object):

function mlp_location_description_extrafields( $descriptionHtml, $customfields, $location) {
//Additional detail
$topArea = "<div class='additionalDetail'>";

if(array_key_exists('maplist_telephone', $customfields)){
$topArea .= "<div class='telephone'><span>" .  __('Phone','maplistpro')  . ": </span>" . $customfields['maplist_telephone'][0] ."</div>";
}

if(array_key_exists('maplist_openinghours', $customfields)){
$temphours = apply_filters('the_content', $customfields['maplist_openinghours'][0]);
$temphours = str_replace(']]>', ']]&gt;', $temphours);
$topArea .= "<div class='openinghours'><span>" . __('Hours','maplistpro') . ": </span>" . $temphours ."</div>";
}

$topArea .= "</div>";

return $topArea . $descriptionHtml;
}

add_filter( 'mlp_location_description', 'mlp_location_description_extrafields',10,3);

Version 3.3.3 and older

function mlp_location_description_extrafields( $descriptionHtml, $customfields ) {
//Additional detail
$topArea = "<div class='additionalDetail'>";

if(array_key_exists('maplist_telephone', $customfields)){
$topArea .= "<div class='telephone'><span>" .  __('Phone','maplistpro')  . ": </span>" . $customfields['maplist_telephone'][0] ."</div>";
}

if(array_key_exists('maplist_openinghours', $customfields)){
$temphours = apply_filters('the_content', $customfields['maplist_openinghours'][0]);
$temphours = str_replace(']]>', ']]&gt;', $temphours);
$topArea .= "<div class='openinghours'><span>" . __('Hours','maplistpro') . ": </span>" . $temphours ."</div>";
}

$topArea .= "</div>";

return $topArea . $descriptionHtml;
}

add_filter( 'mlp_location_description', 'mlp_location_description_extrafields',10,2);

Yes. You can add additional fields to the editor by adding some code to your theme’s functions.php file. The code you need is:

function mlp_location_metaboxes_addnew( $meta_box_fields ) {
       //Add a text-box telephone field
       $meta_box_fields[] = array(
           'name' => 'Telephone',
           'id' => 'maplist_telephone',
           'type' => 'text'
       );
       
       //Add an opening hours editor field
       $meta_box_fields[] = array(
           'name' => 'Opening hours',
           'id' => 'maplist_openinghours',
           'type' => 'wysiwyg',
           'options' => array(
              'wpautop' => true, // use wpautop?
              'media_buttons' => false, // show insert/upload button(s)
              'teeny' => true, // output the minimal editor config used in Press This
              'tinymce' => true
        ));

        return $meta_box_fields;
}

add_filter( 'mlp_location_metaboxes', 'mlp_location_metaboxes_addnew' );

For a full list of the field types you can use take a look at this page. Note: Map List Pro may not support all of the field types listed.

Some themes run their own formatting for all html that goes onto the page. Unfortunately in some cases this means that they add extra <br /> and <p> tags that aren’t needed, or the filtering doesn’t handle all valid html and it stops the map working.

The easiest way to fix this is to look in your theme (normally in the functions.php file) for an add_filter call to “the_content”. See what function this calls (this is the second parameter in the brackets) and then add one of the following bits of code into the called function:

If the function runs before shortcodes have been applied add the following (both of these assume $content is the variable being passed to the function):

if(strpos($content,'[maplist') !== false){return $content;}

If the function runs after shortcodes have been applied, use this code:

if(strpos($content,'prettyMapList') !== false){return $content;}

Don’t worry if none of this makes sense to you – it’s something that should only be needed in rare circumstances. Map List Pro is written to be as compatible as possible with all filters.

Yes, you can change the style of the maps using Google Map custom styles – a site like this is a good place to start : http://snazzymaps.com/.

Once you’ve got a style you’re happy with you can just copy and paste the style code into the styles box in Settings->Map List Pro.

Css issues

This seems to mainly affect responsive designs, and it is normally because something in the theme file hides images in the main content area. Search your main css file for a declaration for “img” that sets it to display:none, or visibility: hidden. Normally something like the following added to your theme’s css will fix it:

#content .mapHolder img{display:block;visibility:visible}

Latitude/Longitude notation

Latitude and Longitude should be in decimal format (e.g. 51.58031). If you enter with the degrees sign in the settings page or location editor it can stop the map from showing correctly.

To translate the plugin you need to add a language file for your language. This is normally easiest if you use a translation plugin – Something like WPML or the free Codestyling Localization plugin (this can be found in the main WordPress Repository) should do what you need it to.

Can I set the map to use an alternate language?

Yes, there is an option in the settings for this (Settings->Map List Pro). All of the languages that the Google Maps API currently supports should be available to select.

You can change the map markers for a particular category by going into Map locations -> Category icons and picking a new marker. Alternatively you can override a marker for each location by choosing it on the location edit screen.

If you want to add you own markers just create a folder in /images/pins/ and put your markers in there. Currently the folder you create must have no spaces in it, but if you add underscores they will be replaced with spaces for displaying in the admin screens.

You don’t need to manually set any options to get a map on your site – you can do this easily using the shortcode wizard. In somes cases you just want to change one part of your shortcode, or to add some of the newer undocumented features, if that’s the case the full list of options for Map List Pro can be found on the Map List Pro shortcode options page.

Add the following to your theme’s css file

body .prettyMapList .mapHolder{ height:450px; }

Change the 450px to the height you need the map to be.