Our August 2026 user experience updates continue for Store Locator Plus® with a new Cards viewing mode for Locations. The Cards view provides a vertical scrolling column of location cards. This provides a quick view of the location data alongside a map preview to help ensure the location is where you expect it to be.
This feature replaces the SaaS-only Card listing that was in need of a refresh. We opted to include this in the WordPress plugin as well, but be aware this view can use up Google API charges when viewing this mode for users of the WordPress plugin. For the SaaS users, there are no additional charges.
Location Cards Features
Filter Locations The location cards view provides a filter interface that allows for stacked filter selections to limit the cards that are displayed.
Search Locations The search feature is a multi-field text search that matches full or partial text across multiple location fields.
Both feature mimic the functionality of the new Location List table view that went into production last month.
Location Cards Fitler
Getting the Location Cards
Store Locator Plus® SaaS users will automatically see the new Cards view under the Locations page later this month.
WordPress plugin users will need to update to the latest Store Locator Plus® plugin. Look for the plugin version at or above v2608.04.XX for this new feature. If you’ve not updated the plugin recently you may need to update any associated add on plugins including Power, Experience, and Premier plugins. Keep in mind that all plugins require your WordPress server to be running PHP 8.2 or higher.
Several minor updates have been made to the Store Locator Plus® application that was released this week. As always, our SaaS platform users do not need to do anything to receive the updates.
WordPress users will need to manually download and install the Store Locator Plus® base plugin to get updates since the WordPress plugin directory is not properly distributing updates at this time. Once upgrading to the latest version, the main Store Locator Plus® plugin will route directly to our update servers and start receiving inline updates (no manual download zip file, activate process).
The following items are included in this update…
Store Locator Plus® WordPress Plugin Updates
As noted in the opening of this article, the main Store Locator Plus® plugin for WordPress now pulls updated directly from our official update server. If you are on a version older than 2604.06.01, you will need to login to your our WordPress plugin store and manually download then install the new version. Note: Our SaaS platform users do NOT need to do this, head on over to the Store Locator Plus® Dashboard and login.
Make sure your .zip file does NOT have a different name as that can confuse WordPress. The file name should be store-locator-plus.zip. If you end up with store-locator-plus-2.zip (or any other version), WordPress will install multiple copies of the plugin as it assumes the prefix before the .zip extension is a unique plugin name. Not our design, that is legacy WordPress for you.
Another reason to think about replacing your self-managed WordPress plugin install with our fully managed SaaS version. (As an added incentive – we have more features coming to SaaS only with plans for better user interaction reports coming for all plan levels , joining our Settings History feature that was added for all SaaS users in Q4 2025.)
Google Map Domains (Country Codes)
In one of our recent updates, we extended the list of country codes that are supported to match the full list of 100+ countries available on Google Maps today. Two things happened with that update which we missed on release which are now fixed.
First – our Map Domain (country) selection was ordered by country codes (the 2-letter code assigned to each country) which did NOT match the order of the text displayed on the drop down menu. That meant that “United Kingdom” with a NEW country code of “gb” appeared in the middle of the “Gs” on our list. That’s not right! Easy fix to sort our dropdown list by displayed text not country codes. This was a non-functional change but makes the user experience work as expected.
Speaking of United Kingdom, apparently in the ancient history of the Google Map Domains there was an alternative country code of “uk” versus the standardized code of “gb”. Apparently Google Maps stopped supporting “uk” as a country code, which meant that any of our users that had “United Kingdom” selected as their map domain started having issues. Their country code of “uk” was not longer found, and Google did the obvious thing… use the first country code on the list of “Ascension Islands” to try to show the map and addresses. In the most recent update, Store Locator Plus® will automatically convert anyone with the “uk” code to the “gb” code on first launch of the plugin. SaaS user accounts have already been recitified.
Google Maps Latitude/Longitude Links
Another minor update related to Google and the map interface is the link in Location Details. Under each location is the latitude and longitude of the location. Google changed their map search URL which resulted in those links bringing up a 404 page. This has been resolved and once again show the location on a separate Google Maps window. This allows for a quick sanity check that the encoded latitude and longitude align with the Google Maps public service.
We’ve rolled out a new round of updates across the Store Locator Plus® platform covering both our SaaS offering and WordPress plugins. This release window focused on improving map compatibility, cleaning up modern React-based admin experiences, refining subscription behavior, and tightening up several WordPress compatibility details.
If you are a SaaS customer, these improvements are already part of the hosted platform. If you use the WordPress plugins, updating to the latest releases will ensure you get the newest fixes and compatibility improvements.
SaaS Updates
The SaaS platform saw continued work on modernizing account and profile management screens.
My Profile improvements continued during this release window, including updates to the React-based interface and fixes that help components bind more consistently and behave more predictably. We also refined account-status handling so customers with a canceled subscription that still has time remaining are not shown as expired too early.
Subscription and billing workflows also received an important reliability update. Renewals now better respect the remaining active term on subscriptions that were canceled but not yet fully expired. In practice, this helps avoid starting a replacement subscription too early and makes account transitions cleaner.
We also added additional testing hooks and continued internal UI cleanup work around profile-related screens. These updates help us keep improving the SaaS dashboard while moving more of the administrative experience toward faster, more maintainable React-based interfaces.
SaaS highlights:
Continued improvements to the React-based My Profile experience
Better account-status handling for canceled subscriptions that still have time remaining
Subscription renewal timing improvements for not-yet-expired canceled plans
Additional internal UI/testing improvements to support ongoing dashboard modernization
WordPress Plugin Updates
All WordPress plugin updates are automatically part of the SaaS platform updates.
For WordPress plugin users, this release included several map and compatibility improvements across the main plugin and add-ons.
A major focus in this window was Google Maps compatibility. Store Locator Plus®, Premier, and Power all received updates related to Google’s newer Advanced Marker system. These changes were followed by additional patches to make marker behavior more reliable across admin and front-end experiences. The goal here is simple: keep maps working smoothly as the Google Maps platform evolves.
We also improved how Google Maps assets are loaded and configured. That includes refinements to script enqueue behavior, updates to map-related dependencies, and better handling of map domain and country support settings. These changes help reduce edge-case failures and improve consistency across different WordPress environments.
Another useful WordPress improvement in this cycle was expanded Google Maps country support. The country list was updated to reflect a much broader set of supported countries, helping site owners working in more regions configure maps more accurately.
WordPress highlights:
Google Maps Advanced Marker compatibility updates across core and add-ons
Follow-up patches to improve marker stability and map behavior
Improved Google Maps loading and dependency handling
Expanded country support for Google Maps configuration
React admin rendering updates to reduce deprecation issues
Premier map fallback fixes and general maintenance cleanup
Admin and Interface Refinements
This release also continued our effort to modernize older admin interfaces.
In the WordPress plugin stack, some React-powered administrative modules were updated to use newer rendering patterns. That reduces deprecation warnings and helps keep the codebase aligned with newer WordPress and React expectations.
On the SaaS side, we continued that same modernization path in customer-facing admin screens. While much of this work is structural, the user-facing benefit is a more consistent and reliable dashboard experience over time.
Fixes and Stability Improvements
Several smaller but meaningful fixes also landed in this release window.
For Store Locator Plus® core, we improved script enqueue handling to better account for edge cases in WordPress behavior. We also resolved issues around incorrect script registration timing and cleaned up related loading logic.
For Premier, a center-map fallback setting issue was fixed, helping map displays behave more consistently when certain location or viewport data is unavailable.
Across the codebase, we also completed compatibility and maintenance work such as PHPDoc cleanup, versioning updates, and dependency refreshes. These changes are mostly behind the scenes, but they help us keep the products stable and easier to maintain as WordPress, React, and Google Maps continue to change.
What You Need To Do
SaaS customers do not need to do anything. These updates are already part of the hosted platform.
WordPress plugin users should update the core Store Locator Plus® plugin and any active add-ons, especially if you rely on advanced map behavior, Premier pagination and map features, or Power reporting/admin tools.
As always, if you spot anything unexpected after updating, please reach out through our contact form. Real-world usage reports help us prioritize the next round of improvements.
