WordPress Google API Key

Posted by lcleveland in Store Locator Plus, WPSLP

If you are using the WordPress plugins for Store Locator Plus® you will need to manage your Google API keys on your own.   

Thankfully our MySLP SaaS service users don’t have to deal with this nonsense, a benefit of having us manage the locator software for them.  MySLP users login to their MySLP account, manage locations and map settings, and when they are ready copy the “generate Embed” code and past it into any page, post, or widget on their WordPress site — no plugins needed.

If you are using My Store Locator Plus® pat yourself on the back and take an extra 5 at coffee break today. You don’t need to read this article.

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Fewer Geocode Requests With Store Locator Plus® 5

Posted by lcleveland in Map Software, Store Locator, Store Locator Plus, WPSLP

Our Store Locator Plus® 5.0 WordPress plugin is out today with some notable changes.   

What Store Locator Plus 5 does have is an improved map rendering process that reduces geocoding requests.    Since Google switched over to a 100% pay-as-you-go system for EVERYONE , no “free map views or geocoding” even for long-time users, we decided to focus on helping users reduce their monthly Google fees.     WPSLP 5 is the first release to work towards that goal.

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Manually Updating WordPress Plugins

Posted by lcleveland in WPSLP

This post is for our Store Locator Plus™ WordPress plugin users that are updating WordPress plugins.   Users of our fully managed service do not need to worry about this sort of thing — you’ve earned yourself some extra break time, go ahead and grab an second cup of coffee this morning.

Always use automatic updates

Most WordPress users should perform “inline” or automatic updates.    When logged into WordPress go to the Dashboard | Updates and click “Check Again” to check if there are updates to the Store Locator Plus™ plugins.    If there are, updateStore Locator Plus™ first.

If you do not see updates for our add ons, re-check with the WordPress Dashboard | Updates | Check Again AFTER updatingStore Locator Plus™ to the latest release.

Sometimes the WordPress updates servers or a third party server is slow or the network connection fails when checking for updates of premium add ons.    We have written a workaround for this failure whereStore Locator Plus™ checks directly with our servers, bypassing the standard WordPress update cycle, whenever a new version is installed.

Except when instructed otherwise

If you have received a beta release (prerelease) of our add ons or theStore Locator Plus™ base plugin, follow these instructions to ensure you do not lose any settings.    We recently discovered the using the WordPress “Activate Plugin” button after manually updating a plugin does NOT load plugins into memory the same was as the automatic (inline) updates or in the same manner as the plugins bulk actions activate action.   That means theStore Locator Plus™ environment may not be loaded after a manual plugin upload and it may reset your settings to the default values.     This happens to explain why some third-party premium plugins outside of theStore Locator Plus™ ecosystem sometimes white-screen after install but work fine from that point forward; other developers have told us to “refresh the screen and it will be OK” for this very reason.

The “do not nuke my settings” manual update process:

  • Deactivate the plugin
  • Delete the plugin
  • Go to Plugins | Add New
  • Select Upload
  • Upload the beta release zip file we sent you
  • 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

 

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