Starting Thursday, June 10, 2010 …

Unavailable:

1. Upgrade purchases (addons & themes) will become unavailable.
2. Email & forum support for any new issues related to base Store Locator unavailable (please view: Documentation | Answers already in the forum)

Tentative Plans:

1. Updates that have been in the works for several months (bugfixes, enhancements, additions/updates of translations, website)
2. Will attempt to address any outstanding support issues

… Currently, there isn’t a definite timeline for this hiatus, however, as of now, it will be until at least sometime in 2011. Thank you once again for using the Store Locator plugin!

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Increase can be good

Temporarily, won’t be taking any new Store Locator customization requests after next Friday, April 30, 2010. Need to shift focus back to product & business development for the Store Locator in order to better serve more of you.

Since the Start of 2010

The first four months of 2010 have been extremely busy, thus the lack of blog updates since December 2009. There has been an approximate 400% – 500% increase in customization requests this year — a very humbling fact, because it shows that an increased number of you have found the Store Locator plugin to be useful enough to use on your websites and to recommend to your respective web clients.

An Important Note to Users

Needless to say, the plugin is not perfect, nor is there any claim or warranty that it is. There is always room for improvement. Suggestions on improvements have been noted. Also, for those of you that have purchased upgrades — thank you. Providing added value and and continuing to improve the upgrading process will be a few focuses moving forward.

For those who plan to purchase upgrades, please make sure to read through important sections of this site before purchasing products, such as the Upgrade Purchase Tips, Terms, and the Documentation. This cannot be stressed enough. These sections are there to serve you, and it will always be in your best interest as an well-informed user not to overlook them.

Moving Forward

Still planning next stages of this plugin. The development roadmap is a long one, in which we all may be closer to the start than the end — but plans do always evolve, however. It just goes to show how much work goes into developing a plugin such as the Store Locator. Hope it continues to serve everyone well. More updates to come.

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Gray Maps Should Be A Thing of the Past

Made many fixes in version 1.2.33 of the Store Locator plugin for the many of you that have been experiencing trouble with gray / blank maps.

It should be 100% fixed now, if you find otherwise, say so here in the comments! Otherwise enjoy. More fixes coming, hoping to speed up development during the Holiday Season.

Go to Store Locator Download Page

Translations

Lastly, the translation template has been updated. Please provide a translation if you create one for your plugin. Here’s the template:

Translation Template – As of v1.2.41

Leaving you with this! …

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On the Horizon ...

For the time being … Have decided to continue to provide updates to Version 1.2 while still concurrently developing Version 1.3, which has been a big undertaking to bring some exciting features.

Additionally, to allow for quicker development, addons will be unavailable starting Friday, Oct. 30rd, 2009 — this will allow improvements to the addon system, and 100% focus on development of new features (many of which we hope to be a surprise), since support is always provided for addons. Themes will still be available however.

In the Meantime…

1) Continue submitting your suggestions — You can do so in the comment section

2) More translations still needed — you can use this translation template to get started: Translation Template – As of v1.2.41 .

… to make translating easier, will most likely set up a dedicated page for translations, so that everyone can see who made the specific translations and also so people can collaborate.

Go to the Store Locator Download Page

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… More updates in the next few days. All your enthusiasm for this plugin is impressive, working hard towards the next phase, including Version 1.3 and beyond …

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Plus, the Wiki format (just like Wikipedia) allows for you to easily contribute your findings, fixes, or hacks to the Store Locator plugin — no login necessary.

Check Out & Contribute to the Store Locator Documentation Wiki:

Many of you have shown some amazing skill in your code contributions through email and in the forum. Please don’t hesitate now to contribute to the newly created Documentation Wiki here:
http://docs.viadat.com

Below are the Updated Countries in v1.2.28:

* Austria
* Japan
* Taiwan

Added Countries (as of v1.2.28):

* China
* India
* Hong Kong
* Kenya
* Liechtenstein
* Malaysia
* South Korea
* Thailand

Removed Country (as of v.1.2.28):

* Bosnia and Herzegovina (doesn’t appear to be working anymore)

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Administration Panel
The “Map Designer” page has been revamped to be a little cleaner to allow for more logical management of the look and feel of your store locator map.

New Map Designer Page (Click to Enlarge)

Map Interface
The Map Interface now uses the new Zoom and Pan tools provided by Google, which gives your store locators a much sleeker appeal.

Even maps deserve a makeover every now and then

Version 1.3
Version 1.3 is already being worked on, and I must say, I’m liking the new features. Plans are to have it ready no later then end of this month, June 2009.

Any desires, requests for features to be included? Would love to hear them.

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However, one note when changing: Go to the “Map Designer” tab and re-select the home & destination icons that you want to use because your store locator will most likely still be pointing to the icons according to the old directory path.

If you are experiencing any other issues when renaming your folder, please comment here — it always helps when others are able to see if they are not the only ones with a specific issue.

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One important piece of feedback from many of you that have upgraded with addons and themes has been that the built-in WordPress updater deletes all of your addon and theme folders — and it’s been an inconvenience re-uploading the folders.

Well, now, as of version 1.2.21, a ‘Quick Updater’ button has been added to the ‘News & Upgrades’ page. This button functions almost like the WordPress auto-updater, EXCEPT that it should not remove your addons, themes, and other extras such as icons and languages.

One note though, when adding icons make sure to create a differently named icon instead of simply naming a new icon the same as a default icon so that the new icon does not get overwritten during the Quick Update. Enjoy! Your feedback on the Quick Updater is welcome here.

Go to Download Page | Go to Store Locator WordPress Plugin Page

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You may not realize it, but the Wordpress Store Locator is very far from it final stage. The next major versions will contain more features, and should allow you do much more.

For now, what we need from you: More complaints, more bug reports — If any little thing doesn’t work properly or something “bugs” you (pun intended), don’t hesitate to respond to this post.

Also, don’t forget, we still would love to have any translation that you may have completed for yourself, even if it’s not complete. Something is better than nothing. For more information on doing a translation, please go here

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