Welcome to the Ideal Store Locator Documentation! This comprehensive guide will help you get the most out of the Ideal Store Locator plugin for Joomla!™. Whether you're just getting started or looking to unlock advanced features, our documentation provides step-by-step instructions, helpful tips, and detailed explanations to ensure a smooth and efficient setup.

Getting Started:

Installation

• Select System → Install Panel → Extensions from the Adminstrator menu.
• Select the zip file and click on the Upload & Install button;
  • Joomla will automatically install the plugin. Wait for the installation to complete.
  • Once installed, you will see a success message confirming the installation.
• Enable the Plugin:
  • After installation, navigate to System → Manage Panel → Plugins, then Search for Ideal Store Locator.
  • Enable and Save;

Usage

In order to display a Store/Contact Locator add the following syntax to a content item (article):

Loads all contacts and sets the height for the map:

{istorelocator height=|600|}

Loads all contacts from category 1 and sets the height for the map:

{istorelocator height=|600| category=|1|}

Loads all contacts from category 1, 2 and 3 and sets the height for the map:

{istorelocator height=|600| category=|1,2,3|}

Ability to filter by city, state and/or country and ignore any search. Example Syntax:
{istorelocator category=|78| filter_city=|Boston| filter_state=|MA| filter_country=|USA| zoom=|10| firstload-loadall=|1| firstload-limit=|9999| firstload-maxdistance=|123456| }

{istorelocator height=|600| source=|xml| file=|GreatBritain-Attractions.xml|} set the source to XML and loads the XML file containing locations

{istorelocator height=|600| source=|csv| file=|Germany-CastleFortSchlossRuins.csv|} Set the source type to CSV (Comma Separated Values) and load file with locations

{istorelocator height=|600| source=|kml| file=|example.kml|} Set source type to KML (Google Earth) and loads file with locations

Plugin Options

On the Administrator Panel, navigate to System → Manage Panel → Plugins, then Search for Ideal Store Locator. There you'll find all plugin options like:

Under the "Basic" tab:

• Default location: The initial Map center in case the Auto detect Geo Location fails. Just the latitude and longitude will be used, so this address will not be displayed anywhere.
• Default zoom level;
• Scroll wheel zooming;
• MapType Control;
• Map Type: Roadmap (default and recommended), Satellite, Hybrid, Terrain;
• Navigation Control;
• Home Marker Icon: Defines an image to be used as the home icon for a Marker. Image Directory: /plugins/system/istorelocator/assets/images/markers
• Directions Travel Mode; Default Driving
• Link To Google Maps: When enabled displays a Link to maps.google.com (prefilled with the from and to coordinates) in the direction container

Under the "Map Style" tab:

• As of version 3 of the Google Maps API custom styles can now be applied to maps. This allows you to pick a style that matches the theme of their website.
  You can create your own style using the Google Styled Maps Wizard and copy the JSON code to this field OR use an existing map from snazzymaps.com

Under the "Search" tab:

• Position: Location to display the Search form (inside the map OR above it);
• Result Limit: Maximum number of results per search;
• Geolocate: Whether to display a Geolocate button, Geolocate on page load OR both;
• Geolocate button class: Customize the button class using Bootstrap button style (styling may change depending on your front-end template). Options for this template are displayed below, but this might change depending on your template: