Our goal with Compass is to make a feature rich dealer/store locator built atop the Google map’s zip code proximity search, other extensions currently on the JED require large zip code databases to pull from, or monthly paid services to connect to. Compass will be a standalone extension, install it and add all of your locations to it, then the user’s do a zip code search and it will return all of the locations nearest to their location/zip.
Compass will be developed following the Joomla MVC framework, so it will be easy for users to customize via template overrides to fit their own site needs. Compass will also be built to take advantage of the multi-language support and will use Joomla language files.
"I seen a need for a feature reach dealer/store locator that would run on your own site without the need to paying for a monthly service if you did not want/need to. I had a client that needed a dealer locater a few years back for their Joomla website, and after searching for an off the shelve solutions, we were unable to find a solution that fit our client’s needs so we ended up building an extension that would work. There are a lot of options out there, but most of them are all built about the same way, you do a search and you get a basic scrolling list next to a Google map, if that’s all you need there are a lot of options out there, but if you need more power over the layout, and if you want to have listing scroll down the page, with pagination, and the ability to view a company profile for each of the locations with location information then there is really nothing else out on the marking for Joomla doing this, that’s why I developed a feature reach dealer/store locator that uses the Google Map’s API and I called it Compass Pro, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did developing it. I have so many more features on the development roadmap for this extension, the options are endless."
Christophor S. Wilson
Director of web development
Categories
You can add an unlimited number of categories to better organize your companies by category.
Locations
You can add an unlimited number of locations.
On the search results page, you can enable a mini Google map thumbnail next to each location, you can enable a link for that thumbnail to link to the profile page, Google maps, or disable it. You have the same options with the location title, you can enable a link that will go to the location profile page, or Google maps. You can disable the title, distance, address, and map from the list to fit your layout needs.
Miles / Kilometers
Our extension now allows our firends over seas select from miles or kilometers.
Location
On the location page the location’s name, address1, address2, city, state, zip, country, phone1, phone2, phone3, email, logo, description, hours, website url, tags, facebook, youtube, twitter, and linkedin information will get displayed. Using Joomla’s template override system, you can edit the page’s layout to fit your website’s needs.
MVC Development
Our extension follows the Joomla MVC framework so it will be easy to do any template overrides that you may need to do to fit your needs.
Multi Language Support
Our extension follows the Joomla language framework so if you need to use multiple languages it’s simple with our extension.
After you have installed the extension you will want to create a new menu item.
The following is a list of CSS classes you can use in your template's stylesheet to style the extension to fit your site's theme:
.compass{} // this is the main form class, and can be used to target the child items.
.items_list{} // this class is attached to the UL tag that wraps all of the results.
.sortOptions{} // this class is used to wrap and float the sort options to the right.
.sortDir{} // this class is used to style the sort direction arrow.
.googleMapFrame{} // this class is used to style the large Google map frame.
.minimap{} // this class is used to style the mini Google map next to each result.
.title{} // this class is used to style the location title.
.address1{} // this class is used to style the location address.
.city{} // this class is used to style the location city.
.phone1{} // this class is used to style the location phone.
.url{} // this class is used to style the location URL.
Nothing to report, if you are having issues, please use the support ticket system so we can help you get your new extension up and running.
We have made several bug fixes and added more features and streamlined the backend. Thanks to our customers and their invaluable feedback over the past few months, we have taken note and made the improvements that you have been asking for.
New Features:
Improvements:
Bug Fixes:
Going LIVE with the stable release of Compass Pro v1.0.0. Wahoo!
Minor bug fix to the installation manifest file, updated language files.
Added a large Google map to the top of the locations/search results page that displays pins for all of the locations returned from the search. There is an option in the backend to enable/disable the new larger Google map feature. Added some new lines of text to the language files. Changed the name of the install .xml file from “cswcompass.xml” to “manifest.xml” for follow the core MVC. Added in options in the backend to enable/disable the location title, you can set if you want the location title to link to the location profile layout, their website, Google maps, or nowhere at all. You can now enable/disable the mini Google map next to each of the locations, you can set if you want the location mini map to link to the location profile layout, their website, Google maps, or nowhere at all. You can enable/disable the distance from showing after the location title. You can now select the type of unit to be used to display after the distance, miles or kilometers for our mates overseas. You can now enable/disable the location address.
Cleaned up the install SQL and a few other minor bugs where fixed.
The frontend has been added, and you can now search for locations, on the location listings page you can sort the locations by distance or by title and set the sort direction. Pagination has been added to the frontend.
The database, and file structure is now complete, the Joomla Administrator user interface is also now complete. The installation package is also now complete, so the extension should now install without any issue.
Pre-alpha release.
Our products are top of the line, we pay special attention to detail and make sure you get the most bang for your buck! We do frequent updates to help meet our client's wants and needs and stay current with technology. We also have quick response time (usually within 12 hours or less) if you do run into any trouble.