Skip Navigation

[Resolved] Locations missing from map search – google map bug…

This support ticket is created 3 years, 5 months ago. There's a good chance that you are reading advice that it now obsolete.

This is the technical support forum for Toolset - a suite of plugins for developing WordPress sites without writing PHP.

Everyone can read this forum, but only Toolset clients can post in it. Toolset support works 6 days per week, 19 hours per day.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
- 9:00 – 13:00 9:00 – 13:00 9:00 – 13:00 9:00 – 13:00 9:00 – 13:00 -
- 14:00 – 18:00 14:00 – 18:00 14:00 – 18:00 14:00 – 18:00 14:00 – 18:00 -

Supporter timezone: Asia/Karachi (GMT+05:00)

This topic contains 1 reply, has 2 voices.

Last updated by Waqar 3 years, 5 months ago.

Assisted by: Waqar.

Author
Posts
#1809225

I am trying to:
We have a locator to show our dealers with simple filter controls. We had one new dealer that we just put in ... for privacy I'll say their address was 1000 Elm Street, Memphis, TN. Using the backend of the site, we type '1000 Elm Street', prompting the google maps api to suggest "1000 Elm Street, Memphis, TN" (the correct address) in a dropdown, we click it. The correct location now shows up on the map in the backend, so we hit save, go to the post which contains a map showing this location in the content.

So far so good...

But when we tried searching 100 Miles of Memphis, TN... it didn't show up in the results panel or on the map. Failure.

I re-check everything. Other locations in the map are working. The address is definitely correct but I go ahead and re-enter it. It again shows up on the backend in the map and again shows up on the content template post page. I search again using the view, and again it doesn't show up in the results. Failure.

Next I google the store name. The Google Places info that appears shows the same address except the zip code is included. This zip code was not included with the address that Google suggested when I added the location in the previous attempts.

I go back to the post, re-entered the address a third time, only this time I don't click "1000 Elm Street, Memphis, TN" when google suggests it... Instead after typing out the full address I begin adding the zip code. After adding the first digit of the zip Google changes the previously suggested address to one which includes the full zip code.

I select this address - with the zip code - save the post, go back to my search view, again search Memphis, TN with a 100 miles as the radius, only now the location appears in the search. Success.

Why did this address need the zip code included to show up on the search for the map when so many others work fine without it?
Why did it show up on the map in the post and in the backend but not in the view?

Now I need to double check every address using the view to confirm they are all showing up in searches, because showing up in the post and the backend doesn't ensure they will show up on the map view even when the filter criteria is met.

Link to a page where the issue can be seen:
Will share privately

I expected to see:
The address I added to show in the results.

Instead, I got:
The address I added to show in the results.

#1811983

Waqar
Supporter

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Karachi (GMT+05:00)

Hi,

Thank you for contacting us and I'd be happy to assist.

Since these questions are directly related to Google Maps API's geolocation and autocomplete features, their official support and documentation will be able to provide the most precise information about its criteria and algorithm.

Generally, to save the most accurate location coordinates for a listing, you should be providing as much information as possible, in roughly this format:

Business/place, street name/no, area/locality, city, state/province, Zip/postal code/postcode, country

Note: this is just a tentative example since the format of addresses and geographical entities varies across the world.

Any information that is not provided while adding address information, Google's autocomplete feature will try to fill in the gaps on its own and share the recommendations accordingly.

Here is an example. Please open Google Maps ( hidden link ) in two separate tabs, in the same browser.

In the first one, just type "1000 Elm Street" in the search and you'll see results like:

- 1000 Elm Street, Manchester, NH, USA
- 1000 Elm Street, Rocky Hill, CT, USA
- 1000 Elm Street Extension, Rocky Hill, CT, USA
- 1000 Elm Street, New Haven, CT, USA

In the second one, type "1000 Elm Street, Memphis, TN" in the search and you'll see results like:

- 1000 Elm Avenue, Memphis, TN, USA
- 1000 Elm Park Road, Memphis, TN, USA
- 1000 Wild Elm Cove, Memphis, TN, USA
- 1000 Elm Hill Drive, Memphis, TN, USA

( note: the exact addresses that you see may vary, as Google Maps will show personalized results to each user based on his/her location, search and travel history, etc )

This example shows that how can we limit the scope of the search results, by including more specific location details, as we did in the first case by including "Memphis, TN".

In case, you face a similar situation for some other post again or if in doubt whether the geocoding has been done correctly, you can go to the edit screen of that post and copy it's saved latitude and longitude coordinates ( screenshot: hidden link ) and then search them in the Google Maps directly, to see if the correct location shows up against them ( screenshot: hidden link ).

If it is not correct, you can enter the location in that address field again, with more precise address items (city, state, zip etc).

I hope this explaination will help.

regards,
Waqar

This ticket is now closed. If you're a WPML client and need related help, please open a new support ticket.