Q: Few questions about WP Go Maps
1. Does W Go Maps allows password protected maps, i.e only those who have password can view the maps?
2. Can user submit the map marker via a form?
3. Can map data be directly updated from spreadsheet? For example, users submit the map data (eg store location) via google form which then gets stored in google spreadsheet and then automatically get updated in my wp go maps app?
4. Does WP GO Maps support tools like zapier or pabbly connect for integrating the map data?
Nick_WPGoMaps
Sep 10, 2024A: Hi there,
Thank you for getting in touch, we do appreciate your time.
Thank you for your questions, thus please see our responses below.
1. Password protected maps is not a feature that we support, however, you could achieve a similar result if you are able to display certain pages to logged-in users compared to general site-visitors as this will allow you to show the page with the map to logged in users only.
2. Yes this is indeed possible when using the "WP Go Maps - Visitor Generated Markers Add-on" as this allows you to display a form on your site whereby the user can enter information and the location for the marker that is being submitted.
3. Yes, you may use the Import feature to achieve this by using a URL that points to your spreadsheet. As your spreadsheet would be updated from time to time with new data, you may also use the scheduled import functionality to allow your map data to be updated based on the content in the spreadsheet as the set interval. Should you require further assistance with this, please do feel free to open a support ticket (https://www.wpgmaps.com/contact-us/) with us so that we may assist you further.
4. Unfortunately we have not integrated with tools like Zapier or Pabbly, however, we have integrated with the Advanced Custom Fields, Toolset and WooCommerce WordPress plugins for integrating the data created within your WordPress site.
If you are wanting to use external data and create them as markers on your map, the best way to achieve this would be by using the Imports feature.
Should you have any further questions or need help setting up an import, we are more than happy to assist you!
PotionsTeacherPLUSThank you very much for your kind answer. This answers most of my questions. However I would like more clarification about point 3 i.e "scheduled import functionality". Is it inbuilt in "WP Go Maps" or do we need to implement this via third party plugin?
The scheduled import functionality is a feature built into the default "Import" feature in our plugin, thus you do not need to custom implement this or use a third party plugin to use this functionality. Once you have set up your import and selected the preferred import options, you can simply import by clicking the "Import" button or clicking "Schedule" to set up a scheduled import.
For further information on how it works, WP Cron is used for its timing which is different to standard cron jobs. Traditional standard crons will run at the exact time defined, but WordPress cannot do that because it depends on interactions with the website (visitor or admins viewing the site).
In other words, for the scheduled import to run at 8:00 server time, someone needs to visit the site (frontend/backend) around that server time in order for the import to run. If someone only visits the site an hour later, the cron will only run an hour later as WordPress requires interactions as mentioned. Thus this is all based on activity on the site. more busy = more reliable
WP Go Maps (formerly WP Google Maps) tells WordPress that it has crons to run, however, WordPress manages those crons to the best of its ability based on its available resources.