Category field input type is hidden in search form

[Debbie]

No matter what settings I use, I cannot get the Category selections to show up in the search fields. I can see the field in the source code, but it says <input type=”hidden” name=”cat” id=”cat” value=”113,274″ textvalue=””facility-member,hospital-member””>. These are the categories I would want the user to choose and the correct icons are displayed on the search results and map bubbles, but no select options work. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

The map is displayed here – on our staging site:
https://beta.amputee-coalition.org/healthcare-providers/member-directory/

Environment:
Store Locator Plus:4.9.7

Experience:4.9.7

Power:4.9.7

Premier:4.9.7

Site URL:https://beta.amputee-coalition.org

This Info Cached:1515643624

Network Active:No

WordPress Version:4.9.4

PHP Version:5.4.45

MySQL Version:5.5.59

PHP Limit:256M

WordPress General Limit:40M

WordPress Admin Limit:256M

PHP Peak RAM:135 MB

PHP Post Max Size:20M

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[Cici]

Debbie which plugin style are you using? And what shortcodes do you have on the page? Did you try a different plugin style?
I cannot reproduce the issue on my site.

[Debbie]

I am currently using Default, although I tried a few options with no luck. I checked my shortcode, which was this:
[SLPLUS only_with_category=”facility-member,hospital-member”]

Then, I changed it to this, to see if it made a difference:
[SLPLUS]
It totally makes a difference – the categories appeared as they should, except that it now includes a third category that I do not want on this map.

So, I guess the question now is, how can I limit the categories and still get the category selection to show up?

[Debbie]

FWIW – This is important because I can’t show certain information for one category, but need to show it for other categories. For example, I can’t show the street address for Support Groups as their meeting location changes, so only city, state is displayed. I display full addresses for Facility Members and Hospital Members and will be adding another category for Partners that will be included with Members, but Support Groups will remain on its own map/category.

[Debbie]

One more question – now that I can see the category options, I notice the only option that lets a user select more than one category at a time is “Checkboxes Horizontal” and “Checkboxes Vertical”. I really prefer the button bar, which shows the custom markers, but it only allows me to select one category at a time. Is there a way to have both the custom markers and select more than one category to search?

[Cici]

As far as I know the Button bar, as you mentioned does not allow multiple categories. The Button bar was a customization for a specific customer who paid for the feature but now it is included in Premier.

I can ask the developer if you think it is something you need, i.e to be able to have a button bar and select more then one category and have it limit categories. It will most likely have to be a customization project of some sort.

and you are correct, you cannot have an only with = two categories and using the checkboxes horizontal or vertical choose multiple categories. To limit categories shown you would need to use the shortcode. There might be some CSS you could do with the search layout.

Since you want multiple pages each to show results differently , I think The best way to do that would probably be having it redirect via html to another page with the shortcodes not show on the same exact map page. I will run it by the developer to see if he has a different solution.

[Cici]

I spoke to the developer and we have some questions

Do we understand what you are trying to accomplish:
1) You want to limit to only two categories on one map but then have another map with different categories only and a category selector? And one parent category doesn’t really have addresses, just cities?
2) and having one set of location data for two different sets of locations, some showing locations with addresses and others without addresses?

This is going to be a challenge. Perhaps a better way would be to use posts or pages to show a list of cities where they have events/meetings and keep those places out of the location database. Use an event manager perhaps?

It might be possible to put all those addresses in a single locator and with some customization but we are basically going to bend the plugin until it breaks trying to make it do something it is not really setup for.

[Debbie]

I understand the challenge. We really need two different databases/maps. One for Support Groups and another for Members. We have different rules for displaying different data for the two types of locations. I am attempting to use one database for two very different maps and additionally a text listing of locations, so they will be SEO friendly. A location in the database is not indexed unless it is always displayed on the page.

I’ll let my client know about the limitations. It is working for the most part, but the category selector may not work for us.

[Author]

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