News

Google API Key Changes for WordPress Plugins

Updates to the Store Locator Plus WordPress plugin version 4.9.15, released today, includes patches to the Google API Key management.

Let’s start by letting users of our fully managed MySLP SaaS service know that you don’t have to worry about any of this.  You can skip this entire article.

Google API Keys

For our SLP WordPress plugin users there has been a notable change in the management of Google API Keys.

We now support a Geocoding Key and a Browser Key.    The Browser key is used to display the map and handle user-input addresses during a location search.  The Geocoding key is used on your WordPress server to geocoding locations you’ve entered via the Google API.

Privacy Policy Update

You probably deleted 759 email messages already this week with a title “Updated Privacy Policy”.    Here is another one to add to the stack.

If you are really interested in our Privacy Policy, you can read it here (http://3.211.25.112/privacy-policy/):

Privacy Policy

You are very likely to get a LOT MORE of these types of emails over the next few weeks as WordPress rolled out their 4.9.6 release that is very specifically tailored to support and encourage the creation and publication of a formal Privacy Policy on every single WordPress-driven site on the Internet.

Why All The Privacy Policy Updates?

You can thank Europe and the members of the European Union for passing a privacy law.    Known as the General Data Protection Regulation, known by the the now infamous GDPR moniker, it requires every single web service and application to have an explicit Privacy Policy.   That Privacy Policy must be made known to all users of a site or service, which means anyone with a mailing list, blog, or social media presence is going to use at least one of those services to send a “Hey, read our updated Privacy Policy” message.

Enjoy.

Google API Key Changes Coming June 11 2018

Store Locator Plus for WordPress requires the user of the plug-in to obtain their own Google Map API key as described in our Getting Started Guide.  

Google has revamped its Google Maps API developer platform. With the changes to the way Google is handling the API keys, this may be a good time to rethink the overall management of your location services.  The MySLP SaaS platform takes care of all that for you.  You only need  to  embed the JavaScript code that MySLP provides when you sign up.