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Documentation»Locations

Locations

Locations in LiveWhale are saved places that you can apply to events or other content types. Applying locations to any content type allows you to display it pinned on a map widget.

Adding locations can be done globally or locally within a group. Global locations are a great way to enter all campus locations for your editors to reference. This prevents common areas from being duplicated and resulting in consistent naming. Locally entered locations in each group is best suited for venues that are specific for a department or off-campus locations that are not widely used.

Global / Shared Locations

In LiveWhale CMS, you can set these under Locations > Global Locations
In LiveWhale Calendar, you can set these under Toolbox > Shared Locations

  1. Once you are in the Global Locations manager you can manage existing locations by checking the box at the left most corner of the location’s thumbnail and select a drop-down menu item to delete or make a location non global.
  2. Click the Add a new location button to add a new location
  3. Enter a title of the location and address (or coordinates) in the location form. You may add comma-delimited keywords for ease of searching and you can enable the “this space requires a room reservation” flag with comments on the process of making room reservations.
  4. Click Save this location when you are done

Local Group Locations

If you are an editor you have permissions to Locations you can pre-populate your site with locations for your group to access. Follow the steps below to make a location accessible to all your group editors.

In LiveWhale CMS, you can set these under Locations
In LiveWhale Calendar, you can set these under Toolbox > Locations

  • Once you are in the Locations manager you can manage your existing locations by checking the box at the left most corner of the location’s thumbnail and select a drop-down menu item to delete or make a location global.
  • Click the Add a new location button to add a new location
  • Enter a title of the location and address (or coordinates) in the location form. You may add comma-delimited keywords for ease of searching and you can enable the “this space requires a reservation” flag with comments on the process of making room reservations.
  • Click Save this location when you are done

The Locations Widget

You can use the “locations” widget to generate lists of saved locations. LiveWhale uses this internally to generate the location selector on the event submission form, but you can use <widget type="locations"></widget> and filter by group or other criteria in your own projects.

Using Your Own Google Maps API Key

By default, we’ll set you up with a Google Maps API key to power backend maps editing—this includes the location search/geocoding and the interactive map shown when editing a location’s coordinates. If you’d like to use your own Google Cloud API key instead (for example, to monitor your own usage and billing, or to raise usage limits on a high-traffic site), add it to your config.php 

$GLOBALS['LIVEWHALE_CONFIG']['CREDENTIALS']['GOOGLE_MAPS']=[
        'API_KEY'=>'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE'
];

Your key’s Google Cloud project must have the Maps JavaScript API, Geocoding API, Maps Static API, and (if used) Maps Embed API enabled.

Adding a Map ID (unlocks keyboard/SR-accessible pins)

As of LiveWhale 3.1, location maps in the backend can use Google’s newer “Advanced Marker” pin, which supports keyboard and screen-reader-accessible dragging in addition to the mouse. This upgraded pin requires a free Map ID from Google Cloud.

If no Map ID is configured, LiveWhale simply uses the classic map pin (mouse-drag only), the same behavior as prior versions. If you’re using your own API key, we recommend also setting up a Map ID so editors using a keyboard or screen reader can reposition the pin too.

To create one:

  1. In Google Cloud Console, open the project associated with your Maps API key.
  2. Go to Maps Platform > Map Management.
  3. Click Create map ID.
  4. Give it a name (e.g. “LiveWhale Locations”), choose JavaScript as the map type, and leave Raster selected.
  5. Click Save, then copy the Map ID value shown.
  6. Add it to config.php alongside your API key: 
$GLOBALS['LIVEWHALE_CONFIG']['CREDENTIALS']['GOOGLE_MAPS']=[
        'API_KEY'=>'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE',
        'MAP_ID'=>'YOUR_MAP_ID_HERE'
];

No further setup is required, LiveWhale will use your Map ID automatically once it’s saved. You do not need to attach a custom map style to it unless you want one.

If you’ve got an API key configured but there isn’t yet a Map ID yet, you’ll see a reminder about this on your Diagnostics page (Reporting > System Administration, or linked from the Dashboard).

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