When someone opens your store locator for the first time, what should they see? All your locations on the map? Just the ones nearby? A blank search bar waiting for input?

You control this in your Settings, in Where the map opens.

New locators start with Near the visitor. You can choose one of four.

The map zooms out to fit every location on screen. Visitors see the full picture and can zoom in to explore.

On a page with selected groups, "all locations" means every location available to that page. When No, only these groups is selected, the map stays inside that page's groups.

Best for: businesses with locations spread across a region or country where visitors want to see everything at a glance.

The map opens on a spot you choose, for example the city where most of your locations are. Every location still loads and shows in the list.

Select Set on the map under this choice, drag and zoom the preview to the spot, then select Use this view.

Best for: businesses whose locations are spread out, but whose visitors mostly come from one area.

The map opens on the visitor's area and shows the locations near them. It uses their approximate location from their internet connection, so the browser shows no location prompt.

Two switches under this choice:

Under the choices, a line says what a visitor far from your locations sees, for example "Someone in New York sees an empty map." Select Show nearest to turn on the nearest locations, or See it to open the preview as that visitor.

Best for: businesses with many locations where visitors primarily want to find the closest one.

The widget shows a map with a search bar and no locations. Visitors type their address or city to find nearby stores. Select Set on the map under this choice to choose where the map sits until then.

Best for: businesses with a very large number of locations (hundreds or thousands) where showing everything at once would be overwhelming.

The preview beside the settings replays the opening each time you change this choice, so you can see how it looks before you save.

This switch is under Search & filters > Results. It is off by default. Its description reads: after a search, dragging the map searches again where it stops.

When this is ON: after a visitor has searched, dragging the map runs a new search around the new map center. Locations that were showing before may disappear, because the map shows locations near the new center instead.

When this is OFF: the results stay as they were, wherever the visitor drags the map.

While the map shows every location, dragging never starts a search.

Tip: If visitors report that "locations disappear when I move the map", turn this setting OFF.

If you don't want the browser to ask visitors for their location when the page loads, leave Ask where they are in a pop-up off, or choose All your places, A place you pick or Wait for a search. On page load, the prompt only appears when Near the visitor is chosen with Ask where they are in a pop-up on.

The location button next to the search bar always asks, because the visitor pressed it to be located. If they decline, the store locator uses their approximate location from their internet connection instead.

When a visitor searches for an address, the widget shows locations within a certain radius. You can adjust this in your Settings, under Search & filters > Distance, with Starting search distance.

If visitors are reporting "no stores found" even though you have locations nearby, your starting distance might be too small. Try increasing it.

Turn off Search again when the map moves in your Settings. With this on, the widget runs a new search where the map stops after a visitor has searched, which can make locations "vanish" as they pan away.

Check Where the map opens. If it's set to Near the visitor, the widget only shows nearby stores. Switch to All your places to display every location available to that page. If the page starts with selected groups, also check its page-group choice under Store Locator > Install or Groups chosen for a page under Search & filters > Filters in Settings.

Also check Address suggestions in under Search & filters > Search box. It only limits the address suggestions a visitor gets while typing. It does not hide any of your locations.

Most browsers block geolocation on HTTP sites. Your website must use HTTPS for the "near me" feature to work. Also, if a visitor previously denied the location prompt, the browser won't ask again. They'll need to manually allow location access in their browser settings.

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