Geotour Crete Information Plugin for WordPress

This method seamlessly integrates website with the Geotour Crete API, allowing you to display location-based information about Crete, including points of interest, beaches, villages, cultural sites, and more. Enhance your content, engage your visitors, and improve your site’s SEO with detailed, up-to-date information directly from Geotour.

Note that this method can work on any website,

  • For WordPress, it is best to use the plugin,
  • for non-WordPress websites; the HTML snippets method is the only option.

API Key and Supporting Geotour Crete

This plugin requires a valid API key from Geotour Crete. To obtain an API key and support the ongoing development of Geotour Crete and this plugin, please become a patron on our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/c/nikolakakis/about

By becoming a patron, you’ll gain access to the API key and contribute to:

  • Continued Plugin Development: Ensuring the plugin remains compatible with the latest WordPress versions, adding new features, and providing ongoing support.
  • Geotour Crete Data Maintenance: Supporting the ongoing effort to keep the Geotour Crete database accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date.
  • Future Enhancements: Helping us develop exciting new features, like interactive maps, event integration, and more!

Who Can Benefit from This Method?

  • Travel Bloggers & Writers: Elevate your Crete-focused content with detailed, location-specific information, images, and links.
  • Tourism Businesses (Hotels, Tour Operators, etc.): Showcase nearby attractions and points of interest to potential customers.
  • Local Businesses in Crete: Attract visitors by highlighting nearby cultural sites, beaches, and other points of interest.
  • Website Owners & Developers: Easily add valuable, dynamic content about Crete to any WordPress website.

Benefits

  • Enhance Your Content: Provide your visitors with engaging and informative details about Crete.
  • Improve SEO: Increase your website’s visibility in search engine results for Crete-related keywords.
  • Increase User Engagement: Encourage visitors to explore and discover more about Crete.
  • Save Time: No need to manually gather and update information – it’s all pulled dynamically from Geotour.
  • Support Geotour Crete: Your Patreon support helps maintain and expand this valuable resource.

Methods

Plugin for WordPress websites

Key Features

  • Easy-to-Use Shortcode: Display information using a simple, customizable shortcode.
  • Interactive Shortcode Wizard: A built-in visual wizard in the WordPress admin makes creating and customizing shortcodes a breeze – no coding required! Set your location on a map, choose categories, radius, and the maximum number of items to display.
  • Dynamic Content: Information is pulled directly from the Geotour Crete API, ensuring it’s always current.
  • Customizable Display: Control which categories of information are shown (beaches, archaeological sites, villages, etc.).
  • Radius Control: Specify the radius around a location to display relevant points of interest.
  • Responsive Design: The displayed information looks great on all devices (desktops, tablets, mobile phones).
  • SEO Benefits: Improve your website’s search engine ranking by providing detailed, location-specific content about Crete.
  • Admin Settings Page: Manage your API key and set a default location for the shortcode wizard.

How to Use the Plugin

  1. Download: Download the latest release from the GitHub repository. (Latest Geotour Crete Information)
  2. Install: Install the plugin on your WordPress website (Plugins -> Add New -> Upload Plugin).
  3. Activate: Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.
  4. Obtain API Key: Visit https://www.patreon.com/c/nikolakakis/about and become a patron and be eligible for an API key.
  5. Declare your Website Domain Name: Each API key is bound to a specific Domain Name. So if your website address is https://www.geotour.gr/ your  domain name is geotour.gr. I will need to this to issue an API key for this Domain and send it to your email that you declared in the Patreon page.
  6. Configure: Go to the plugin settings page (Settings -> Geotour Crete) and enter your API key. You can also set a default location for the shortcode wizard.
  7. Use the Shortcode: Use the shortcode in your posts or pages, or use the built-in shortcode wizard to generate the shortcode.

Changelog of the Plugin

  • 1.1.2: Minor fixes. Improved admin settings page styling.
  • 1.1.1: Minor fixes.
  • 1.1.0: Added shortcode for events (no API key required for events).
  • 1.0.2: Minor fixes.
  • 1.0.1: CSS improvements for responsive display. Admin page improvements.
  • 1.0.0: Initial release.

Future Plans

  • Alternative display options for locations with admission fees and working hours (e.g., museums).
  • Caching for improved performance.
  • Include/exclude parameters for specific places.
  • Multilingual support.

Support and Contributions

For bug reports consider contacting me at my mail. Feature requests will be considered for higher tier patrons in the future.

From the link below you can find the latest release of the plugin to download. Remember that you will also need a valid API Key for your domain name. The API Keys are free but you need to apply to get one.

Github repository to download plugin

How does the plugin work?

The plugin uses a shortcode, which you can add to your WordPress posts or pages. This shortcode takes several parameters:

  • category: (Optional) Specifies which categories of information to display (e.g., “beach”, “archaeological-site”, “villages-en”). You can include multiple categories, separated by commas.
  • lat: (Required) The latitude of the center point.
  • lon: (Required) The longitude of the center point.
  • max-items: (Optional) The maximum number of items to display (default is 12, maximum is 20).
  • radius: (Optional) The radius in kilometers around the center point (default is 10).
  • language: (Optional) The language of the data. Currently, only English (“en”) is supported.
Is there an easier way to build a shortcode?

The easiest way to use the plugin is with the built-in shortcode wizard. In the WordPress admin, go to “Settings” -> “Geotour Crete”. You can select a point on the map, choose categories, set the radius and maximum items, and the wizard will automatically generate the shortcode for you. You can then copy and paste this shortcode into your post or page.

In the same page you can set your API key for your website name.

Do I need to have a WordPress website for this to work?

Actually no, but having a WordPress website and using the website significantly makes the process easier. For this method to work with any website, a HTML div container must be built that contains all the needed data to make the calls that fetch the appropriate information. I am planning to make an open to public wizard in the Geotour website to construct these HTML containers, but still, a valid API key for a specific Domain name will be needed for this to work.

Check Geotour Share information preview and builder for more info.

Can I use the Geotour shared information multiple times?

The method can be used multiple times, even on the same page. By doing so, you can present the nearest villages in one container and the archaeological site in another. You can also set different locations to check for the nearest listings.

Keep in mind that the processes are monitored, so abuses may be dealt with accordingly.

Do I need an API key?

Yes, the Geotour Crete Information Plugin requires a valid API key to access the Geotour Crete data. This key connects the specific domain name of your website to the Geotour platform and ensures the information displayed is up-to-date.

How do I get an API key?

To obtain an API key, you need to become a patron of Geotour Crete on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/nikolakakis/about. You will also need to declare the domain name of your website, in order to issue the API key that binds to this name. After that, I will send you the API key with information on how to proceed.

What happens if I cancel my Patreon subscription?

If you cancel your Patreon subscription, your API key will eventually become inactive, and the plugin will no longer be able to retrieve data from Geotour Crete. Your shortcodes will stop displaying information.