My Companies Plugin

Overview

My Companies Plugin is a WordPress plugin designed to display company information on an interactive map using Leaflet. The plugin creates a custom post type for companies and provides a shortcode to embed an interactive map with filtering capabilities.

Features

• Custom post type for company entries
• Interactive map display using Leaflet
• Marker clustering for better visualization
• Search functionality
• Filtering by district and business sector
• Responsive design for both desktop and mobile
• Clean OOP architecture

Recent Improvements

The plugin has undergone significant refactoring to improve code quality, maintainability, and organization:

PHP Code Improvements

1. Object-Oriented Architecture

   • Implemented proper OOP design pattern with class separation
   • Created a main plugin class using the singleton pattern
   • Separated functionality into dedicated classes

2. Directory Structure Reorganization

   • Organized files into logical directories:
     • includes/ for PHP classes
     • assets/css/ for stylesheets
     • assets/js/ for JavaScript files

3. CSS Externalization

   • Moved inline CSS to an external stylesheet
   • Improved separation of concerns

JavaScript Modernization

The frontend JavaScript was refactored using modern ES6+ practices:

1. Class-Based Architecture

   • Encapsulated map functionality in a CompaniesMap class
   • Improved code organization and maintainability

2. Modular Design

   • Split functionality into focused methods
   • Improved error handling and data validation

3. Modern JavaScript Features

   • Arrow functions for cleaner syntax
   • Template literals for more readable HTML construction
   • ES6 array methods for more declarative programming
   • Proper DOM manipulation techniques

Installation

1. Upload the plugin files to /wp-content/plugins/my-companies-plugin/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the WordPress admin interface
3. Create company entries with location information
4. Use the [companies_map] shortcode to display the map on any page or post

Requirements

• WordPress 5.0 or higher
• PHP 7.4 or higher
• ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) plugin for company meta fields

Usage

Adding Company Entries

1. Navigate to "Companies" in the WordPress admin menu
2. Click "Add New Company"
3. Fill in the company information:
   • Title
   • Address
   • Latitude and Longitude (required for map placement)
   • Contact information (phone, email, website)
   • Social media links
   • District and Business Sector for filtering
   • Featured image (displayed in map popup)

Displaying the Map

Insert the shortcode [companies_map] on any page or post where you want the map to appear.

Custom Field Requirements

The plugin expects the following ACF fields to be defined for the Companies custom post type:

• latitude (text/number)
• longitude (text/number)
• phonenumber (text)
• address (text/textarea)
• email (email)
• website (url)
• facebook (url)
• instagram (url)
• linkedin (url)
• district (text/select)
• business_sector (text/select)

Customization

Styling

To customize the appearance of the map and company listings:

1. Modify the mcp-styles.css file in the assets/css/ directory

Map Configuration

To change the default map view or settings:

1. Edit the initialization parameters in the CompaniesMap constructor in assets/js/mcp-map.js

Developer Information

Plugin Structure

my-companies-plugin/
├── my-companies-plugin.php          # Main plugin file
├── includes/
│   ├── class-mcp-companies-cpt.php  # Companies CPT class
│   ├── class-mcp-assets.php         # Assets management class
│   └── class-mcp-shortcode.php      # Shortcode class
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── mcp-styles.css           # Plugin CSS
│   └── js/
│       └── mcp-map.js               # Map JavaScript
└── readme.txt                       # Plugin documentation

Hooks

The plugin provides the following action hooks for further customization:

• mcp_before_map_render - Fires before the map shortcode is rendered
• mcp_after_map_render - Fires after the map shortcode is rendered
• mcp_company_data_filter - Filter hook to modify company data before it's sent to JavaScript

Future Enhancements

Planned improvements for future versions:

• Company import/export functionality
• Additional map layers and providers
• Enhanced geocoding integration
• Custom markers based on business sector
• User-submitted company suggestions

Troubleshooting

If the map doesn't display properly:

1. Check browser console for JavaScript errors
2. Verify that all required files are being loaded
3. Ensure company entries have valid latitude/longitude values
4. Check for conflicts with other plugins using Leaflet

Credits

• Built with Leaflet mapping library
• Uses Leaflet.markercluster for clustering
• Icons provided by Font Awesome