How Do I Work with Locations?

Navigate to our DX Training Video guide for further visual guidance.

Purpose

The Location page allows you to create pages for actual places. This content type is to use best for locations that don't have an address that is constantly changing, this covers office addresses, public facilities, and service centers. You can also create location types to reuse within event types, contact types or embed within other content types so that you can have a one stop shop whenever you need to update the address of that location easily by going to that individual location content type and updating it from there and then the platform will then update anywhere else that location may be embedded using the location field.

When to use Location Pages

This content type works well when you need to share details about a physical location, such as:

  • Agency Offices: Display your agency's main office or branch locations in the footer and on listing pages.
  • Public Facilities: Share details about public facilities such as DMV offices, veteran service centers, libraries, and more.
  • Service Centers:
    • Medical facilities
    • Polling stations
    • Sanitation plants
    • Other service centers
Location page example

Elements of Location Pages

  • Address Information: Include details like street address, city, state, and zip code. For the first row, include the street address number, not the building name. This helps the address show up correctly in the map embed.
  • Contact Information: Provide phone number, email address, and website (if applicable).
  • Areas Served Field: Use the "Areas Served" field to specify counties or regions. This setting helps filter locations on listing pages. It makes it easier for users to find relevant locations based on service areas. You can have a location appear within a specific area by setting that area in this field.  If no area is selected, then the location will appear within the general search.
  • Hours of Operation: Specify opening and closing hours for the location.
  • Map Visibility: Note that maps may not show correctly during development on "pantheonsite.io" domains. Allow a few days for Google Maps to update after site migration to your "iowa.gov" domain.
  • Optional Elements: You can include descriptions, photos, or other key details about the location.
Elements of location pages
Example of location type

Adding a physical address displays this information on an individual location in the right sidebar.

Hours of operation also carry to the right-hand sidebar, including an indication of if the office is open or closed.

Temporarily Closed is an option.

Create clickable phone numbers

You can add the number of your location and turn it into a link that mobile users can select and initiate a call. To do this easily, select edit in your location. Then, highlight the number. Use the linkit tool and add "tel:" followed by your location's number.

Example of linking a phone number:

Example of a clickable phone number
1

Navigate to the Content tab

To add pages to your website, click the Content button. Make sure you're logged in for access to that tab.

Example of the content tab

You can sort your created pages using the filter button. To edit them, just select the edit button on the Content List page.

Example of Content List page:

Example of Content List page
2

Create a new Location content type

From the Content Tab, choose the Location type. Here, you can add the location's details, address, hours of operation, and note if it’s temporarily closed.

You can also include the optional “Areas Served” field. If left as “None,” this location will show in general area searches on the listing page.

Location content type example

The Location title field becomes the Title of the location.

The Location Type field appears as an eyebrow above the title.

Location Types are a type of taxonomy vocabulary, managed by Taxonomy Managers.

Areas Served pull from a pre-built list of counties.

You can add details like images and other relevant info about your agency's location.

Details of location content type

Adding an image will help visitors navigate to the entranceway of the location.
Details and related links will help with any additional information for how to enter the location such as access codes, front desk checking procedures, or reservation requests.