API Reference / InstantSearch.js Widgets / geoSearch
Apr. 24, 2019

geoSearch

Widget signature 
instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  container: string|HTMLElement,
  googleReference: object,
  // Optional parameters
  initialZoom: number,
  initialPosition: object,
  mapOptions: object,
  builtInMarker: object,
  customHTMLMarker: object,
  enableRefine: boolean,
  enableClearMapRefinement: boolean,
  enableRefineControl: boolean,
  enableRefineOnMapMove: boolean,
  templates: object,
  cssClasses: object,
});
See code examples
See Live example

About this widget

The geoSearch widget displays the list of results on a Google Maps map. It lets you search for results based on their position, but also provides some of the common geo search patterns such as search on map interactions.

Requirements

Note that the widget uses the geo search capabilities of Algolia. Your hits must have a _geoloc attribute so they can be displayed on the map.

The feature is currently incompatible with several values in the _geoloc attribute.

You are responsible for loading the Google Maps library, it doesn’t come with InstantSearch.js. You need to load the library and pass a reference to the widget. You can find more information about how to install the library in the Google Maps documentation.

Don’t forget to explicitly set the height of the map container (see below), otherwise it won’t show.

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.ais-GeoSearch-map {
  height: 500px; /* You can adapt the height */
}

Examples

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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  container: '#geo-search',
  googleReference: window.google,
});

Options

container
type: string|HTMLElement
Required

The CSS Selector or HTMLElement to insert the widget into.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  container: '#geo-search',
});
googleReference
type: object
Required

The reference to the global window.google object.

See the Google Maps documentation for more information.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  googleReference: window.google,
});
initialZoom
type: number
default: 1
Optional

By default, the map sets the zoom based on to the markers that are displayed on it. Yet when InstantSearch.js refines the results, they may be empty. When it happens, it needs a zoom level to render the map.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  initialZoom: 4,
});
initialPosition
type: object
default: { lat: 0, lng: 0 }
Optional

By default, the map sets the position based on to the markers that are displayed on it. Yet when InstantSearch.js refines the results, they may be empty. When it happens, it needs a position to render the map.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  initialPosition: {
    lat: 48.864716,
    lng: 2.349014,
  },
});
mapOptions
type: object
Optional

The options forwarded to the Google Maps constructor.

See the Google Maps documentation for more information.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  mapOptions: {
    streetViewControl: true,
  },
});
builtInMarker
type: object
Optional

The options for customizing the built-in Google Maps markers. This is ignored when the customHTMLMarker is provided. The object accepts multiple attributes:

  • createOptions: function: a function to create the options passed to the Google Maps marker. The function is called with item, which is the hit that is tied to the marker. You can find more information about the option in the Google Maps documentation.
  • events: object: an object that takes event types (e.g., click, mouseover) as keys and listeners as values. The listener is called with an object that contains properties event, item, marker and map.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  builtInMarker: {
    createOptions(item) {
      return {
        title: item.name,
      };
    },
    events: {
      click({ event, item, marker, map }) {
        console.log(item);
      },
    },
  },
});
customHTMLMarker
type: object
Optional

The options for customizing the HTML marker. InstantSearch.js provides an alternative to the built-in Google Maps markers to give a full control over the marker rendering. You can use plain HTML to build your marker (see templates.HTMLMarker). The object accepts several attributes:

  • createOptions: function: a function to create the options passed to the HTMLMarker. The only currently supported option is anchor. It lets you shift the marker position from the center of the element.
  • events: object: an object that takes event types (e.g., click, mouseover) as keys and listeners as values. The listener is called with an object that contains properties event, item, marker and map.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  customHTMLMarker: {
    createOptions(item) {
      return {
        anchor: {
          x: 0,
          y: 0,
        },
      };
    },
    events: {
      click({ event, item, marker, map }) {
        console.log(item);
      },
    },
  },
});
enableRefine
type: boolean
default: true
Optional

If true, the map is used for refining the search. Otherwise, it’s only for display purposes.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  enableRefine: false,
});
enableClearMapRefinement
type: boolean
default: true
Optional

If true, a button is displayed on the map when the refinement is coming from interactin with it, to remove it.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  enableClearMapRefinement: false,
});
enableRefineControl
type: boolean
default: true
Optional

If true, the user can toggle the option enableRefineOnMapMove directly from the map.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  enableRefineControl: false,
});
enableRefineOnMapMove
type: boolean
default: true
Optional

If true, refine is triggered as you move the map.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  enableRefineOnMapMove: false,
});
templates
type: object
Optional

The templates to use for the widget.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  templates: {
    // ...
  },
});
cssClasses
type: object
default: {}
Optional

The CSS classes to override.

  • root: the root element of the widget.
  • map: the map element.
  • control: the control element.
  • label: the label of the control element.
  • selectedLabel: the selected label of the control element.
  • input: the input of the control element.
  • redo: the “Redo search” button.
  • disabledRedo: the disabled “Redo search” button.
  • reset: the “Reset refinement” button.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  cssClasses: {
    root: 'MyCustomGeoSearch',
    map: [
      'MyCustomGeoSearchMap',
      'MyCustomGeoSearchMap--subclass',
    ],
  },
});

Templates

HTMLMarker
type: string|function
Optional

The template to use for the marker.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  templates: {
    HTMLMarker: '<p>Your custom HTML Marker</p>',
  },
});
reset
type: string|function
Optional

The template for the reset button.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  templates: {
    reset: 'Clear the map refinement',
  },
});
toggle
type: string|function
Optional

The template for the toggle label.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  templates: {
    toggle: 'Search as I move the map',
  },
});
redo
type: string|function
Optional

The template for the redo label.
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instantsearch.widgets.geoSearch({
  // ...
  templates: {
    redo: 'Redo search here',
  },
});

Customize the UI - connectGeoSearch

If you want to create your own UI of the geoSearch widget, you can use connectors.

It’s a 3-step process:

// 1. Create a render function
const renderGeoSearch = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  // Rendering logic
};

// 2. Create the custom widget
const customGeoSearch = instantsearch.connectors.connectGeoSearch(
  renderGeoSearch
);

// 3. Instantiate
search.addWidget(
  customGeoSearch({
    // instance params
  })
);

See code examples

Create a render function

This rendering function is called before the first search (init lifecycle step) and each time results come back from Algolia (render lifecycle step).

const renderGeoSearch = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const {
    object[] items,
    object position,
    object currentRefinement,
    function refine,
    function clearMapRefinement,
    function isRefinedWithMap,
    function toggleRefineOnMapMove,
    function isRefineOnMapMove,
    function setMapMoveSinceLastRefine,
    function hasMapMoveSinceLastRefine,
    object widgetParams,
  } = renderOptions;

  if (isFirstRender) {
    // Do some initial rendering and bind events
  }

  // Render the widget
}

Rendering options

The examples built with the connector use Leaflet to render the map. Make sure to have the library correctly setup before trying the demo. You can find more details in the Leaflet documentation. We picked Leaflet but you can use any library you prefer (e.g., Google Maps, Mapbox, etc.)

items
type: object[]

The hits that matched the search request.
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let map = null;
let markers = [];

const renderGeoSearch = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items } = renderOptions;

  if (isFirstRender) {
    map = L.map(document.querySelector('#geo-search'));

    L.tileLayer('https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', {
      attribution:
        '&copy; <a href="http://osm.org/copyright">OpenStreetMap</a> contributors',
    }).addTo(map);
  }

  markers.forEach(marker => marker.remove());

  markers = items.map(({ _geoloc }) =>
    L.marker([_geoloc.lat, _geoloc.lng]).addTo(map)
  );

  if (markers.length) {
    map.fitBounds(L.featureGroup(markers).getBounds());
  }
};
position
type: object

The current position of the search, when applicable.
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let map = null;
let markers = [];

const renderGeoSearch = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { items, position } = renderOptions;

  if (isFirstRender) {
    map = L.map(document.querySelector('#geo-search'));

    L.tileLayer('https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', {
      attribution:
        '&copy; <a href="http://osm.org/copyright">OpenStreetMap</a> contributors',
    }).addTo(map);
  }

  markers.forEach(marker => marker.remove());

  markers = items.map(({ _geoloc }) =>
    L.marker([_geoloc.lat, _geoloc.lng]).addTo(map)
  );

  if (markers.length) {
    map.fitBounds(L.featureGroup(markers).getBounds());
  } else {
    map.setView(
      position || {
        lat: 48.864716,
        lng: 2.349014,
      },
      12
    );
  }
};
currentRefinement
type: object

The current bounding box of the search, with:

  • northEast: { lat: number, lng: number }: the top right corner of the map view.
  • southWest: { lat: number, lng: number }: the bottom left corner of the map view.
refine
type: function

Sets a bounding box to filter the results from the given map bounds. The function accepts an object with:

  • northEast: { lat: number, lng: number }: the top right corner of the map view.
  • southWest: { lat: number, lng: number }: the bottom left corner of the map view.
clearMapRefinement
type: function

Resets the current bounding box refinement.
isRefinedWithMap
type: function

Returns true if the current refinement is set with the map bounds.
toggleRefineOnMapMove
type: function

Toggles whether the user is able to refine on map move.
isRefineOnMapMove
type: function

Returns true if the user is able to refine on map move.
setMapMoveSinceLastRefine
type: function

Sets whether the map has moved since the last refinement. This should be call on each map move. The call to the function triggers a new render only when the value changes.
hasMapMoveSinceLastRefine
type: function

Returns true if the map has moved since the last refinement.
widgetParams
type: object

All original widget options forwarded to the render function.

Create and instantiate the custom widget

We first create custom widgets from our rendering function, then we instantiate them. When doing that, there are two types of parameters you can give:

  • Instance parameters: they are predefined parameters that you can use to configure the behavior of Algolia.
  • Your own parameters: to make the custom widget generic.

Both instance and custom parameters are available in connector.widgetParams, inside the renderFunction.

const customGeoSearch = instantsearch.connectors.connectGeoSearch(
  renderGeoSearch
);

search.addWidget(
  customGeoSearch({
    // Optional parameters
    enableRefineOnMapMove: boolean,
    transformItems: function,
  })
);

Instance options

enableRefineOnMapMove
type: boolean
default: true
Optional

If true, refine is triggered as you move the map.
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customGeoSearch({
  enableRefineOnMapMove: false,
});
transformItems
type: function
default: x => x
Optional

Receives the items, and is called before displaying them. Should return a new array with the same shape as the original array. Useful for mapping over the items to transform, and remove or reorder them.
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customGeoSearch({
  transformItems(items) {
    return items.map(item => ({
      ...item,
      name: item.name.toUpperCase(),
    }));
  },
});

Full example

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// Create the render function
let map = null;
let markers = [];
let isUserInteraction = true;

const renderGeoSearch = (renderOptions, isFirstRendering) => {
  const {
    items,
    currentRefinement,
    refine,
    clearMapRefinement,
    widgetParams,
  } = renderOptions;

  const {
    initialZoom,
    initialPosition,
    container,
  } = widgetParams;

  if (isFirstRendering) {
    const element = document.createElement('div');
    element.style.height = '100%';

    const button = document.createElement('button');
    button.textContent = 'Clear the map refinement';

    map = L.map(element);

    L.tileLayer('https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', {
      attribution:
        '&copy; <a href="http://osm.org/copyright">OpenStreetMap</a> contributors',
    }).addTo(map);

    map.on('moveend', () => {
      if (isUserInteraction) {
        const ne = map.getBounds().getNorthEast();
        const sw = map.getBounds().getSouthWest();

        refine({
          northEast: { lat: ne.lat, lng: ne.lng },
          southWest: { lat: sw.lat, lng: sw.lng },
        });
      }
    });

    button.addEventListener('click', () => {
      clearMapRefinement();
    });

    container.appendChild(element);
    container.appendChild(button);
  }

  container.querySelector('button').hidden = !currentRefinement;

  markers.forEach(marker => marker.remove());

  markers = items.map(({ _geoloc }) =>
    L.marker([_geoloc.lat, _geoloc.lng]).addTo(map)
  );

  isUserInteraction = false;
  if (!currentRefinement && markers.length) {
    map.fitBounds(L.featureGroup(markers).getBounds(), {
      animate: false,
    });
  } else if (!currentRefinement) {
    map.setView(initialPosition, initialZoom, {
      animate: false,
    });
  }
  isUserInteraction = true;
};

// Create the custom widget
const customGeoSearch = instantsearch.connectors.connectGeoSearch(
  renderGeoSearch
);

// Instantiate the custom widget
search.addWidget(
  customGeoSearch({
    container: document.querySelector('#geo-search'),
    initialZoom: 12,
    initialPosition: {
      lat: 48.864716,
      lng: 2.349014,
    },
  })
);

HTML output

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<div class="ais-GeoSearch">
  <div class="ais-GeoSearch-map">
    <!-- Map element here -->
  </div>
  <div class="ais-GeoSearch-control">
    <label class="ais-GeoSearch-label">
      <input class="ais-GeoSearch-input" type="checkbox">
      Search as I move the map
    </label>
  </div>
  <button class="ais-GeoSearch-reset">
    Clear the map refinement
  </button>
</div>

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