JMaps has been used in many sites which offer searchable point of sale locations. Here is the recommended configuration:

1) Joomla 1.5 to provide the framework for the site. JMaps is a Joomla module. Luckily, Joomla is free and open source. You can download Joomla or get more information here.

2) SOBI2 to provide a directory structure. All of the points of sale / distributorships will be entries in the SOBI2 directory. SOBI2 is also free and open source. You can learn more about SOBI2 or download it here.

3) You may consider some option plugins for SOBI2 that come from the developers of SOBI2:

• Backup and Import - The import and backup plugin that lets you import point of sale / distributor locations from a CSV directly into the system. If you are starting with a large number of locations to get into the system, then importing them from a spreadsheet is a real time saver. We have imported as many as 30,000 files at one time, so feel free to use it. To get more information, click here. There is a cost for this plugin, but it is optional and is not very expensive.
• Radius Search Plugin - The standard SOBI2 search functions let users search for locations within their town, zip code, state, etc. However, if you would like users to be able to put in their zip code and search based on a distance around that zip code, then you will need the Radius Search plugin. For more information, click here. It is optional, and not very expensive.

4) Now, for mapping you will use JMaps from CorFun. JMaps takes the search results from the SOBI2 system and puts those search results on a configurable map to show users the places they can buy your product(s). JMaps can also be used to show maps showing point of sale locations by category. For example, your product might be sold different chains of stores. You can have a search page where users just find the closest location that carries your product, or they could go to a page that shows only one brand of store. When displaying by category, you can also limit the map by City or State, giving you the option of building different pages dedicated to different states and showing all of your Points of Sale within that state. (Or City.)  JMaps can also add entries from an RSS or KML feed and can be used to show the results of custom XML files.

JMaps is a paid application, but given the power that it provides, we hope you agree that it is well worth it.

To see JMaps in action, please visit our demo site by clicking here. To see JMaps in action paired with the Radius Search plugin, please click here and search for businesses located within 50 miles of the 32703 area code.