Explorator

WordPress plugin · Version 1.4.0

Explorator for WordPress

A live visitor map and 3D globe for the hero of your site, drawn on your own server. No map tiles, no API keys, no raw IP addresses kept.

Download Explorator 1.4.0 See it running

ZIP, 83 KB. Open source under MIT.

WordPress
5.6 or later
PHP
7.2 or later, 64-bit (the built-in MaxMind reader needs it)
Database
MySQL or MariaDB, the same one WordPress already uses
Hosting
Any host. On Apache and LiteSpeed the plugin locks its data folder itself; on nginx, keep the MaxMind file outside the web root.
Locations
MaxMind GeoLite2 (free account, recommended), or ip-api.com with no setup, which sends visitor IP addresses to ip-api.com
Released
SHA-256
6dccbab9e2661d28129a67aadcde1b1fc1718fc05c20260f7bfd348864de8cb1

01 · Install

Up and running in four steps.

  1. Install

    In WordPress go to Plugins, Add New, Upload Plugin. Choose the zip, then Activate. If your host doesn’t allow uploads, unzip it and copy the explorator folder into wp-content/plugins.

  2. Run the setup

    It opens by itself: three steps. Choose where locations come from (MaxMind, if you can) and a colour theme.

  3. Place the map

    Put [explorator] on any page, in a Shortcode block. Each map can override the defaults, for example [explorator view="globe" duration="30d" height="640"].

  4. Check a visit lands

    Open your site in a private window, then look at the map. Logged-in admins and editors aren’t counted, so you won’t see yourself otherwise.

02 · Upgrading

Moving from Visitor MapView.

Explorator was called Visitor MapView until version 1.3. Since 1.4 it installs as its own plugin and brings the old one’s data across the first time it runs.

  1. Activate Explorator first

    Upload Explorator and activate it while Visitor MapView is still installed. Don’t delete Visitor MapView first: deleting it erases its settings and visit history before Explorator can move them.

  2. Let it move your data

    On its first load Explorator switches Visitor MapView off, then moves its settings, visit history, saved locations and MaxMind file across. Pages that use [visitor_map] keep working.

  3. Re-paste client snippets

    If you track other sites, copy the new snippet from Explorator, Settings, API tab onto each one, and update any embed to the new address. Client sites stop counting from the moment you activate Explorator until you do.

  4. Then delete Visitor MapView

    Once the map shows your history, delete the old plugin from the Plugins screen. It’s safe at that point: its data has already moved.

03 · For agencies

One map for many sites.

Run Explorator on one hub site. Client sites only need a script tag, and don’t need WordPress. Their visits arrive on the hub’s map, grouped by the site they came from.

  1. Turn on external tracking

    On the hub, open Explorator, Settings, then the API tab. Turn on external tracking and generate a token. The hub must be served over HTTPS. Use MaxMind on the hub: every client’s traffic shares one lookup limit otherwise.

  2. Allow each client domain

    Add each client’s domain to Allowed site origins, one per line. Don’t leave the list empty on a live hub; an empty list accepts any site that has the token.

  3. Paste the snippet

    Copy the tracking snippet from the same screen into each client site’s <head>. It honours Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control and sets no cookies, so counts run slightly below Google Analytics.

04 · Release notes

What’s in 1.4.0.

One name, all the way down. The plugin folder, settings, database tables, web addresses and tracking script are now all called Explorator, not just the name you see.

Brings your data across. On its first run Explorator moves everything from an install under the old name: settings, visit history, saved locations and the MaxMind file.

Existing pages keep working. [explorator] is the shortcode to use; older pages that use the previous one still render.

New tracking address. Client-site snippets and cross-site embeds use new addresses. Re-paste them after upgrading; the steps are above.

Earlier versions are listed in readme.txt inside the zip.