Lookup Runner Configuration & Using

Accessing Administrative Options

Point your browser to the web page where you have installed Lookup Runner. Click the "Admin" link at the bottom of the page. You will be transferred to the admin login form, please use the password you chose in the setup procedure to access the administration panel.

Loading Zip Code Database

Lookup Runner allows your website audience search for your locations within certain distance, like 50 miles. It is a great benefit of Lookup Runner software. In order to make this nice feature work, the first step in configuring your Lookup Runner system is to fill in the zip code database. Lookup Runner comes with the zip code coordinates data file covering more than 40 thousand zip codes, and this data should be loaded into your database. Don't worry, this process is fully automated and will take just 10-15 minutes.

On your first login as the administrator, you will be automatically transferred to the Manage Countries page. Simply choose you country in the drop-down list and click Add. The import process will start, it will load the zip coordinates in your database in steps, the information will be updated on screen as the process goes on.

If your country is not in the list, please review the Adding Country Database part below.

Usually it is not required to edit the zip codes information from this moment on. Anyway, if you ever need to, from the Zip Codes >> Browse and Zip Codes >> Search pages you can manually change the coordinates information for any zip code in your database.

Adding Locations

As you have the zip codes imported, you can create your locations. Usually you will be redirected to the New Location form automatically after loading your zip codes. Otherwise please click the Locations link in the top menu. You will see a simple New Location form, fill in the location name, address, and the zip code. As you enter the first digit of the zip code, an automatic suggestion will appear helping you to fill in this field.

Importing Locations

Adding locations manually, as described in the previous step, is pretty nice unless you have tens or hundreds locations to add. If it is your case, Lookup Runner provides the location import utility. You can create a csv file with your locations, then automatically add them to your Lookup Runner system. We have provided a sample locations file - files/import/locations/restaurants.csv. Have a look at this file structure, create your file with your locations with the same structure, and upload to this files/import/locations directory.

As soon as you upload your locations CSV file, click the Locations link in the top menu, then Import link below. Choose your file in the drop-down list and click Create. The locations will be getting automatically added to your database. As the import process completes, you will be redirected to the Browse Locations page, from where you will be able to edit, delete, and add your locations as needed.

Front End Experience

Lookup Runner is very easy and straightforward for your website visitors. All they need to do is to start typing in the Zip Code field, then Lookup Runner will automatically start suggesting completion options. Having chosen the zip code, one can choose the search distance range. After clicking the Search, your website vistior will be presented with the list of locations within the chosen range of the zip code. Apart from the location information, Lookup Runner will also show the approximate disance to the location from the chosen zip code.

Changing Text In Front End

You may change any text that is shown to your website visitor. You will need to create a new language file. Please follow instructions as described in Creating New Language File part below. The only difference is that you will be creating an English language file so name it en.xml. Once activated, it will replace the built-in English text.

Lookup Runner In Another Language

Lookup Runner's front end can be shown in other languages.

Installing Language File

  • Please go to Lookup Runner Downloads, browse to Language Files part.
  • Download your language file to your computer.
  • Upload it to files/languages.
  • In the Lookup Runner admin panel, go to Settings >> Languages, find your new language, then click the Activate link.
  • You may have several language options being available for your website visitors.

Creating New Language File

If your language is not available at Lookup Runner Downloads, you can easily create your language file yourself.

  • At your computer, create a new XML file and name it accordingly to the language, for example es.xml, de.xml, or ru.xml. Open this file in a text editor like Notepad or similar.
  • In the Lookup Runner admin panel, go to Settings >> Languages.
  • In the lower part, click the Create Your Language File link.
  • You will see the XML code - paste it into your new XML file at your computer.
  • Enter your translations between the <translate></translate> tags (default English text is already there, replace it with your language strings). DO NOT change the text between <original></original> tags!
  • If you need to use HTML code in the text strings, no problem, use it as needed, then replace the < with [, and > with ]. For example, <b>some text</b> becomes [b]some text[/b]. Please make sure that you do this otherwise the language file will not work.
  • Once you are done translating, upload your new laguage file to files/languages folder.
  • In the Lookup Runner admin panel, go to Settings >> Languages, find your new language, then click the Activate link.
  • You may have several language options being available for your website visitors.

Adding Country Database

  • Please go to Lookup Runner Downloads, browse to Postal Code Databases part.
  • Download your country postal code database to your computer.
  • Upload it to files/import/zipcodes.
  • In the Lookup Runner admin panel, go to Settings >> Countries, find your country, then click the Add button.
  • If your country postal code database is not available, please contact us to request it.