The Visiting the Battlefields area is a visitor-planning feature that combines written driving itineraries with interactive WP Go Maps maps for the main 15th Battalion battlefield areas.
What the system includes
The main landing page is Visiting the battlefields. It links to two detailed tour pages:
- Ypres tours – using WP Go Maps Map 1, Ypres Tours.
- Arras tours – using WP Go Maps Map 2, Arras Tours.
Each tour page contains suggested one-, two- and three-day itineraries. The corresponding map uses categories to group locations by tour day so visitors can filter the markers.
Important maintenance rule
The written itinerary and the map are maintained separately. Changing a location, route, description or link in the page does not automatically update the corresponding WP Go Maps marker, and changing the marker does not update the page text.
Whenever a battlefield-tour location is added, removed or materially changed, check both:
- the Elementor tour page; and
- the corresponding WP Go Maps map and marker.
Editing the tour pages
The Ypres and Arras tour pages are Elementor pages. Edit the written itinerary there, including the sequence of stops, explanatory text and links.
The locations are intentionally arranged in a practical driving sequence. Preserve that sequence unless the underlying itinerary is being deliberately changed.
Editing the maps
From the WordPress dashboard, open Maps (WP Go Maps) and edit the appropriate map:
- Map 1 – Ypres Tours
- Map 2 – Arras Tours
Each location is a marker. A marker can contain:
- a title;
- an address or GPS coordinates;
- a photograph;
- descriptive information;
- a link to a related 15th Battalion page, 48th Highlanders Museum record or external web site; and
- a tour-day category.
When adding a new marker, assign the correct tour-day category so that it appears when visitors use the day filters.
Marker links
Where possible, link a marker to the most useful supporting source:
- a 15th Battalion Project Memorial page for Project memorials;
- a 48th Highlanders Museum cemetery or Soldier record where that is the relevant detailed record; or
- an authoritative external site for museums, national memorials or other locations.
Check important external links periodically because battlefield museums, tourism sites and other external organizations may change their web addresses.
Images
Markers can display Media Library images in their Info Windows. When replacing an image, confirm that the marker still references the intended Media Library item and that the image displays correctly on the public map.
Map behaviour
The public maps are configured to fit the displayed markers automatically and to refit after filtering. Visitors can open marker Info Windows, copy location information and follow the marker’s More details link.
WP Go Maps and WP Go Maps Pro are functional dependencies of this feature. Do not deactivate or remove them without replacing the map functionality.
Visiting the Memorials
The separate Visiting the Memorials page provides a downloadable GPX file containing Project memorial locations, together with instructions for loading those locations into GPS devices or Google Maps.
If Project memorial locations change, check whether the downloadable GPX file also needs to be updated. The current file is 15th-Bn-CEF-memorials.gpx in the Media Library. A webmaster unfamiliar with GPX files can use Garmin’s Creating Custom POIs in BaseCamp instructions, which explain how to create waypoints and export them as a GPX file. After updating the file, test the download and the GPS-device instructions on the public Visiting the Memorials page.
Related technical note
The Code Snippets entry WP Go Maps – Limit Date Selector (snippet 7) is associated with the Timeline map, not the battlefield-tour maps. Do not change it as part of normal battlefield-tour maintenance.