Local Guide puts a filterable places guide on your site, with a map of the places and your homes, and a “Nearby” list on each property page, all readable by search engines and AI assistants.
What it does #
A list of local recommendations only helps your bookings if guests and search engines can actually see it. Local Guide reads your places from a places endpoint and prints them into the page itself, so the content is there on first load instead of appearing after a script runs.
It gives you two things:
- A guide page. Category chips across the top, place cards grouped by category, and a map showing the places and, optionally, your homes. Selecting a card opens a window with the photo, description, address, website link, and any perk you offer guests.
- A Nearby stack on property pages. A short list of the closest places to the home being viewed, with distance, so a guest sees what is around before they book.
For example, a guest on a Sonoma guide page taps the Restaurants chip, sees the restaurants grouped together, and opens one to read your note about it and see “Guests of Your Brand: free dessert.”
Local Guide shows only what your endpoint returns. It does not create places. If you manage recommendations in Hostfully Guidebooks, see Setting Up Your Local Recommendations Guide.
How to turn it on #
1. Switch on the module #
In the HomeRunner Toolkit Hub, switch on Local Guide. It is off until you turn it on.
2. Connect your places #
Open the Local Guide panel and enter the Endpoint base URL. It must start with https:// and have no query string. Until it is set, visitors see nothing and only administrators see a reminder.
Select Save Local Guide Settings, then Test endpoint. The test reports whether the endpoint answered and whether your site could read it.
3. Add the guide page #
Add the shortcode to any page:
[hrtk_local_guide]Options:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
region | Show only places in these regions. Separate several with commas. |
category | Show only these categories. Separate several with commas. |
show_homes | 1 or 0. Overrides the Homes on the guide map setting for this page. |
perks_only | 1 to start with only places that offer your guests a perk. |
heading_level | 2, 3, or 4. The heading size used inside the guide, so it fits your page outline. |
4. Add the Nearby stack to property pages #
Either switch on Place the nearby stack after the booking widget (Conversion Kit booking widgets), or place the shortcode yourself:
[hrtk_local_guide_nearby]Options: limit, property_id, heading, subheading. On a property page the shortcode finds the property on its own. Elsewhere it prints nothing unless you give it a property_id.
Settings #
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Endpoint base URL | Where your places come from. https:// only. Empty means nothing shows to visitors. |
| Adapter | Which data format the endpoint speaks. The default works with the standard HomeRunner places format. |
| Presentation preset | The look of cards, rows, and the card window. The default is Explorer. A developer can add more presets for your site. |
| Region map | One your-location-slug=endpoint-region-slug per line. Matches the location of each property to the region name the endpoint uses. Locations you do not list pass through unchanged. |
| Places post types | Only for sites that keep places on this same website. A comma list of post types; saving one of those posts refreshes the guide pages at once. Leave empty for a remote endpoint. |
| Brand short name | The name used in “Your Brand perks only” and “Guests of Your Brand.” Defaults to your site name. |
| Distance unit | Miles (default) or kilometers. |
| Homes on the guide map | On by default. Draws your published homes on the guide map. |
| Rows | How many places the Nearby stack shows, 1 to 8. The default is 4. |
| Placement | Off by default. When on, the Nearby stack appears after the booking widget, and the [hrtk_local_guide_nearby] shortcode prints nothing on property pages so the stack is not doubled. |
| Heading and Subheading | The Nearby stack text. Defaults are “Nearby” and “Places we’d send a friend, within {radius} of this home”. {radius} prints the search distance in your unit. |
| Enable partner actions | Off by default. Adds the request form and the booking handoff to the card window for partner places. Turn it on only after the endpoint’s forms are delivering. |
| reCAPTCHA v3 site key | Used by the request form when the endpoint does not send its own key. This is separate from the key in the reCAPTCHA v3 module. |
| Request form fields | Show a phone field, a message field, or both on the request form. Name, email, and the other basics are always included. |
Tips #
- Open the guide on perks. Guests can switch Perks only on the guide, and
perks_only="1"starts the page that way. It is useful for a “Guest perks” landing page. - Match your map style. In Map Styling, the Local Guide map switch draws your Mapbox tiles on the guide map. See Map Privacy for how exact home locations are kept off public maps; the Nearby stack uses the same public location.
- A guide with no places hides itself. If the endpoint is empty, unreachable, or the home has no map location, the Nearby stack shows nothing rather than an empty box.
- Changes appear within minutes. The guide keeps a saved copy and refreshes it in the background, so a new place can take a few minutes to show. Use Test endpoint to confirm the source is answering.
- Pair it with the map. Map All Pins covers the property map; Local Guide covers the places around it.