Locations filter

Locations is one of the three primary filters in the Jostle® platform. Each user can be assigned to multiple Official Locations. Locations are optional – if you have none defined, this filter will not appear in the platform.

Note that you can repurpose the Locations filter -- it can be used for something other than Locations. System Admins can rename it at Administration settings > Filters and badges > Configure Official Locations (Location). For example, if you have employee types that need to be organized in a hierarchy (and therefore do not fit the flat Custom Filter) you could repurpose Locations to do this.

Table of contents:

1. Optimizing the Location filter hierarchy
2. Managing Official Locations
3. Assigning Official Locations via bulk uploading
4. Allowing users to update their own Location
5. Other locations

1. Optimizing the Location filter hierarchy

Each Official Location is designated by an Alias. This should be the common name that people use for that location. Something like “London office”, “Palo Alto campus” or “Building 3 floor 2”.

Official Locations can also have a city, state, and country associated with them. These details are optional, but the Alias name is required. If you do use city/state/country, they will auto-create a hierarchy in your Location Filter. This makes it easy, for example, to publish something to all locations in the US, or all locations in California. You will want to play with this setup to get your Location filter (you can see the hierarchy created by the filter by looking at it in the People view filter panel) optimized for easy use. Note that you can collapse the structure by, for example, placing city and state in the same field (i.e. enter Palo Alto, California in the City field) to obtain a flatter hierarchy that looks more consistent with other locations around the world.

2. Managing Official Locations

Official Locations are managed by System Administrators at Administration settings > Filters and badges > Configure Official Locations (Location). At the top of the screen is where you can change the "Locations" label:

Further down, you add new Official Locations, or edit or delete existing ones.

To add a new Official Location

1. Go to Admin Settings > Filters and badges > Configure Official Locations (Location)
2. Scroll down to Add an Official Location and enter an Address Alias name. This should be short and be the common name used for this location (e.g. the building's nickname).
3. Fill in the rest of the location information and the click the Save button. What you fill in here determines how the Filter hierarchy will appear when it is used (see the section above for more on this). 

Export/Import of Locations

There is also an option available at the bottom of this screen to export your current Locations data via CSV. This would be helpful if, for example, you wanted to export all your Locations and make bulk edits via CSV (for example, to create a consistent hierarchy of Country, State, and City), and then import the CSV back to apply your updates. 

You can import your updated Locations CSV via the Upload section: click Choose file to locate your CSV and then Upload.

• If you haven't added any Locations data to your intranet at all, you can use the blank CSV template found at the bottom of this page to enter your data upload it in bulk. However, this is not advisable for uploading new Locations if you already have existing Locations data entered in your intranet, as you run the risk of accidentally removing those Locations if you don't check the proper settings before uploading or don't include them in your CSV (along with any new Locations you're adding). Better to use the Export Locations link and just add your new Locations to that CSV, and then re-import it.