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Linking to a Guidebook ​

Your Local Guide becomes visible to guests when it is linked to a guidebook. Each place can be linked to one or more guidebooks independently, giving you full control over which recommendations appear for which property.

How linking works ​

The Local Guide uses a many-to-many relationship between places and guidebooks. This means:

  • A single place can appear in multiple guidebooks (e.g., a popular restaurant shared across all your properties in the same area).
  • Each guidebook only shows the specific places you link to it -- not your entire Local Guide.
  • Linking and unlinking a place from a guidebook does not affect its availability in other guidebooks.

This design is ideal for hosts who manage several properties in the same area. You maintain one master list of places and selectively link each one to the relevant guidebooks.

From the place editor ​

  1. Open a place in the Local Guide.
  2. Find the Guidebooks section in the editor.
  3. You will see a list of all your guidebooks. Toggle on each guidebook where this place should appear.
  4. Save the place.

From the guidebook settings ​

  1. Open the Local Guide section in the sidebar.
  2. Open the settings for your Local Guide.
  3. You will see a list of your guidebooks. Toggle on the guidebooks that should include the Local Guide section.
  4. The connection is saved automatically.

Visibility rules ​

For a place to appear in a guest-facing guidebook, all four of the following conditions must be met:

  1. Nearby navigation is enabled -- The guidebook must have its Nearby section turned on (show_nav_nearby). This is a guidebook-level setting in the guidebook editor.
  2. Nearby page exists -- The guidebook must contain a Nearby system page. This is typically created automatically but can be removed or re-added.
  3. Place is linked -- The place must be explicitly linked to that specific guidebook (via the toggle described above).
  4. Place is published -- The place must have its status set to published (not draft).

If any one of these conditions is not met, the place will not appear to guests in that guidebook.

WARNING

If you unlink the Local Guide from a guidebook that guests are currently using, the local recommendations will disappear from their view immediately. Make sure this is intentional before toggling it off.

Display settings per guidebook ​

Each guidebook has its own display preferences for how the Local Guide section looks to guests. These settings are configured per guidebook, so you can have different presentation styles for different properties.

Category tiles vs. filter pills ​

Choose how categories are presented to guests:

  • Category tiles -- Large, visual cards using the category cover image as a background. The category name and icon are overlaid on the image. This creates an attractive, magazine-style browsing experience. Works best when you have uploaded cover images for your categories and have a moderate number of them (3-8 categories).
  • Filter pills -- Compact, colored buttons showing just the category icon and name. Takes up less space and lets guests see the place list immediately. Works better when you have many categories or prefer a more functional layout.

Require category selection ​

When enabled, the list of places is hidden until the guest selects a category. The guest view shows only the category tiles or pills, and tapping one reveals the places in that category.

When to enable this:

  • You have a large number of places (20+) and want to avoid an overwhelming initial view.
  • Your categories are distinct and guests are likely looking for a specific type of place.

When to leave it off:

  • You have a small, curated list of places where seeing everything at once is helpful.
  • You want the Host Tips and Highlights to be immediately visible.

If you have marked places as highlights, a featured carousel appears at the top of the Local Guide section in the guest view.

How the carousel works:

  • Up to 10 items are displayed at a time.
  • Items are chosen randomly from all published highlights that have a featured image and are linked to the current guidebook.
  • On each page load, the selection can vary, keeping the experience fresh for returning guests.
  • If you have fewer than 10 eligible highlights, all of them are shown.

TIP

Highlights work across categories. You might highlight your single best restaurant, best beach, best activity, and best hidden gem -- giving guests a "best of" overview before they dive into categories.

Interactive map in the guest view ​

When the Local Guide is linked to a guidebook, all linked and published places with coordinates are plotted on an interactive map. Guests can:

  • See all places at a glance -- Pins are clustered when zoomed out and separate as the guest zooms in.
  • Tap a pin to see the place name and a summary.
  • Open directions -- Tapping the directions link opens the guest's preferred maps app (Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, etc.) with turn-by-turn navigation to the place.

The map is a powerful feature for helping guests orient themselves, especially when they first arrive and are unfamiliar with the area.

Linking to multiple guidebooks ​

You can link the same places to multiple guidebooks at once. This is useful when:

  • You manage several properties in the same area and the local recommendations overlap. Maintain one set of places and link them to each property's guidebook.
  • You have a general area guidebook and a property-specific guidebook that share some places but not all.

Any updates you make to a place (description, photo, tags, etc.) are reflected across all linked guidebooks automatically. You never need to duplicate content.

TIP

If your properties are in different areas, create distinct places for each location. Then link only the relevant places to each guidebook, so guests only see recommendations near their specific property.

Managing the public URL slug ​

Your Local Guide has its own public URL slug that forms part of the web address guests see when browsing the Nearby section. You can customize this slug to keep URLs clean and recognizable.

  1. Open the Local Guide settings.
  2. Find the URL slug field.
  3. Enter your preferred slug (e.g., local-tips, recommendations, nearby).
  4. Save your changes.

The slug should be short, descriptive, and use lowercase letters with hyphens.

Unlinking places or guidebooks ​

  1. Open the place in the Local Guide editor.
  2. Toggle off the guidebook you want to disconnect.
  3. Save. The place is removed from that guidebook immediately.

Remove the Local Guide from a guidebook entirely ​

  1. Go to the Local Guide settings.
  2. Toggle off the guidebook you want to disconnect.
  3. The entire Local Guide section is removed from that guidebook immediately.

Guests viewing that guidebook will no longer see the Nearby section or any local recommendations.

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