Duplicate a design or an entire locator

The duplicate action has two modes because a Layout is not one flattened document. A Layout stores its rows and widgets, while widgets can reference separate reusable designs such as a Search Form, Store Card, infobox, marker, or Category Tile.

Open Store Locator → Builder, find the design, and select its duplicate icon. Do not open the editor first; duplication starts from the design card.

Duplicate design only

Select Duplicate design only to copy the selected record and retain every existing design reference.

For example, assume Retail Locator uses:

• Search Form ID 41;
• Store Card ID 56;
• infobox ID 60.

Leave the Name suffix field at its prefilled value, Copy, and select Duplicate. This creates Retail Locator — Copy with a new Layout ID, but it still points to IDs 41, 56, and 60. Editing Store Card 56 later changes the cards in both Layouts.

Use this mode when:

• the new Layout only needs different rows, columns, Map placement, pagination, or embedded filters;
• the locators should share one centrally maintained Store Card or Search Form;
• you are creating another embed of the same visual system.

Duplicate with included designs

Select Duplicate with included designs to create an independent design tree. The plugin follows all design references, copies each included design once, and replaces the references in the copied records with their new IDs.

The selected mode is shown with a blue outline and a Selected indicator. Enter one value in Name suffix, which is prefilled with Copy, then select Duplicate. The plugin applies that suffix to every new record. Replacing Copy with Maroon, for example, produces Sky Theme — Maroon, Portrait Search — Maroon, and Infobox — Maroon.

Using the previous example, the operation creates:

• Retail Locator — Copy;
• the copied Search Form;
• the copied Store Card;
• the copied infobox.

The new Layout points to those three copies. Editing the copied Store Card no longer changes the original Retail Locator.

The copy is recursive. If an included design references another design, that nested record is copied too. If the same Store Card is referenced more than once inside the Layout, it is copied once and all matching references point to that one new copy.

Use this mode when:

• preparing a different brand or color scheme;
• building a customer-specific locator from an existing one;
• testing a redesign without risking a production locator;
• changing the structure or styling of included Store Cards, forms, markers, or infoboxes.

Confirm the result before editing

1. Wait for the success message; it states whether one design or the design plus its included records was duplicated.
2. Open the — Copy Layout and confirm its Store List, Search, Map, and other design selectors show the expected copied names.
3. Change the copied name before publishing so editors can distinguish it from the source.
4. Preview the copied Layout at Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile widths.
5. Embed the new Layout by its own shortcode, block, Elementor widget, or WPBakery element.

If the copy cannot read or create one of its referenced designs, no incomplete locator is kept. Correct the missing/deleted reference on the original and run duplication again.

Choosing the correct mode

Goal	Select
Rearrange one Layout but keep the same cards and forms	Duplicate design only
Use the same Store Card design in several locators	Duplicate design only
Rebrand a full locator without changing the original	Duplicate with included designs
Experiment with every part of a production locator	Duplicate with included designs
Copy a standalone Store Card that has no included designs	Duplicate design only

After creating an independent copy, the Color scheme tool can replace its stored colors without modifying the source Layout's included designs.