Hello friends,

In this post you are going to learn how to add google maps in WordPress.

Do you want to display a map that shows your local business or some other location on your WordPress website? And do you want to customize it as much as possible?

In this case you are reading the right post in TheCMSPlace as here I am going to present to you one extremely convenient plugin that will allow you to add customized Google Maps to every WordPress website. It is called WP Google Maps.

What makes WP Google Maps more convenient than the ability to embed Google Maps directly to a post or a page?

For some webmasters and admins this would not make any difference as in most of the cases the idea is to display a standard map without additional customization. In such cases I’d even recommend to use the embed code that Google Maps can provide you. This would save time and effort and also will remove the need of an additional plugin.

But if you want a customized map and you want it displayed as you desire then WP Google Maps is the best solution for your needs.

This wonderful plugin comes in two versions – Free and Pro. For the purpose of this post I will be reviewing the Free version only. It is extremely powerful and it will do what is required for most WordPress websites. At the end of the post I will mention some of the additional features that the Pro version will provide to you in case you need more options.

How to add google maps in WordPress with the use of WP Google Maps?

Begin by downloading and installing the plugin. You can also use the plugin installer from your WordPress admin dashboard. When the installation is complete you need to activate WP Google Maps. Then head to the Maps menu that will appear in your dashboard. Click on it.

You will be presented with an intro overview of the plugin. You can skip this and head to the map creation.

When you do this you will be transferred to the Maps sub-menu. Here a warning will appear that requires to create a new Google Maps API key or to supply your already created one. The API keys are free and there is a link that you can click in the plugin that will redirect you to the API key creation.

Below you can see a sample map that you can edit.

There you will see several tabs. The first one is the General Settings. Here you can see the shortcode that you can add to your posts and pages so that your map will be displayed there. You can edit the map name, its dimensions, zoom level, alignment and map type.

On the General Settings tab you can also add markers to you desired location. You can do this by either providing the plugin with a GPS coordinates or Address or you can right click on the map and the plugin will grab the location for you. You can also change animation settings and whether or not to open the InfoWindow by default.

When done you need to click on the Add Marker button and a marker will be created for you.

On the General Settings tab of the Free version you can also add Polygons and Polylines.

The next tab is called Themes and here you can choose how your map will look like. You can also use a custom theme.

For the Free version the next available tab is the Advanced Settings tab. Here you are able to add some settings however the Pro version is required for the rest of them.

This is all that you can achieve using the Free version of WP Google Maps. The rest of the options and tabs are locked for the Pro version only.

The next submenu is called Settings.

Here you can modify how the plugin will function. Again you are presented with several tabs. From the Advanced tab you can set a new API key if needed. There you can also add custom CSS.

The last submenu is called Support.

There you will find useful links for the plugin Documentation and also links for Troubleshooting. On this submenu you can also find links for the support forum and contact information.

When done you need to add the map shortcode to the desired part of your WordPress website and with this your work is done.

A few words on the WP Google Maps Pro version.

If you want additional customization power you can purchase this version. By doing this you will be able to unlock all tabs and settings and therefore create custom Google maps with high quality markers containing locations, descriptions, images, categories, links and directions.

What do you think friends? Share any thoughts and questions in the comments below and don’t forget to spread the word about this post in social media as well.

See you soon!