If you are looking for a flexible mapping plugin for your WordPress site, and you want to go beyond Google Maps, this geo-content management system plugin just might be for you.
We are all using maps on our devices, in one way or another. The Maps Marker Pro plugin brings maps to your WordPress site that let you easily share your favorite places, as well as facilitate tracking. Its many features give you more control over mapping on your site than you’ve ever had before.
Plot and Customize Your WordPress Site’s Maps with Maps Marker Pro
Before we get into actually creating a map, let’s look at the settings.
Settings, Customizations, Augmented Reality and More
There are several services you can connect to, as well as some general settings.
Go Beyond Google Maps
Most WordPress mapping plugins rely on Google Maps. But, as you can see here, you can also extend it to Bing Maps, HERE Maps, and others. This is what makes this plugin more comprehensive and helps it stand it from the others.
This include the layers of the map, geocoding and the ability to offer directions on the map as well. This gives your viewers the choice of how they want to see the map (for example, the option of a standard map or a satellite view).
Augmented Reality
In addition, you can activate the augmented reality option for mobile devices via layar.com.
General Settings
Some basic settings here —plus some control over the attribution that will be displayed.
Icon Settings
Here is where you can fine-tune the size and style of the icons appearing on your map.
Capabilities – Role Access
Depending on what roles you have on your site, you can control who can do what with the maps via the backend.
Sitemaps
If you want your geolocation information added to your XML sitemaps, you can do that here:
WordPress Integration
These handy settings give you better control over how the plugin integrates with the backend of your site, as well as the availability of a few other settings.
Tools for Your Maps
There are a ton of tools for your maps and markers as well:
Each of these tools for maps and markers has its own settings, as well as repeated settings for all of them. For example, these settings are specific for the map dimensions:
And settings for the initial view:
Settings for the filter controls:
With each of those settings and the rest of the maps and markers settings, you have these additional customizations:
As you can see in this section, you can replace the marker icons for each option.
Here are the icons you can choose from:
Obviously, I cannot go over all the settings for your maps and markers, but I wanted to give you a feel for how flexible and customizable this plugin is.
Creating a Custom Map with Maps Marker Pro
To get started, we go to Maps Marker Pro > Add new map. I am going to choose Olympia as it’s a couple hour drive from our coastal town in the state of Washington. In want to and start a map of coffee shops. I simply search for it by typing it in the box.
I did not add any API’s to use the different map options for this plugin, but instead used the default OpenSreetMaps. This allows me to start creating maps without any added costs:
Next,we can control layers and sort them into the order we want.This relates to the different views, such as satellite, terrain, etc. Note here that I have toggled terrain, although I will keep the OpenStreetMap as my default when the map is viewed.
Next we see our options for controls for this specific map. Here we can get more into customizations and change the icons if we choose.
More customizations that you can make specifically for the markers, including clustering (which I will show you in a bit), displaying a tooltip, and controlling popups.
Interactions allow you to toggle which actions a viewer can take, such as zooming or dragging the map.
And the GPX tracks is a great way to give your viewers the ability to see routes with additional metadata such as distance, duration and pace.
Adding Markers to Your Custom Map
Adding a marker is pretty slick. Once you have named it, simply start adding the address.
Then you will be able to select a custom marker for a huge library— or even add your own (and, of course, assign it to the map you want it to appear on). You can also add a description to the marker.
One of the things I should note is that you can save any marker with current values, which will save you time for additional markers, especially with the icon and map that you choose.
Once we have added all markers, now we can see the full editable map, including markers in our dashboard.
Creating Filters for Your Maps
One of your options is to create filters. It’s a way to help your viewers find what they need. In order to do this, you will need to create a map for each filter. Then you will assign that specific marker to that map.
In the case of coffee shops, I have created three filters.
- Casual
- Funky
- Upscale
In the map settings, I simply add the filters (or maps) here.
Clustering of Markers
This interesting option is popular, depending on the map and how close the specific markers are to each other. Under your markers, you will have the settings that allow markers to be clustered.
For example, at this zoom level, my five coffee shops are put into two clusters.
If I zoom in, the markers in one of the clusters now are now visible.
This is a handy option for maps with a lot of markers on them.
List of Your Maps
You will find a list of your maps with some nice options added here. I really like that it will show you what pages or posts any specific map is on. You have a couple of ways to duplicate and delete maps as well.
You are also able to translate, take a shortcut to adding a marker, open in fullscreen mode, show QR code for fullscreen map, and export as GeoJSON, KML and GeoRSS.
Here we see what my final map looks like on my site:
As you can see, this plugin is packed with features and options for customizations when you are creating maps for your WordPress site. With the ease of setup, you get exactly what you want and are not limited to just hooking up to Google Maps. They also have some very good documentation to help you if you should need it.
In addition, it offers some cool features that will make your viewers’ experience so much better and easier so they can find exactly what they are looking for. Whether you are a hobby blogger, a conventional business or an online store, you can get creative with your maps and add value for your readers, clients and customers.
You can learn more by visiting their Maps Marker Pro plugin site.