8 WordPress Plugins for Hyperlocal Bloggers
by Matt McGee on Aug 19, 2008 in Content
UPDATE, MAY 2009: I’m now using the MapPress plugin to insert maps into WordPress. You can read my MapPress review here.
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As a hyperlocal blogger, chances are you’re writing about specific locations pretty consistently on your local blog. But are you also showing where these places are? That extra visual element might be what separates a good post from a great one.
If you’re using WordPress, there are several plugins that make it easier to add map data to your hyperlocal blog. Here are eight for your consideration, with more details on the one I’ve been using:
- Google Maps for WordPress – see below for more on this plugin
- Google Maps in Posts – I’ve tried this one but am having trouble getting the map to display
- thydzikGoogleMap
- GeoPress
- Umapper – this is the next one I’m going to check out
- XML Google Maps
- WP Geo
- GoogleMapper
As I said above, I’ve been using Google Maps for WordPress on a couple of our local blogs. The functionality is pretty simple: Into any post, you can insert a map from Google Maps showing the exact location you’re talking about in the post. Let me show it in action…
How It Looks
A couple months ago on our Kennewick blog, I wrote about the local 7-11 store and its goal of becoming the Slurpee capital of the world. You can click the link, or have a look at this screenshot showing how the map displays at the end of the post:
How It Works
I could’ve put the map anywhere in the post, but it made sense at the end. I can also control the size of the map, and I can include those “Directions To/From” links in the info bubble. The plugin controls are available on the same admin page where you write the blog post. Here’s a screenshot:
If you look closely at the small text near the bottom, you do need a Google Maps API code to make this plugin work (and you probably need it for all of the above plugins). But don’t start shaking at the mere mention of API codes — this part is brain-dead simple. Just go to Google, enter your URL in the form and hit the submit button. One second later you’ll have the code you need to input into your WordPress admin.
Pros and Cons
I like the simplicity of this plugin because I’m the furthest thing from an expert on latitude, longitude, KML, XML, and all that other stuff. But the reason I’m going to look at other plugins is that this one only allows one address to be marked on the map. So, if you have two different restaurants that you’re writing about, you can’t show both locations with this plugin.
Your Turn
A few questions for you: What other mapping tools have you used on your hyperlocal blog? Are there similar map plugins/tools that can be used on other blogging platforms?
Comments
15 Responses to “8 WordPress Plugins for Hyperlocal Bloggers”
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Matt, (apologies in advance for the self-promo!) have you had the chance to try our two Praized WordPress plug-ins? Our community plugin allows any local blogger to install their own complete local search functionality (including all 17M+ North American business listings) within their blog. Our editorial plugin works in tandem with the other one and allows blogger to placeblog and link back within their post to their praized-powered section. If you’re interested, we can set you up with an API key to try them.
Hey Seb — thanks for reminding me about that. I do want to check it out, but this week is busy. How about we connect sometime next week? Are you around?
I like the list Matt but can you make it easier for us? What’s the best plugin? Most stable? Most features? Easiest to use? I’m going to have to check them all out.
I notice these plugins are all focussing on maps and adding location to the post, while this is a great feature, and i actually like some of these plugins, especially WP Geo, I think there is a lot more to hyperlocal blogging.
For example, Events. Events always go with a physical location. On one of my websites, about music events taking place in certain cities in the Netherlands I’m using the WordPress Upcoming plugin, which hooks up to the Yahoo/Upcoming API. One well worth checking out. For a local blog, i would find it a must have wordpress plugin, especially since most event calendar plugins just suck.
probably there is a whole lot more you could think of.
Hey Matt -
Neat plugin! It’s a bit more customizable than simply getting the link code out of Maps itself. That’s how I’ve always included Maps, but this is kind of neat!
Miriam
In Nashville, the plug-in that most seems to bring our community together include:
1) two community blogs (Nashville is Talking and Music City Bloggers, even though the later has been dead for the summer) We used to have a politics specific blog which aggegated posts–but I don’t think WKRN could monetize it–although I believe the Nashville Post has picked it up.
2) Twitter
3) MyBlogLog usage is high
4) Our real world events (Barcamp, Podcamp, Geek Breakfast, and Tweetups)
5) Facebook, facebook groups
and more recently 6) A tech oriented Ning group
I firmly believe a hyper local blogger can help by trying aggegation of some sort. Aggregation seems to serve as a watering hole and it of course helps in Google. It also makes it easy to keep up with local news & events
[...] can be a great way to add extra information and context for readers. A few weeks ago, I wrote about 8 WordPress plugins that add mapping capabilities for those of us who use [...]
looks cool, i am trying to find a plug in that does this but also has the ability to view all the locations you posted in one map
so when i go to it i can see the location sopts to all the active posts
You’re post has been incredibly help in terms of finding a solution for my problem, but I can’t find a wordpress plugin that does exactly what I want it to. Maybe you can point me towards some ideas.
impunitywatch.com is a law journal, run exclusively by Syracuse University Law students, that reports on atrocities that occur throughout the world.
We post daily about the ongoings of dictators and countries that often get passed over by major news networks.
We have a map now on the front page, using typepad, that allows us to place a pin in the locations that a post focuses on. We’re moving to wordpress and are looking for an equivalent. This is what we have so far iwtestbed.heavytext.com and I’m using geomashup. It’s pretty, but not playing along.
Any suggestions? We appreciate the help.
I’m not aware of a specific plugin that lets you do what you’re looking for, Christopher — but that’s largely because I’ve never looked for one. If worse comes to worse, you might be able to hire a plugin developer to create exactly what you need.
What you’re talking about sounds kinda like what outside.in offers via its StoryMaps, but I don’t think you get to place the pin yourself. You might also look into that, though.
Thx for the kind words, and please let me know how your search turns out. That might be a plugin that others would want to use, too.
Do you know if any of the plugins let you have multiple points on a single map? I want to use it with something like the weekly fire department response log. It would be great to be able to map all the incidents on a single map.
I’ve tried most of these and found GeoPress to be the most flexible and reliable, though not perfect. For example, I want to display a map of posts from just 1 category in my sidebar, and it can’t do that. It can do lots of useful things though and I have detailed some examples of how to use and extend it. It’s ability to add geo data to your RSS feeds is brilliant.
I don’t know, Susan — I haven’t tried out enough of these to know. Be sure to check the full documentation and screenshots of each; you might get some answers in there.
Fitzroyalty — thx for the recommendation on GeoPress. Good article you wrote there.
[...] four local blogs that Cari and I write. It’s called MapPress and I like it better than the 8 maps plugins I wrote about earlier here on HLB. Let me show why I like it with some screenshots, and maybe [...]
[...] Yes, things like outside.in’s StoryMaps offer the same end result, and there are 3rd-party WordPress plugins for local bloggers, but I’m ready for a built-in geotagging tool right in the WordPress [...]