Review: MapPress Google Maps Plugin

by Matt on May 7, 2009 in Blogging

I have a new favorite WordPress plugin for the 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 you’ll want to give it a try, too.

MapPress Options

Like many plugins, when you first install MapPress, you’ve got some choices to make. The options on MapPress hit the sweet spot for me — not too many, not too few, and not difficult to understand.

mappress options

(1) The first thing you have to do is give it your Google Maps API key, which is free and simple to get. (Go here.) After that, (2) you can set the default sizes that your maps will appear in your blog posts. (You can override these on individual posts if needed.) There are some (3) advanced settings, including one I really like that lets you choose what type of map to display – Street, Satellite, Hybrid, Terrain. Very cool feature. And you can even (4) choose what color icon you want to show on your blog.

MapPress Insertion

When writing a blog post, it’s super simple to insert the map — easier than the plugin I’ve been using for several months. The insertion options show up immediately below the text area where you write your post:

mappress

All you do here is (1) type in the full address you want to map and hit the “Save Address” button. That’ll (2) make the map appear in preview mode with the address marker (you can turn this preview off if you want). And when you’re done, you (3) hit the “Insert map in post” button and you’re done.

It’s brain-dead simple, and one thing I didn’t show above — you can put multiple addresses (with markers) on any map you create. So, this is perfect if you’re doing a post about a winery tour in your area, or a post showing the three new restaurants that just opened, etc.

MapPress in Action

You can see it in action on our Kennewick Real Estate Blog: Small Business Seminar Next Week in Kennewick. If you click through, you’ll see the one thing I don’t like about MapPress: It auto-inserts a link to the plugin’s home page right below every map. I’d gladly make a small donation in exchange for a way to remove the link. Still, I’ll learn to live with the link there if I must — the plugin is that much of an improvement over what we’ve been using. Big thumbs up.

If you try it out, let me know how it works for you!

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May 7, 2009 | Filed Under Blogging 

Comments

2 Responses to “Review: MapPress Google Maps Plugin”

  1. Flossip on May 8th, 2009 10:27 am

    Thanks! I can definitely use this!

  2. Kenn on July 24th, 2009 2:17 am

    Edit mappress.php
    Look for

    ” if ($map_args['poweredby'])$map .= “Map powered by MapPress“; ”

    Apply comment /* ….. */ or delete this of code

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