Modern Maps

Modern Maps is the easiest way to add beautiful, customizable maps to your WordPress site. No API keys. No Google Cloud Console. No complicated setup. Just add a block, search for your location, and publish — your map looks good from the start.

Built from the ground up for the WordPress block editor, Modern Maps uses MapLibre GL to render smooth, modern vector maps that match your site’s design. It’s the map block WordPress should have shipped with.

Why Modern Maps?

• Works instantly — no API key, no Google Cloud account, no billing setup
• Native Gutenberg block — not a shortcode, not a widget, not a retrofitted legacy plugin
• Curated style presets — White, Black, and Standard themes designed for modern web design
• Vector tiles — smooth, fast, and crisp at every zoom level

Features

• Add maps to any page or post using the block editor
• Search for any address or place name directly in the editor
• Unlimited markers per map
• Rich marker popups — add text, images, or any WordPress block inside a popup
• 3 style presets: White (clean, minimal), Black (dark mode), Standard (classic)
• Marker colors from a built-in palette
• Auto-fit viewport to show all markers, or set a fixed center and zoom
• Adjustable map height with CSS unit support (px, vh, em)
• Wide and full-width alignment options
• Border, border-radius, and shadow controls via the block editor
• Responsive and mobile-friendly
• Lightweight — no jQuery, no legacy admin panels
• Works with any properly coded WordPress theme
• GDPR-friendly — all external service connections fully disclosed
• Optional “Powered by Modern Maps” badge — off unless you turn it on for a map
• No coding required

Modern Maps Pro

Modern Maps Pro is a separate, paid extension from modernmapswp.com. Install it alongside this plugin to add more styling controls to the same Modern Maps block: any base color, your theme’s palette colors, and advanced OKLCH color controls. Everything described above works without it, and maps you style with Pro keep displaying if Pro is removed.

Perfect For

• Small businesses showing their storefront location
• Restaurants, cafes, and bars with a contact page
• Real estate agents displaying property locations
• Travel bloggers mapping their adventures
• Churches, gyms, and community organizations
• Nonprofits mapping their service areas
• Freelancers and agencies building client sites
• Anyone who wants a map on their WordPress site without the API key hassle

How It Works

1. Install — Find Modern Maps in the WordPress plugin directory and activate it. No account creation. No API key setup.
2. Add a map — Open any page or post, add the Modern Maps block, and search for your location.
3. Make it yours — Choose a style preset or match your theme color. Publish and you’re done.

Links

• Support

Source Code

The full unminified source code for all JavaScript and CSS is included in the src/ directory of this plugin. The compiled versions used at runtime are in the build/ directory.

External Services

This plugin relies on the following third-party external services to provide its core functionality. Each service is documented below in a consistent format showing what it is used for, when it is contacted, and what data is sent.

Modern Maps Tile Proxy

• Used for: Delivering map tiles to the visitor’s browser so the map can render: the self-hosted OpenStreetMap map archive used by the Standard style and by every map created with version 1.1.0 or later, and, for older maps that still use MapTiler (see below), vector tiles, fonts (glyphs), and sprite assets.
• When: Whenever a map block is rendered, both on the public front end and inside the WordPress block editor.
• Data sent: Standard HTTP request data from the visitor’s browser (this is true of any web request). The proxy itself samples sites — not individual requests — using a deterministic hash of the site’s hostname: approximately one in ten sites are included, and for those sites every request is logged (for the rest, no requests are logged). For included sites, the proxy records the calling site’s domain (taken from the standard Origin or Referer header the browser already sends), the asset type requested (tile, font, or sprite), and the HTTP response status. Records are retained for 90 days. No visitor IP addresses, user agents, request paths, query strings, cookies, or other personal data are stored.
• Service URL: https://tiles.modernmapswp.com
• Provider: Modern Maps (modernmapswp.com)
• Terms of Use: https://modernmapswp.com/terms
• Privacy Policy: https://modernmapswp.com/privacy

MapTiler

• Used for: Source of the vector tiles and font glyphs that the tile proxy above serves for maps created with version 1.0.x in the White, Black, or a custom color style (and maps created with the earlier standalone Modern Maps Pro 0.1.0), until they are switched to self-hosted map data. Maps created with version 1.1.0 or later, and Standard-style maps, do not use MapTiler.
• When: Indirectly, whenever the tile proxy serves such a map. The visitor’s browser does not communicate with MapTiler directly — all requests are routed through the proxy.
• Data sent: Server-to-server requests from the tile proxy. No data flows from the visitor’s browser to MapTiler.
• Service URL: https://api.maptiler.com
• Terms of Use: https://www.maptiler.com/terms-of-use/
• Privacy Policy: https://www.maptiler.com/privacy-policy/

Komoot Photon Geocoding API

• Used for: Converting a typed address or place name into latitude and longitude coordinates.
• When: Only when an admin types into the location search field inside the block editor. Never contacted on the public front end.
• Data sent: The search query text and standard HTTP request headers from the admin’s browser.
• Service URL: https://photon.komoot.io
• Terms of Use: https://photon.komoot.io/ (Photon is an open-source geocoding API built on OpenStreetMap data and does not publish a separate privacy policy.)

Protomaps Basemap Assets

• Used for: Font glyphs used by every map created with version 1.1.0 or later, by the “Standard” map style (which also uses its sprite images), and by maps created with the earlier standalone Modern Maps Pro plugin.
• When: Whenever such a map is rendered, in the editor or on the public front end.
• Data sent: Standard HTTP request data (IP address, user agent) from the visitor’s browser to GitHub Pages.
• Service URL: https://protomaps.github.io/basemaps-assets/
• Provider: Protomaps
• Project Page: https://protomaps.com/
• GitHub Privacy Statement: https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-general-privacy-statement