Are you writing a story that mentions a series of locations around your community? Maybe you’re producing a listicle of places for readers to explore over a school break?
One of the newer storytelling features built into Google Drive is the ability to create Google My Maps. Taking advantage of this feature not only allows you to create and share custom maps that include locations referenced in your articles, but can also give your stories a boost when it comes to reader engagement.
Creating a New Google Map
- Within Google Drive, click on “New” and select “Google My Maps” as the project type.
- Click on “Untitled Map” to give your map a title and description.
- Click on “Untitled Layer” and give your first layer a name.
- Use the field at the top of the map to search for the location(s) you want to add. Once you have identified the correct location, click “Add to Map.”
- If you would like to customize the appearance of the icon, click on “Style” and select your desired color and icon from the provided library.
- If you would like to add additional layers, click on “Add Layer,” give it a title, and then repeat steps 4 and 5.
- Once you’re finished editing the map, click on the “Share” button and then activate the “Anyone with this link can view” setting.
- Finally, to get the embed code for the entire map, click on the three vertical dots to the right of the map title, select “Embed on my site,” and then copy the embed code.
Adding a Google Map to a Story
- Create your map using the steps above.
- While adding/editing a story, place your cursor in the place you’d like the map to go. Usually, it works best to press enter, giving the map its own line in the text editing box.
- Toggle to the “Text” editing tab and paste the embed code into your desired location.
- Toggle back to the “Visual” tab to ensure that the embed code is integrated properly.
- Click Update/Publish and go to view the story to see how your map looks to a visitor.
Adding a Google Map Within a Widget
- Click on Widgets under the Appearance tab on the left navigation bar in the WordPress dashboard.
- Open the Widget Area where you would like to place Google Map.
- Drag the SNO Embed Code Widget from the left hand side of the page into the Widget Area.
- Paste the embed code from Google Maps into the “Embed Code” field, and then set the other configuration options for the Widget.
- Click Save.