🗺️ MapSamurai Lite Documentation

Welcome to MapSamurai Lite — the free version of our powerful map-building plugin for WordPress. Use this guide to get started in just minutes.

🚀 Getting Started

Install the Plugin
Upload the ZIP via Plugins > Add New in your WordPress admin panel, or install it from the WordPress Plugin Directory. Activate the plugin.

MapSamuraiLite Overview:

After installing and activating MapSamuraiLite, you will see a new entry in your wp-admin’s left sidebar titled “MapSamuraiLite”. This seciton contains everything you need to customize your map and add map locations. It’ll look like this:

Step One: Customize Your Map

The first step you’ll want to take is creating your map. To do so, go to MapSamurai > Map Settings. Here you’ll see the map customization screen:

MapSamuraiLite has a ton of tools that let you customize your maps to your exact need, whether building a store locator, documenting travels, or any other mapping project. We’ll walk you through each section below:

Basic Settings

The first section contains the core settings of your map, as you’ll see below. Scroll beneath the screenshot for a detailed desciption of each setting.

Mode: MapSamuraiLite only has one Map Mode, so you will see “Map” is selected here (our pro version allows you to use a custom image for your maps, and that will appear here if you choose to upgrade).

Default Pin Image: Add a fully custom pin image to be used for every marker found throughout your map.

Hide Locations by Default: If ‘Yes’ is selected, all locations will be hidden until a user decides to perform a search. Then,m only relevant locations will appear based on their search criteria.

Enable Mouse Zoom: Enables/Disables mouse zoom on the maps. Disable if you prefer the user can’t scroll using their mouse, and you’d prefer them to click the +/- interface for zooming.

Enable Manual Zoom: Add or hide +/- icons that can be clicked to zoom the map in or out.

Location Details: Include the location’s address and phone number in the tooltip and location description.

Tooltip & Marker Settings

Animated Tooltips? If enabled, tooltips will fade in with a subtle animation effect.

Animated Pinpoints? If enabled, map markers will drop in with a subtle animation effect.

Interactive List of Locations Settings

Enable: If set to yes this will add a preview of each locaiton in a sleek, scrollable list located directly to the left of your map. This list contians the title of the location, preview text, and a button that will open the location’s details and gallery.

Number of Locations in List: Allows you to specify how many locations will appear in the list before pagination occurs.

Hide list by default: Choose to hide the list until someone performs a search. Items will dynamically appear in the list only if they meet the search criteria.

Customizing Your Map’s Style

MapSamuraiLite let’s you fully customize your map’s styles, from buttons, to the overlay window that appears when a user clikc a map location. These are very straight forward, and you can use these settings to customize colors and other details to ensure your map perfectly matches your theme and branding.

Default Map Settings

The final settings on this page allow you to set the default zoom level, as well as selecting the default “center” point of your map when it first loads on your site. Alternatively you can drag and drop the map marker to manually specify the center of your map:

Finalize and Saving Your Map

After you’ve selected all of your settings and perfected your map, simply click Publish/Update and your map is ready to go! Now it’s time to add your locations, which we’ll cover in the next section.

Step 2: Adding Locations to Your Map

Now that you’ve set up your map, it’s time to start adding locations! MapSamurai lite lets you add up to 10 cusotm locations (the pro version is unlimited!) and you’ll do so by navigating to MapSamuraiLite > Map Locations. Later you’ll find a list of locations in this section, but to create your first, click the “Add Location” button as indicated below:

Map Location Settings

Ok, let’s dig into the overall settings that you’ll need to specify for each of the location markers you’d like to add to your map. On clicking “Add New Location” (or editing an existing location), you’ll see the location’s overall settings, as shown here:

Now, let’s break down every feature below. As we did with the Map settings, we’ll explain every detail beneath each screenshot:

Basic Settings & Description

Title: Give your location a title. This will appear in the tooltip when a user hovers over the locaiton on the map, as well as in the popup that presents all information about the location.

Description: This description can provide in depth details about the locaiton, menu items, travel stories, or any other details you’d like to share. Appearing in the location overlay when a user clicks on a map marker, this chunk of text combines with the video/photo gallery to provide a thorough overview of any given location.

Map: This setting will default to your only map, so no need to change anything here. If you choose to upgrade to MapSamurai’s pro edition, you’ll be able to add this locaiton to any map from your MapSamurai library, and this is where you’ll selet your maps. For MapSamurai Lite, you can leave this setting as-is.

Enable Popup: Each MapSamurai map locaiton can include a detailed overlay that includes the location ddescription, video/photo gallery, and more. Enable this setting to ensure the popup overlay is included.

Enable Tooltip: Specify if you’d like to include a tooltip that appears when hovering over the map location marker.

Tooltip: This will be the text based content that appears in the tooltip when a user hovers over the map marker. You’ll want to keep this brief with a summary of the locaiton that will entice users to click to find out more.

Include on Selected Map(s) Location List: The location list, if enabled in your map settings, will add an organized list of locations to the left-hnad side of your map. Enable this setting if you want this specfic locaiton to appear in that list.

Short Description & Gallery Settings

Short Description: This is the brief text that will appear in the list view in regards to this locaiton. Somewhat longer than the tooltip, it is intended as an easy to digest snippet of info that serves as a preview of the more etialed information included in the popup. Alternatively, you can disable the popup altogether and simply use this desciption to do the heacvy lifting (for example, if you don’t want to add a long descritpion and/or gallery).

Video Embed: You can include a single video in your popup galley by embedding either a youtube or Vimeo video here.

Gallery Images: Likewsie, you can add as many photos as you like for the locaiton. Perfect for presenting menu items, photos of the locaiton, travel photography, and more. This interface uses the familir WorsdPress image uploader, and you can add all images in a single upload.

Plotting the Location

Finally, you’re set to add the locaiton to the actual map. You can do by either entiring the address and clicking your return key, or you can double click on the map to add the locaiton directly. Note you may also drag and drop the map locaiton to fine tune its placement directly on the map.

Short Description & Gallery Settings

And that’s it! Once your’e happy with your settings, click the “Update” button at the top-right of this page, and the locaiton will offficially be published on yur map. Now, rinse and repeat for your other locaitons and you’ll be set!

Displaying Your Map

At this point you’ve created your map, and added your locaitons to the map. So, it’s time to publish the map on your site! MapSamurai makes this process extremely simple via a simple shortcode.
Use the following shortcode anywhere on your site, but be sure to contain it in brackets [ ]:

custom-mapping width="100%" height="600"

You can adjust the width and height as needed to fit the container where you’ve placed the shortcode. However please note that MapSamurai map will never overwrite your theme’s CSS, so you may be limited to how that map displays based on your theme, where you’ve place the shortcode, and so on.

It’s really as simple as that. Once you update your page and have properly included your map, your map will officially be live on your front-facing website. HEre are a few screenshots of how it may appear:

Front Facing Map:

Location Gallery:

Lite Version Limitations

Look, MapSamuraiLite is awesome, and it’s 100% FREE Forever, no strings attached. Saying that, it’s still limited when comapred to the monumental toolset found within our pro version. A few limitations of MapSamuraiLite include:

• ✅ Only 1 map can be created
• ✅ Maximum of 10 location pins
• 🚫 Advanced features like AI, filters, and bulk upload are disabled along with tons of other powerful features.

The good news: All data will carry over if you upgrade to Pro, so you can feel free to push MapSamuraiLite to its limits. Once you’re ready to grow your maps, we’ll be here. Feel free to checkout the compelte list of upgrades you’ll receive when you jump to our free version below. And remember, MapSamurai can be yours with NO MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION NEEDED!

💡 Why Upgrade to MapSamurai’s Pro Version?

Upgrade to MapSamurai Pro to unlock:

🧠 MapSamurAI – AI-powered location descriptions and summaries
🚀 Unlimited maps and locations – no limits, ever
📍 “Use My Location” – auto-locate the user to show nearby pins
🎨 Custom map styles – choose or design your own
🖼️ Image Mode – turn any image into a fully interactive map
🔍 Advanced search, filtering, and GPS features
📏 Radius-based location search
🧭 Map clustering for organizing dense locations
📝 Show blog posts as map entries
🧷 Fully customizable tooltips with thumbnails
🧭 Provide directions – link to driving, walking, or transit routes
🧩 Interactive map legend – filter by icons and tags
📢 Social sharing – share locations directly to social media
🔎 Advanced SEO tools – improve discoverability and indexing
📥 Bulk import via CSV – add hundreds of pins in seconds
🗺️ Multi-map support – embed as many maps as needed
🌐 Advanced translation support – multilingual ready
📅 Appointment booking – schedule directly from map locations

And soooo much more. 👉 View full feature list here

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I create more than one map?
Only in our Pro version. The Lite version supports a single map.

What happens if I hit 10 locations?
You’ll be prevented from adding more unless you upgrade to our pro version. 

Will my data carry over if I upgrade?
Yes! All maps, pins, and settings remain intact when upgrading to Pro.

Does it require a license key?
No license is needed for MapSamurai Lite as updates and notifications are handled through WordPress.org. Our pro version requires a license key to activate, but it is used specifically so you receive notificaitons for latest updates, and to prevent piracy.

How can I get support?
For Lite, visit the WordPress.org support forum. Pro users can contact us directly.

Ready to build some maps?