Documentation

Getting Started

Hotel Maps Pro is a free WordPress plugin that adds an interactive accommodation map to your event pages. Attendees see hotels, apartments and holiday rentals around your venue, with live prices for your event dates, and book directly with the travel site they choose. There is no paid version and no limit on the number of maps.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.8 or later (tested up to WordPress 7.1).
• PHP 7.4 or later.
• An administrator account on the site, to install and activate the plugin.
• Your site must be able to connect to the internet, so it can reach Hotel Maps Pro once when you activate the plugin.

It works with block themes and classic themes, with the block editor and with page builders.

Installing the Plugin

1. Download the plugin from our Download page. You’ll get a file called hotel-maps-pro.zip. Don’t unzip it.
2. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New Plugin and press Upload Plugin at the top of the screen.
3. Choose hotel-maps-pro.zip and press Install Now.
4. When WordPress has installed it, press Activate Plugin. WordPress takes you straight to the Hotel Maps Pro activation screen.

Activating Hotel Maps Pro

Before you can add maps, an administrator needs to activate Hotel Maps Pro. This creates your free Hotel Maps Pro account and gives your site an activation key. It takes a few seconds and you only do it once.

1. Go to Hotel Maps Pro > Activate in the dashboard menu, if you’re not already there. Until the site is activated, Activate is the only item in the Hotel Maps Pro menu, and a reminder is shown on the Dashboard and Plugins screens.
2. Fill in your First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Company Name. The website address is filled in for you.
3. Tick Send these details to Hotel Maps Pro to create my account. Nothing is sent until you tick it.
4. If you’d like our news, product updates and tips by email, tick the optional box below it. It’s unticked to start with, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
5. Press Activate.

You’ll see your activation key, and a Create Your First Map button. You can find the key again at any time under Hotel Maps Pro > Settings, in the Activation section, or on the Home screen.

If someone who isn’t an administrator opens the plugin before it’s activated, they’re asked to get an administrator to activate it. Maps don’t show on your site until it’s activated.

Updating the Plugin

To install a newer version, download it from the Download page and upload it in the same way as above. WordPress tells you the plugin is already installed: press Replace current with uploaded. Your maps, settings and activation key are kept.

Upgrading From Version 1

If your site used version 1 of the plugin, version 2 copies your maps and settings across automatically the first time it runs. Your existing licence key becomes your activation key, so you don’t need to activate again, and existing [hotel_maps_pro id="…"] shortcodes keep working. The version 1 data is copied rather than moved, so it’s left in place too.

The Home Screen

Hotel Maps Pro > Home is the plugin’s own dashboard. It shows:

• a welcome banner with a Create a Map button;
• your number of Maps and Upcoming Events, the Next Event and your Activation Key;
• Your Maps: the five maps edited most recently, each marked Draft, No Dates, Upcoming or Past, with Edit Map and Copy Shortcode buttons, and a View All Maps link;
• a Getting Started checklist: activate Hotel Maps Pro, create your first map, add a map to a page with the Hotel Maps Pro block, and set a default venue in Settings;
• Event Plugins, if your site uses one we work with, showing whether maps are on or off for each one (see Event Plugin Integrations);
• Help, with links to this page and to our support team.

All your maps are listed under Hotel Maps Pro > All Maps, with each map’s venue, event dates and shortcode.

Creating a Map

Go to Hotel Maps Pro > Add New Map. The map editor has the settings on the left and a Live Preview on the right: it’s the real map, updated a moment after each change, so you can see exactly what attendees will see.

1. Name the map at the top, for example “Annual Conference 2027”. The name is only for you; attendees don’t see it.
2. Venue. Enter the Venue Name and Venue Address, and choose the Country. The country is added to the end of the address so the map finds the right place anywhere in the world. If you’ve set a Default Venue, new maps start with it filled in.
3. Event Dates. Choose when the event starts and ends. Event Starts is used as the check-in date and Event Ends as the check-out date, so prices and availability are for those nights. Leave the end date blank for a one-night stay. If the end date is earlier than the start date, it’s changed to the start date when you save, and the map then shows a one-night stay.
4. Search Results. Choose whether to Show Hotels and Show Rental Properties, and whether prices are shown as Price per Night or Total Price for the Stay.
5. Appearance. Choose the Main Colour, the Map Height, the Venue Marker and an optional Logo. See Customising Your Maps.
6. More Options (open it to see them): exact coordinates, map width, language, currency, text colour and the credit link.
7. Press Publish. You can also Save Draft and come back later. Once a map is published, the button changes to Update.

Your changes go live on your site when you save. Use Copy Shortcode at the top of the editor to copy the map’s shortcode, or ← Home to go back to the Home screen. To remove a map, use Move to Bin at the bottom of the editor.

Adding a Map to a Page

A map can go on any page, post or event, as many times as you like.

With the Hotel Maps Pro Block

1. Edit the page in the block editor and add a block. Search for Hotel Maps Pro (it’s in the Embeds category).
2. Choose the map from the list in the block. If you haven’t made one yet, the block offers a Create a Map link.
3. Save or publish the page.

In the editor the block shows a placeholder for the map you chose; the live map appears on the published page. The block can be set to wide or full width if your theme supports it, and its settings in the sidebar have an Edit This Map link.

With a Shortcode

Every map has a shortcode such as [hotel_maps_pro id="123"], where 123 is the map’s ID. Copy it from the map editor, the Home screen or the All Maps list, and paste it into the page. This works in the classic editor, in a Shortcode block, and in page builders such as Elementor or Divi that have a shortcode element.

Customising Your Maps

Each map has its own appearance settings, in the map editor. To set what every new map starts with, use Settings. Maps added automatically to event pages always use the settings in Settings.

The plugin’s own screens follow your WordPress language, and are available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

Settings

Hotel Maps Pro > Settings (administrators only) is one page with a section menu on the left. Every new map starts with these settings, and you can still change anything on a map. Press Save Changes when you’re done.

Activation

Your activation key, with a Copy button, and the company and website it’s registered to. The key is added to every map’s booking reference (hotelmapspro-your key-map ID) so bookings are linked to your account.

Default Venue

If most of your events are at the same venue, enter its Venue Name, Country, Venue Address and, if needed, its Exact Location (Optional). Every new map will start with it. Leave it blank to enter the venue on each map.

Search Results

What attendees see on the map and how prices are shown: Show Hotels, Show Rental Properties, Prices, Map Language and Currency.

Appearance

How new maps look: Main Colour, Map Width, Map Height, Text Colour, Venue Marker, Logo and the Powered by Hotel Maps Pro Badge, with a preview of the badge.

Event Plugins

Maps on the event pages of The Events Calendar, Events Manager and WP Event Manager. See Event Plugin Integrations.

Data

What happens to your maps if you delete the plugin. See Deleting the Plugin.

Event Plugin Integrations

If your site uses The Events Calendar, Events Manager or WP Event Manager, Hotel Maps Pro adds a map to your event pages automatically, with no map to create. Each map uses the event’s own venue and dates, and appears under the heading “Where to Stay”. It works with the free versions of all three. Read more about each on our Integrations page.

Maps are switched on for each events plugin Hotel Maps Pro finds. You can change this in Hotel Maps Pro > Settings > Event Plugins, which shows each plugin, whether it was found on your site, and how many upcoming events with a venue it has. For each plugin found there’s a switch, Maps on plugin name Event Pages, plus these settings for all of them:

• Heading Above the Map: “Where to Stay” to start with. Leave it blank for no heading.
• Where on the Page: Below the Event Details, or Only Where I Add the Shortcode (see Placing the Map Yourself).
• Check-In and Check-Out: The Event’s Dates or Arrive the Day Before (see Check-In and Check-Out).

Event maps take their look (colours, size, marker, logo, language, currency, prices and the badge) from the rest of Settings.

Where the Map Appears

The map is never shown twice on the same page.

Which Events Get a Map

An event page shows a map when all of these are true:

• Hotel Maps Pro is activated;
• the event is published;
• maps are switched on for its events plugin, or the event is set to Always Show;
• it isn’t an online event (an event with no venue, or a location that’s a web address, counts as online);
• its venue has an address or coordinates;
• it hasn’t finished: its last day isn’t before today, on your site’s calendar.

An event set to Hide never shows a map.

Check-In and Check-Out

Dates set in an event’s Hotel Maps Pro box take the place of these.

The Hotel Maps Pro Box

When you edit an event, the Hotel Maps Pro box lets you change the map for that event alone:

• Show the Map: Use the Site Setting (it says whether that’s on or off), Always Show or Hide.
• Check-In and Check-Out: different dates for this event. Leave them blank to use the event’s own dates.
• Map Shows: the venue and dates the map will use, or why there’s no map (for example “No map: this event has finished.”). Check here first if an event page has no map.

Placing the Map Yourself

To choose where the map goes, set Where on the Page to Only Where I Add the Shortcode, then add [hotel_maps_pro event="current"] to the event’s description or your event template. To show an event’s map on another page, use its event ID: [hotel_maps_pro event="123"].

A map placed with the shortcode is shown even if maps are switched off for that events plugin, but the other rules still apply: it doesn’t show for online, finished or hidden events.

Other Events Plugins

With any other events plugin, or none, create a map in Hotel Maps Pro and add it to the event page with the block or shortcode.

Shortcode Reference

Who Can Do What

Troubleshooting

The Map Doesn’t Show on My Page

When you’re signed in, a short message appears where the map should be, saying what’s wrong. Visitors see nothing.

• “This map could not be found. Check the map ID in the shortcode or block.” The map was deleted, or the ID in the shortcode is wrong. Copy the shortcode again from the map editor.
• “Activate Hotel Maps Pro (Hotel Maps Pro > Activate in the dashboard) to show this map.” The site hasn’t been activated yet. See Activating Hotel Maps Pro.
• “This map needs a venue address or coordinates before it can be shown.” Add the venue address in the map editor.

If no message shows, check the map is published, not a draft. In the block editor, if the block says the map is no longer published, choose another map or publish it again.

An Event Page Has No Map

Open the event in the editor and look at Map Shows in the Hotel Maps Pro box: it says why. Also check that maps are switched on for the events plugin in Settings > Event Plugins, and that Where on the Page isn’t set to Only Where I Add the Shortcode. See Which Events Get a Map.

The Venue Pin Is in the Wrong Place

Check the Country is right, then add the venue’s exact Latitude and Longitude under More Options in the map editor (or in Settings > Default Venue).

Activation Problems

• “Hotel Maps Pro could not be reached.” Your site couldn’t connect to us. Check your site’s internet connection and any firewall, then try again.
• “Too many activation attempts. Try again in an hour.” Wait an hour, then try again.
• “Hotel Maps Pro could not use this site’s address.” The message links to our support form: send us a support request and we’ll help.
• “Hotel Maps Pro could not complete the activation.” or “Hotel Maps Pro sent an answer that could not be read.” Try again in a few minutes. If it keeps happening, send us a support request.

A “Leave Site?” Warning in the Map Editor

WordPress warns you if you try to leave the map editor with unsaved changes. Save the map first, or leave if you don’t want to keep them.

Privacy and Data

• The plugin doesn’t add cookies to your site or collect anything from your visitors.
• When an administrator activates it, the plugin sends Hotel Maps Pro the name, email address and company name entered in the form, whether the news box was ticked (with its wording and the language it was shown in), and your site’s domain and home page address. This happens once, only after the consent box is ticked. See our Privacy Policy.
• The map itself is provided by Stay22 and loaded from www.stay22.com when someone views a page with a map, including the live preview in the map editor. The map’s settings and its booking reference are sent to load it. As with any embedded content, the visitor’s browser connects to Stay22 directly, so Stay22 receives their IP address and browser details and may set its own cookies. You may want to mention this in your own privacy and cookie policies.
• To suggest your brand colours, the map editor reads your theme’s colour palette and looks at your own home page in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere else.
• Attendees book and pay on the travel site they choose, under that site’s terms. Your site never handles payments.

Deleting the Plugin

By default, deleting the plugin keeps your maps and settings, so they’re still there if you install it again. To remove everything, go to Hotel Maps Pro > Settings > Data, tick Also Delete All Maps and Settings and save, then deactivate and delete the plugin from Plugins. This deletes every map, your settings and your activation key, and any data left from version 1.

Version History

What changed in each version of the plugin, newest first.

Getting Help

If something isn’t working or isn’t covered here, send us a support request. Include your activation key (in Hotel Maps Pro > Settings), your website address and the plugin version (on the Plugins screen), so we can look into it quickly. For anything else, contact us.