Map-making guides
Step-by-step walkthroughs for turning your data into an interactive map — and getting it in front of people.
Start here
Pick the right map for your data and get it live.
Getting your data in
Spreadsheets, files, and live sources.
How to Add a WMS, ArcGIS or PMTiles Layer to Your Map
Draw over live aerial imagery or an official dataset without importing it — and why a service that works in QGIS can still refuse to load on the web.
How to Turn a Google Sheet into a Live Map
Connect a Google Sheet as a live, read-only source so your map updates itself. Column setup, the five map types that support it, and the real limits.
How to Make a Map from a CSV or Excel File
Turn a spreadsheet into an interactive map — plus the coordinate problems that cause nine out of ten failed imports, and what to do if you only have addresses.
Building each map type
Step-by-step walkthroughs for every visualization.
What Is an Isochrone Map? Travel-Time Maps Explained
Straight-line distance is a bad proxy for how far away something is. What isochrones show, how they differ from isodistance, and how to read them honestly.
How to Make a Story Map (Scrollytelling)
Build a scroll-driven map story: writing chapters first, using camera zoom, bearing and pitch deliberately, and tuning the scroll so it reads well.
How to Build a Crowdsourced Map
Let visitors drop a pin and submit a form — with the moderation, spam protection, and privacy settings that make public contribution actually workable.
Cluster Maps: Thousands of Points Without Clutter
Clustering keeps a dense point map readable — and donut clusters encode a second dimension. How to set both up, plus when a heatmap is the better call.
Store Locator Opening Hours and Open-Now Badges
Add a working-hours column and each location gets a live open/closed badge — including split shifts. Plus the timezone caveat you need to know about.
How to Make a Heatmap Online (No Code)
Turn location data into a clear geographic heatmap — how many points you need, why radius matters most, and the sampling caveat worth stating.
How to Build a Store Locator Without Code
Add a searchable, filterable store locator to your site from a Google Sheet — no developer required. Search, filters, result panels, and embedding.
Publishing & embedding
Getting the finished map in front of people.
Comparisons & choices
Which approach fits, and what the trade-offs are.
Google My Maps Alternatives: How to Choose One
My Maps is the right answer for a lot of jobs. A guide to the five walls that make people switch, and how to evaluate what to switch to.
Choropleth vs Heatmap: Which Map Should You Use?
Heatmaps and choropleth maps answer different questions. When to use each, and the specific mistake each one invites if you pick wrong.
Ready to build one?
Every guide here describes something you can build in a few minutes, free and without code.
Start buildingLooking for a specific setting? The documentation covers every option, and the FAQ answers the questions we get most.