When we turned our side project into a small business and developed Maps Marker Pro, we released it as a new, additional plugin, and kept the free version going. Over time, the two versions grew apart, making it increasingly difficult to maintain two versions of the plugin.
As of January 2020 we retired the free version. It will remain useable as is, available in the WordPress plugin directory as Leaflet Maps Marker Free, and we will even update it for major security issues, but we will not add any new features.
If you are still using the free version, we warmly invite you to upgrade to Maps Marker Pro, which uses the latest leaflet.js version (“the engine of the plugin”) and offers lots of additional features (see table below), for a state of the art user experience.
The non-expiring license key of the Pro version will be yours forever, granting you frequent updates and access to our support ticket system.
Comparison Leaflet Maps Marker vs. Maps Marker Pro
| Feature | Leaflet Marker Marker | Maps Marker Pro |
| |
| integrated leaflet.js version ("the engine of the plugin") | v0.7.7 (11/2015) | latest version |
| significantly decreased loadtimes for OpenStreetMap-based maps |  |  |
| GPX elevation charts | | |
| support for HERE basemaps | | |
| support for polylines, polygons, circles and rectangles | | |
| support for Google Traffic and Google Transit layers | | |
| multi-layer-map filtering | | |
| Marker clustering | | |
| Dynamic list of markers including search, sort and paging | | |
| geolocation support: show and follow your location when viewing maps | | |
| support for assigning markers to multiple layers | | |
| GPX tracks | | |
| support for GeoJSON import and export for bulk additions and bulk updates | | |
| HTML5 fullscreen maps | | |
| Minimaps | | |
| custom Google Maps styling | | |
| option to remove MapsMarker.com backlinks | | |
| upload icon button & custom icon directory | | |
| backup and restore of settings | | |
| advanced permission settings | | |
| recent marker map widget | | |
| Future proof APIs for developers | | |
| map parameters can be overwritten within shortcodes (e.g. [ mapsmarker marker="1" height="100" ]) | | |
| list of markers - centering markers and opening popups by click on markername or icon | | |
| improved accessibility/screen reader support by using proper alt texts | | |
| bulk actions (duplice, delete, assign) for maps | | |
| optimized editing workflow - no more reloads needed due to AJAX support | | |
| Parsing of shortcodes in popuptexts | | |
| support for URL hashes for specific map views | | |
| highlight a marker on a layer map by opening its popup via shortcode attribute [mapsmarker layer="1" highlightmarker="2"] or by adding ?highlightmarker=2 to the URL where the map is embedded | | |
| XML sitemaps integration: improved local SEO value by automatically adding links to KML maps to your XML sitemaps (if plugin "Google XML Sitemaps" or "Yoast SEO" is active) | | |
| support for sorting list of markers below layer maps by distance from layer center | | |
| improved backend usability by listing all contents (posts, pages, CPTs, widgets) where each shortcode is used | | |
| "home button" to restore the map to its initial state | | |
| WPML/Polylang translation support for multilingual maps | | |
| Leaflet.EdgeBuffer support | | |
| Pretty permalinks | | |
| Support for scheduled markers | | |
| Support for sharing buttons | | |
| Additional basemaps built in by default (HERE maps, ESRI basemaps...) | | |
| Access to support ticket system (dedicated support from plugin author) | | |
| Priority support tickets | | optional |
| Access to updates and new features | | |
| available in 46 translations | | |
| and much more - see features, changelog or try our live demo | | |
| Leaflet Maps Marker | Maps Marker Pro |
How to upgrade from Leaflet Maps Marker to Maps Marker Pro
Within your Leaflet Maps Marker Free plugin, please click on the link “Upgrade to Pro” in the plugin´s admin header:
As next step, please click on the button “Sounds good! I will try it now >>”:
The pro plugin will then be downloaded and installed as a separated plugin. Afterwards please activate the pro plugin and you will be guided through the process to receive a free 30-day-trial license without any obligations. Your trial will expire automatically unless you purchase a valid pro license. You can also switch back to the free version at any time.
How to install the pro plugin from scratch
please follow the instructions from https://www.mapsmarker.com/install
Still not convinced?
If you have any question regarding the pro version, please read the docs, FAQ or use our helpdesk and we will be glad to help!
Updated on 18 August 2022
