Help Centre

Maps

Show listings on a map, let members pin their address when posting and add a map to your home page, with free OpenStreetMap maps or your own Google Maps key.

Maps show where things are: a map on each listing and member profile, a map in the posting form so members can pin their address, a page with every listing on one map, and a map on your home page.

Yclas can draw these maps in two ways:

  OpenStreetMap Google Maps
Cost Free, no account and no key Your own Google key, billed to your Google account (most sites stay in Google’s free allowance)
Setup Pick it and save About 15 minutes in Google Cloud, with a payment card
Themes Nova and Atlantic Lite Every theme
Extras   Map styles, auto-locate, address suggestions

New sites start on Automatic: OpenStreetMap until you add a Google key, then Google Maps. A site created earlier stays on Google Maps until you choose OpenStreetMap yourself, so if you never added a Google key, your maps are off until you pick one of the two.

Choose a map provider

  1. In the admin panel, go to Add-ons and open OpenStreetMap (or Google Maps: both pages have the same choice).
  2. In Map provider, choose:
    • OpenStreetMap (free, no key)
    • Google Maps (needs your own key)
    • Automatic: Google Maps once a key is set, OpenStreetMap until then
  3. Set the map position and the features you want (see Settings).
  4. Click Save.

Under the choice, Now in use shows which map your visitors actually see.

Free maps with OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a free world map made by volunteers. With it, everything works without a key: the listing and profile maps, the map in the posting form, the home page map and the map page.

  • Finding addresses. In the posting form, members type their address and press Enter, click Find on map, or simply move on to the next field; the pin jumps to the address and they can drag it to the exact spot. On the map page, visitors use Search near a place (with a distance) or Search this area.
  • Links. Next to a listing’s address, View on the map opens the place on openstreetmap.org.
  • Credits. A small OpenStreetMap credit sits on every map, as its licence requires.

What OpenStreetMap doesn’t do (yet):

  • It only draws on the Nova and Atlantic Lite themes. With another theme, maps need a Google key whichever provider you choose; the OpenStreetMap page tells you so.
  • Auto-locate (Locate visitors) still uses Google, so it needs a Google key.
  • There are no map styles, and addresses are found when the member searches, not suggested as they type.
  • The map in Listings › Locations for setting a location’s coordinates still uses Google.

Map tiles are part of the page, like the map itself, so they load without waiting for cookie consent.

Use Google Maps

With your own Google Maps API key, maps work on every theme, with map styles, address suggestions and auto-locate. Setting coordinates on your locations also relies on it.

Even without a key, every listing with an address gets a View on Google Maps link that opens the place in Google Maps. That link needs no key and costs nothing.

What it costs

The maps use your own Google Maps API key, so Google bills your Google account for the maps your site shows. Google gives every project 10,000 free map loads a month for each kind of map, and most marketplaces never go past that. Google still asks for a payment card before the maps work, and you can set a daily limit so you’re never charged (step 4 below).

Get a Google Maps API key

The Add-ons › Google Maps page in your admin panel has the same checklist, with links that open each step and your site’s address ready to copy.

  1. Open Google’s Maps setup and sign in with your Google account. It creates a project, asks for a payment card for billing, switches on the maps and gives you a key. Copy the key.
  2. Check that these four APIs are switched on for the project (each link opens it in Google Cloud; click Enable if it isn’t):
  3. Keep the key for your site only. Open your keys, click the key, choose Websites under Application restrictions and add your site’s address followed by /*, for example https://yourdomain.com/*. If your site also opens on its yclas.com address, add that too. Click Save.
  4. Optional, so you’re never charged: on Google’s quotas page, set a daily limit for each map API. About 300 a day keeps you inside the free 10,000 a month.

Always restrict your key to your website. Your key is visible in your pages, and an unrestricted key can be used by anyone, on your bill. If you change your domain later, add the new address to the key.

Connect Google Maps

  1. In the admin panel, go to Add-ons and open Google Maps.
  2. Set Map provider to Google Maps or Automatic.
  3. Paste your key into API key.
  4. Set the map position and the features you want (see the table below).
  5. Click Save.

When you save, Yclas checks the key with Google straight away. A green message means your maps can load. If Google refuses the key, a red message says why and what to fix (see Troubleshooting). After fixing it in Google Cloud, click Check again.

On Google Maps, the map features stay off until you add a key, even if they’re ticked, so visitors never see a broken map.

Settings

Both pages share the same map settings, so you set them once. The ones marked Google only are on the Google Maps page.

Setting What it does
Map provider Which map your site uses (see above).
API key Google only. Your key from Google. Without it, Google maps stay off.
Map style Google only. A colour scheme for your maps, from greyscale to dark. None uses Google’s normal look.
Zoom level How close maps start: around 5 shows a country, 10 a region, 14 a town, 17 a street.
Default latitude and Default longitude Where maps are centred when there’s nothing else to go on, for example in the posting form before a member enters an address. Use the centre of your area, for example 40.4168 and -3.7038 for Madrid. To find a place’s coordinates, right-click it in Google Maps.
Locate visitors Google only, needs a key. Asks visitors for their position and suggests the nearest of your locations. See Auto-locate visitors.
Nearby distance Google only. How far away a location can be and still be suggested, in kilometres or miles depending on Distance units in Settings › General.
Home page map Shows a map of your listings at the Top or Bottom of the home page, or None.
Home page map height The height of the home page map in pixels (400 when empty). Phones resize it automatically.
Full-screen button Adds a full-screen button to the home page map.
Map in the posting form Adds a map to the posting form: members type their address and can drag the pin to the exact spot.
Map on listings and profiles Shows a map on listing pages and member profiles, and adds a Map link to the footer that opens a page with every listing on one map.

How listings get onto the map

A listing appears on maps only when it has a map position. It gets one from the map in the posting form, so:

  • Make sure the address field is shown in the posting form. See Listing page and form fields.
  • Switch on Map in the posting form. Members type their address, the pin moves to it, and they can drag it to the exact spot. On a secure (https) site there is also a Locate me button. Without this map, listings are saved with an address but no position.
  • Listings posted before you switched it on have no position. They show on maps once the member (or you) edits the listing and saves the address with the map.

When Map on listings and profiles is on, the listings pages also get a map button next to the grid and list views.

Troubleshooting

There’s no map anywhere. Check Now in use on the OpenStreetMap or Google Maps page. On Google Maps without a key, maps stay off: add a key or switch to OpenStreetMap. If your theme isn’t Nova or Atlantic Lite, OpenStreetMap can’t draw there, so you need a Google key.

“The place search is busy” or “No place found”. OpenStreetMap’s address search is shared and limited to a few searches a second; wait a moment and try again. Searching for a town or street name works better than a full address with a flat number.

Google key problems

If Google refuses your key, visitors see no map at all (instead of Google’s grey error), and the Add-ons › Google Maps page tells you why:

Message What to do
Billing isn’t switched on Add a payment card to the project in Google Cloud under Billing. Google won’t serve any maps, even free ones, until you do.
Your key only works on other websites Add your site’s address followed by /* to the key’s website restrictions (step 3 above).
The maps aren’t switched on for its Google Cloud project Enable the Maps JavaScript API and the Maps Static API (step 2 above).
Google doesn’t recognise this key or Your key has expired Copy the key again from your keys, or create a new one, and paste it in API key.

The address suggestions don’t appear when visitors search near a place. Enable Places API (New) for the project (step 2 above). Visitors can still type an address without suggestions.

The listing page shows no map. The listing has no map position, or Map on listings and profiles is off. The View on Google Maps (or View on the map) link still shows next to the address.

The home page map is empty. None of your listings has an address with a map position yet.

Updated 16 October 2026 · Suggest an edit