Storymaps
StoryMapJS by Knight Lab is a free tool to help you tell stories on the web that highlight the locations of a series of events.
Consider an alternative
Storymaps shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 50+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (50+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 11 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.3 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Storymaps stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| google map | >100 |
| journalism tool | #15 |
| storymap | #3 |
| StoryMapJS | #1 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
About Storymaps
From the official readme · v1.02Description
StoryMapJS by Knight Lab is a free tool to help you tell stories on the web that highlight the locations of a series of events. Storymaps WordPress plugin turns your WordPress into a StoryMapJS authoring tool. Categorise StoryMap slides and view Slide categories as their own storymap. Easily embed StoryMaps into posts or pages with shortcodes.
Features
- Create fantastic looking Storymaps within WordPress, quickly and easily.
- Embed Storymaps within Posts and Pages effortlessly!
- Storymap Slides, Storymap Slide Categories and Storymaps are easily created and managed.
- Storymap Slide Categories can be viewed as their own Storymap.
- Storymap Slide Categories have an optional Overview Slide which can be customised.
- All the features of StoryMapJS including Gigapixel Storymaps
Installation
StoryMaps is extremely easy to install and use.
- Upload
storymapsto the/wp-content/plugins/directory & activate - Upload
advanced custom fieldsoradvaned custom fields proto the/wp-content/plugins/directory & activate - Activate StoryMaps
- Create a few ‘Storymap Slides’
- Create a Storymap and add Storymap Slides to it, order them if required.
- View Storymaps at its page URL or embed it into your post/page with this shortcode:
[storymap id="example-unqiue" name="basic-storymap-example"](id is a unique div id, name is the storymaps ‘slug’). You can also embed a storymap slide-category into a post with the shortcode[storymap_archive slide_category="slide-category-slug"] - View Gigapixel Storymaps at its page URL or embed it into your post/page with this shortcode:
[gigapixel_storymap id="example-unqiue" name="basic-storymap-example"](id is a unique div id, name is the gigapixel storymaps ‘slug’)
Changelog
1.0
Initial Release
1.01
*Fixing posttype filter on storymap slide relationship field
1.02
*Fixing map_type field name
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Storymaps alternatives
All google map plugins →
FAQ
Storymaps: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 11, 2026
Is Storymaps free?
Yes. Storymaps is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Storymaps safe to use in 2026?
Storymaps shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 50+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Storymaps?
Storymaps is active on 50+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 3,899 times since it launched in September 2015. It was downloaded 93 times in the last 30 days.
Does Storymaps work with WordPress 7.1?
Storymaps is officially tested up to WordPress 4.3.34, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Storymaps last updated?
The latest version, 1.02, was released on October 2, 2015 (11 years ago).
Who makes Storymaps?
Storymaps is developed and maintained by uiux.
What are the best alternatives to Storymaps?
The most popular alternatives to Storymaps are Maps Widget for Google Maps (20K+ installs), Easy Google Maps (20K+ installs) and Gmap Block (10K+ installs).
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