Add rich content

Adding Rich Text or HTML Descriptions

By default the descriptions of your map items are in plain text. However, you can use rich text or HTML. To do this:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click the appropriate placemark, line, shape. The info window appears.
3. Click Edit.
4. Choose Plain Text, Rich Text or Edit HTML.
5. To edit rich text descriptions, select the text and use the icons above the description field:
   
   
6. To use HTML descriptions, add HTML in the description field. Some HTML may be stripped from the description if it is considered unsafe or malicious.
7. Click OK to save your changes.

Adding photos

You can add photos to your map, as long as they are hosted online. Please use a service such as Google PicasaWeb to put your photos online.

To add photos:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click the appropriate placemark, line, shape. The info window appears.
3. Click Edit.
4. Choose Rich Text or Edit HTML.
5. If you chose Rich Text mode, click the photo icon above the description field (the last one in the toolbar). Enter the URL of the photo you would like to add.
6. If you chose Edit HTML mode, use the <img> tag to add photos. For example, <img src="http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/images/maps_results_logo.gif" width=150 height=55> adds the Google Maps logo to your map with a width of 150 pixels and a height of 55 pixels.
7. Click OK to save your changes.

Adding videos

You can add YouTube videos to your map.

To add videos:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click the appropriate placemark, line, or shape. The info window appears.
3. Click Edit.
4. Choose Edit HTML.
5. Find the video you want on YouTube. Copy the snippet of code that lets you embed the video into a website or blog.
   • On YouTube, the snippet looks like:
     <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JN5_NBSu7Lw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
6. Paste the snippet of code into the description field of your placemark, line or shape.
7. Click OK to save your changes.

Importing KML or GeoRSS to Your Map

Once you have created a map, you can import KML, KMZ or GeoRSS data into your map. To do this, create or open a map and click Import.

 KML in Google Maps

Google Maps Supports the following KML elements (that is, KML queries in the Search box and GGeoXml objects in the Maps API):

• Placemarks
• Icons
• Folders
• Descriptive HTML
  • Entity replacement via <BalloonStyle> and <text>
• KMZ (compressed KML, including attached images)
• Polylines and polygons
• Styles for polylines and polygons, including color, fill, and opacity
• Network links to import data dynamically
• Ground overlays and screen overlays

This list does not apply to Google Earth's export to Google Maps, My Maps import, or My Maps export to Google Earth.

The KML parser generally silently ignores XML tags it does not understand. Refer to KML Elements in Google Maps for further details.

 Size and Complexity Restrictions for KML Rendering in Google Maps

Google Maps currently has specific limitations to the size and complexity of loaded KML files. Below is a summary of the current limits:

Note: these limits are temporary and are subject to change at any time.

More information about KML support