Maps Engine

After the first version; managing changes

The published, user-visible version of the map remains the same until you explicitly republish it. You can continue using Google Maps Engine to make enhancements or changes to the published map without affecting user access to the version you previously published.

Once you've published a map, it has two statuses. One status gives the status within the development environment ("Updating preview" in the example below) and one shows the Published status ("Map was published" in the example below).

 Updating the draft - Thu, June 21, 2012 10:26 
 Map was published - Wed, June 20, 2012 8:50 [Unpublish map]

When you explicitly republish the map, the new version overwrites the previous version, as the following figure shows.

A map's definition includes its list of layers. When you change that definition by adding, removing, reordering, or changing the display names for layers, you must republish the map. Here's how changes to the layers themselves affect the map:

• If you edit and republish a layer that's included in a map, the map changes in place. You don't need to republish the map that contains the layer.
   
• If you unpublish a layer that's included in a map, the layer disappears from the map.
   
• You can't delete a layer that's included in a map.
   
• To create a new variation of a layer that's been incorporated into a map without changing the maps that include the original layer, you'll need to create a new layer from the original sources and give it a unique name. If you simply change and republish the original layer, all maps that contain the layer also change.