Current Issues, FAQ and Feedback

Current Issues and Relevant Changes

'Authorization is required' OR 'You do not have access/permissions' errors, when using multiple Google accounts

There is a persistent and annoying old issue that happens when you are using (logged in or not) multiple Google accounts in the same browser session

When doing anything from the add-on sidebar, you would get one of the following error messages:

This issue should disappear,

Alternative, you can use multiple profiles/people, as described on this Google post

This way, each account will run in an isolated browser session, avoiding this and many other potential issues

p.s. This error is related to a very old issue at Google side (since Nov. 2017) as detailed in this post. You can star it to get some more attention from Google support.

There are no other current issues in the add-on at this time

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How many locations can I plot on a map?

If using the Basic Free Plan, you can only build a map with up to 50 locations, while with the Advanced Premium Plan you don't have that restriction (cap).

However, 

See more details on this question, as well on how long it takes to BUILD a large map, on this post.

Can I trust this add-on? Is it safe to use?

Our short answer: yes. The Mapping Sheets add-on is safe to use. You can trust this add-on.

How to do this, that  and the other?

How to set the required headers and BUILD your first map?

Among the many columns you can have in your datasheet, there are 3-key required columns that plays a special role in your map: Title, Filter, and Location.

See more details about these required columns and the roles they play on your map on this post.

How to share my map with others?

Your map is a URL (link) in the browser with parameters passing your map data file ID and Name in your Google Drive, to our Mapping web app for loading

To share your map or in other words to give others access to your map URL and map file, just do as follows

See full details, procedure and background notes on this post

How to publish my 'public' map on Google Cloud Storage?

This feature is not yet publicly available, though it is already a working prototype as an extended custom feature (∗)

Please let us know if you are interested into be part of this project by submitting your feedback.
See more details and examples on this post.

p.s. You can also check this post about embedding your map in a web page

How to use custom icons (colors, shapes, etc) on my maps?

You can choose your own custom icons, colors and shapes, associated with each unique value of the column you select as Filter

Learn more about how to customize your icons on this post

How to avoid that "Service invoked too many times for one day: geocode" warning?

The add-on calls the Google Geocoding service from your Google account to convert your location addresses into map coordinates

Learn more about Geocoding Service quotas and what to do about it on this post.

How to fix that "Problem loading the .json map data file" warning?

This error happens when the Mapping web app is loading the .json data file from Google Drive. The cause could be among the following

Please read this post for more details on how to solve this issue.

How to set the Location (full address) for Geocoding combining several columns?

If you have the full address split across several columns, you can combine them into a Location template using those column's headers as {{placeholder}}, 

See full details and procedure on this post.

How to use my own map coordinates (Latitude and Longitude)?

If you already have a set of numeric map coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) for some or all your data

See full details and procedure on this post.

How to update my map automatically when the data changes?

After you BUILD the first map in your datasheet, you would be able to set a time-based trigger (under Preferences > Document)

See full details and procedure on this post.

How to set a custom Infowindow?

By default, the Infowindow shows all the datasheet headers and data in a tabular format, with the Title column values as a header and dimensions as 250*300 pixels

Under Preferences > Infowindow you can customize several options as follows

How to use Markdown for a rich content template in the Infowindow and Listing

You can use Markdown as a simplified markup language when creating the templates for a rich content format in your Infowindow and Listing

See more details and examples on this post.

How to draw shapes on my map to filter locations within?

This feature is not yet publicly available, though it is already a working prototype as an extended custom feature (∗)

Please let us know if you are interested into be part of this project by submitting your feedback.
See more details and examples on this post.

How to use custom labels for icons on my map?

This feature is not yet publicly available, though it is already a working prototype as an extended custom feature (∗)

Please let us know if you are interested into be part of this project by submitting your feedback.
See more details and examples on this post.

How to add custom layers on my map?

The custom layers will add context, relevance and insights into your own data, in a way of enriching your mapping experience.

So far custom layers include Circles, Heatmap, GeoJSON, KML, Shapes, Buffers, WMS, WMTS and some more coming


[TL;DR] How was that map access issue back in January 2024?

[FIXED-OLD] Issue: "Warning: Problem loading the map data file" 

We were hit by an issue reported on Jan.08 2024 by some users getting the above warning when loading a map

UPDATES: 

(†) Disclaimer: You might get a similar Warning message for other different reasons, like the following (quick suggestions between parentheses)

p.s. We are still updating all the documentation related with the changes we have made to avoid being affected by this issue from Google. 

Submit Your Feedback

We value your feedback and are always working to make the Mapping Sheets add-on better for all our users. 

Please submit your feedback by filling out this form.

We are aiming to reply within one (1) business day, however it might take longer, depending on current communication volume and available resources.