Switching from the OSM plugin to WP GPX Maps

The OSM – OpenStreetMap plugin is a good general map plugin: markers, many map styles, KML and GPX files. If your posts are mostly about routes and you want an elevation profile, a route summary (distance, climbing, time) and the chart linked to the map, WP GPX Maps does that out of the box. This guide moves your GPX maps one post at a time, without breaking anything.

Before you start

• Make a backup of the site (most hosts have a button for it).
• Install and activate WP GPX Maps from Plugins > Add New. The two plugins can stay active together while you move the posts: they use different shortcodes.
• Your GPX files stay where they are: WP GPX Maps reads them from the same folder in wp-content/uploads.

1. Find the posts with an OSM map

In Posts > All Posts search for osm_map: the list shows every post with a map of the OSM plugin (do the same in Pages). Only the maps with a file_list (or gpx_file in older posts) show a track: the others are maps with markers, and you can leave them as they are.

2. Replace the shortcode

A typical OSM map with a track looks like this:

[osm_map_v3 map_center="45.87,11.80" zoom="13" width="100%" height="450" file_list="../../../../wp-content/uploads/2026/05/my-hike.gpx" file_color_list="#0000ff"]

The same map with WP GPX Maps:

[sgpx gpx="/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/my-hike.gpx" mheight="450px" mlinecolor="#0000ff" summary=true]

Or, in the block editor, delete the shortcode and add a GPX Map block, then pick the same file from the list.

OSM plugin	WP GPX Maps
file_list, gpx_file	gpx: the address from /wp-content/ on, without the ../../../../ at the start. Several files separated by commas work too, each with its own color.
file_color_list	mlinecolor (for one file)
height, width	mheight, width, with the unit: 450px, 100%
map_center, zoom	Not needed: the map zooms on the track by itself
type (map style)	mtype, or the default in Settings > WP GPX Maps
(none)	summary=true for distance, climbing and time; the elevation chart is on by default

Set the defaults once in Settings > WP GPX Maps (units, map type, colors, which numbers to show in the summary): then a short [sgpx gpx="..."] is enough in every post.

3. Check and clean up

Open each post you changed and check the map. When no post uses osm_map any more, you can deactivate the OSM plugin; keep it if you still use its maps with markers.

This is what a moved post looks like:

New to WP GPX Maps? Start from How to add a GPX track to WordPress. Stuck with a map? Ask in the support forum with the old shortcode and the address of the page.