Title: Plugin broken?
Last modified: March 24, 2025

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# Plugin broken?

 *  [ees2025](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ees2025/)
 * (@ees2025)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-broken-132/)
 * It appears this plugin is now broken? I’ve tried it on 2 separate websites, one
   of which is basically just a blank installation. Created a brand new API key 
   with zero restrictions, and I still get the following error message:
   **Something
   went wrong while retrieving your map, please ensure you have entered the short
   code correctly. Address: New York City Status: REQUEST_DENIED Google Msg: You
   must use an API key to authenticate each request to Google Maps Platform APIs.
   For additional information, please refer to [http://g.co/dev/maps-no-account](http://g.co/dev/maps-no-account)**
 * The shortcode I used to test it is [pw_map address=”New York City” key=”my_acutal_key_was_here”]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  Plugin Author [Alan Fuller](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alanfuller/)
 * (@alanfuller)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-broken-132/#post-18379919)
 * If you are using “New York City” then you are doing a geo look up and your unrestricted
   key needs to be enabled on the GeoCoding API as well as the map API – is your
   key enabledfor GeoCoding?
   The plugin doess work when keys setup correctly, see
   a live demo [https://fullworksplugins.com/docs/simple-shortcode-for-google-maps/usage-simple-shortcode-for-google-maps/demo-geo-lookup/](https://fullworksplugins.com/docs/simple-shortcode-for-google-maps/usage-simple-shortcode-for-google-maps/demo-geo-lookup/)
   However unrestricted keys are bad for your bank balance if you use the anywhere
   pubilc.But if you restrict your key by domain the geo api wont work, so you would
   have two keys key=xxxxx (restricted by domain) and geokey=yyyy ( restricted by
   your web server IP )
 * the plugin does work
   This is covered in the readme
 * > geokey – Description: Your Google Geocoding API Key – Allowed values: valid
   > key
   > Why two key? If you restrict your API key to specific APIs you need to use 
   > the geokey to allow the geocoding to work ( enabled on the GeoCoding API, with
   > your server IP ) and key
   > enabled on the Maps JavaScript API
   >  [https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-google-maps-short-code/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-google-maps-short-code/)
 * and the FAQs
 * > Why do I get REQUEST_DENIED error?
   > This is likely to be an issue with the authorization you granted to your API
   > key see [Google API REQUEST_DENIED troubleshooting](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/faq#why_do_i_keep_receiving_status_request_denied)
   > It is recommended that you set an Application Restriction to restrict your 
   > API key from others using it.
   > However restricting the referrer HTTP will cause this error ‘API keys with 
   > referer restrictions cannot be used with this API’, this is because the geoencoding
   > is performed server side and cached server side, so there is no browser referrer.
   > 
   > If you get this message change your restriction to IP addresses (web servers,
   > cron jobs, etc.) using the IP address of your website.
   > If you restrict your API key to specific APIs make sure you enable at least
   > *
   > Maps JavaScript API* Geocoding API
 * 
   but may benefit from a clearer explanation, especially given the examples
 *  Thread Starter [ees2025](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ees2025/)
 * (@ees2025)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-broken-132/#post-18382120)
 * Yes the API key I created has no restrictions on it right now because it was 
   created only for testing purposes. I used New York City to make a simple demo
   for testing purposes that was exactly the same as what’s shown in the documentation.(
   I do agree the documentation could be a bit clearer, perhaps by including a shortcode
   example with the geokey, or explaining which types of addresses would require
   the geokey). 
   So with all that said, this still isn’t working for me. We were
   using this just fine on a production site until about a month ago, it seemed 
   to have stopped working. I have now setup a test on a personal site with no traffic
   to try to figure out the issue. Any other thoughts as to what the issue might
   be?Here’s a sample page, that uses only the Twenty Twenty Four theme has no other
   plugins activated: [https://eesblueprint.wpenginepowered.com/one-service-red-service/](https://eesblueprint.wpenginepowered.com/one-service-red-service/)
 *  Plugin Author [Alan Fuller](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alanfuller/)
 * (@alanfuller)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-broken-132/#post-18382340)
 * The last version would not work without a geokey i just updated it to work with
   either or key or geokey.
   I also add a ‘live preview’ where you can test unrestricted
   keys and updated the readme.Hopefully it will work for you know with just one
   unrestricted key.
    -  This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by [Alan Fuller](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alanfuller/).
 *  Thread Starter [ees2025](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ees2025/)
 * (@ees2025)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-broken-132/#post-18382359)
 * Thank you! This is now working correctly with an unrestricted key and no geokey.
   
   Now I will set up the proper restrictions and test again and let you know.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [ees2025](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ees2025/)
 * Last activity: [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-broken-132/#post-18382359)
 * Status: not resolved