It is sometimes helpful to show roads, water, and other features in the background of your map to put things in proper context. This is now very easy to do starting in version 4.5+.
The background map is created using data from OpenStreetMap that is visualized using MapLibre. Our software handles all of this for you; it couldn't be simpler. No APIs to sign up for, keep track of, or worry about. We host the map tiles as .pmtiles, which are single files that you are free to download and upload to your server if you'd prefer everything to be self-hosted. Or, just use our free hosted version.
Here are the settings you need to add a background map:
| Main Settings Background Map properties | |
|---|---|
| backgroundmap_tiles_url | The URL that serves the background map tiles. (e.g. https://cdn.simplemaps.com/pmtiles/city/new-orleans.pmtiles). We host .pmtiles for many maps. You can download the .pmtiles file (it's a single file), self-host on your server, and update this URL. |
| backgroundmap_js_url | The URL of the JavaScript file that generates the background map. (e.g. https://cdn.simplemaps.com/js/backgroundmap/4.5/backgroundmap.js.) This file contains MapLibre, Pmtiles, and the styling of the background map. You can download, self-host, and update the map styling or just rely on the version that we host. |
Background maps will only work with our maps that use the Web Mercator projection. We're currently supporting background maps for the following maps:
We plan on adding more maps soon. If you have a different map that you'd like us to add a background map to, please contact us.
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