Skip to content

Creating Basemaps

Basemaps provide the geographic background used throughout GeoSight dashboards and map visualizations. They help users understand spatial context by displaying roads, terrain, satellite imagery, or other geographic reference layers beneath your indicator data.


Common basemaps include:

  • OpenStreetMap
  • Satellite imagery
  • Terrain maps
  • Light or dark cartographic styles
  • Custom XYZ tile services


The Basemaps page allows users to:

Function Description
Create Basemaps Add new XYZ tile or map service basemaps to GeoSight.
Search & Filter Search, sort, and filter available basemaps.
Edit Basemaps Update basemap settings, URLs, categories, or sharing permissions.
Delete Basemaps Remove unused or outdated basemap entries.
Share Access Control which users or groups can access the basemap.


Step 1: Open the Basemaps Page

The Basemaps page is used to manage all background map layers available within GeoSight.

  1. In the left-side navigation panel, click Basemaps.

  2. Use the Search Basemap field to locate existing basemaps.

  3. Select a basemap checkbox to enable editing or deletion tools.


Basemap Page
Image credit: GeoSight


Step 2: Create a New Basemap

Creating a basemap allows you to connect GeoSight to an external tile service such as OpenStreetMap or a custom XYZ provider.

  1. Click Create New Basemap.

  2. Complete the required fields in the General tab.

  3. Click Save.


Create Basemap
Image credit: GeoSight


Use the following sample settings:

Field Example Value Description
Name OpenStreetMap The display name of the basemap inside GeoSight.
URL https://a.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?noWrap=true The XYZ tile service URL used to retrieve map tiles.
Type XYZ Tile The tile service type used by the basemap.
Category Road Maps A grouping category used to organize basemaps.


📝
XYZ tile services commonly use placeholders such as {z}, {x}, and {y} to dynamically load map tiles at different zoom levels.


Step 3: Verify the Basemap

After saving the basemap, GeoSight will register the tile service and make it available within dashboards and projects.



Next up: Learn how to combine your reference datasets, indicators, indicator data, and basemaps into a complete GeoSight Project Dashboard.