# Obsidian Insider Sneak Peak - Bases - Maps View ![[images/Obsidian-Insider-Sneak-Peak-Bases-Maps-View.webp]] [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39l8qUoh1_c) · 29:36 · Josh Plunkett · 2025-10-05 > This is a sneak peek, not a tutorial. The local-image map support shown here came from an unmerged community pull request that Josh built into the plugin himself. At recording it was not available to regular users. ## Outline ### 00:00 Intro: what's new in the Insider build - Obsidian Insiders get early builds. They need a **Catalyst** license (5 one-time, from obsidian.md/pricing), which also comes with a badge. - New Bases features in this release: **grouping** results, **summaries**, a new **list view** next to table and cards, and the **Bases API**. - The API lets community developers write plugins for Bases. Josh expects a flood of new features, and a Bases calendar plugin has already appeared. - To show off the API, the Obsidian developers built a **Maps** plugin that puts Bases entries on a map. Josh thinks it's a core dev (possibly "Lamb") who uses Leaflet a lot. Insiders can install it from community plugins as *Maps by Obsidian*. ### 03:10 Map view demo ![[images/Obsidian-Insider-Sneak-Peak-Bases-Maps-View-t0350.webp]] - The same base has cards, table, and list views, plus the new **map view**. You can pan, zoom, click pins to open the linked note, and drag with the right mouse button to rotate the map ("you should be able to spin spaceships in space"). - Josh calls it semi-official: made by the developers but not part of core. He'd like to see it in core. ### 04:43 Tile servers vs local images - Out of the box the plugin is built for **tile servers** (online map tiles that change with zoom, like a world map). It couldn't use a single fantasy map image. - A community member, Sig, opened a GitHub issue asking for local images. People rallied with so many reactions and comments that the devs locked the thread. A community developer then sent a **pull request** adding local-image support, and it's being discussed in the Obsidian TTRPG Discord. - Josh merged that PR and built the plugin himself. He warns that clicking "update" would overwrite his changes. ### 08:18 Setting up a map view ![[images/Obsidian-Insider-Sneak-Peak-Bases-Maps-View-t0920.webp]] - In a base, choose *Add view* and pick the **Map** layout (added by the plugin). The demo uses a Red Larch map by Mike Schley from the Wizards of the Coast adventures. - Settings: **embedded height**, **display center coordinates** (right-click the map, choose *Copy coordinates*, then paste), **default zoom**, and **min/max zoom**, the same idea as in Leaflet. - The **Markers** section maps three note properties: coordinates, icon, and icon color. ### 10:23 Pin properties and the Pixel Banner conflict - Every pin is a note with frontmatter like `coordinates: [x, y]`, `icon: <lucide name>`, and `icon color: <color>`. You can name the properties whatever you like, as long as every note in the base uses the same names. Josh suggests a template for pin notes. - **Warning:** the Pixel Banner plugin's CSS hides any property whose name starts with `icon`. Josh turned Pixel Banner off for the video. To avoid the clash, don't start your property names with "icon". - An `image` property in every note also makes the cards view look good. ### 13:02 Adding a new pin ![[images/Obsidian-Insider-Sneak-Peak-Bases-Maps-View-t1340.webp]] - Copy an existing pin note, right-click the map, choose *Copy coordinates*, and paste them into the new note's coordinates. The pin shows up right away. - Icons come from Obsidian's built-in **Lucide** library (linked from the Maps readme). For example, `happy` isn't a valid name but `footprints` is. - Colors can be hex (`#FF0000` for red, `#0000FF` for blue), RGB, or CSS variables like `var(--color-blue)`. Josh advises sticking to three or four colors. ### 15:51 Handling multiple maps ![[images/Obsidian-Insider-Sneak-Peak-Bases-Maps-View-t1650.webp]] - Bases allows several **views** in one base, for example Forgotten Realms, Red Larch, and a dungeon, which takes the place of Leaflet's layer button. - Each view shows pins for every note its filter lets through. With no filter, Red Larch showed 279 results. You can limit it with a filter such as *folder is Red Larch*, or a property like `map name: Red Larch`. Use a unique value per dungeon level, and OR filters if you need them. - Properties you turn on show as text on the pin, for example a pin description. Clicking a pin opens the note; there's no hover preview like in Leaflet. Defaults can be set from the right-click menu (*Set default center point*, *Set default zoom*). ### 19:46 Limitations - It's **one pin per note**. Leaflet can link pins to headings inside a single note, and this can't. That works for regional and world maps, but for dungeons it means a note for every tiny room. Josh dropped that pattern after his Realm Works days and prefers one note per dungeon chapter that reads top to bottom. - **Bug:** if two notes share a name (even in different folders), only one pin shows. Josh reported it on GitHub. ### 22:03 Closing thoughts ![[images/Obsidian-Insider-Sneak-Peak-Bases-Maps-View-t2230.webp]] - No more bounds maths. To add a map, put the image in your vault, right-click it, choose *Copy relative path*, and paste that into the view's **Background** field. Then set markers, zoom, and height. - Josh would like a *browse* button for the image and a simple way to calibrate distance measurement, which is one of Leaflet's strengths. He also notes that any distance tool has to be told the scale somehow. - The developer of the local-image PR plans to start his own maps plugin from scratch. That probably became TTRPG Tools: Maps, which Josh later covered. - Josh's ideas for Bases plugins: a fantasy calendar (Calendarium-style), timelines, and kanban. The devs have said they want *right-click to add a pin and create a new note*, but it needs a future Obsidian update. ### 27:36 Outro - Thanks to supporters, a plug for obsidianttrpgtutorials.com (start with the Getting Started path), and an invite to the Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord. ## Things mentioned ### Obsidian features and plugins - **Obsidian Bases** (core, free), with grouping, summaries, list view, and the Bases API. - [Maps by Obsidian](https://help.obsidian.md/bases/views/map) (free community plugin by the Obsidian team). Insider-only at recording. Local-image support came from a community pull request. - A Bases calendar plugin, one of the first community plugins built on the Bases API. - Obsidian Leaflet (free), the older map plugin used for comparison. - Pixel Banner (free). Its CSS hides properties that start with `icon`. - Dataview (free), which Bases is compared to. - Calendarium / Fantasy Calendar (free), given as a future Bases idea. - Lucide icons, Obsidian's built-in icon set. ### Tools, websites, and licenses - **Obsidian Catalyst license** (paid, $25 one-time) for Insider early access. - Obsidian Help: [Bases map view](https://help.obsidian.md/bases/views/map). - GitHub issues and pull requests on the Maps plugin repo. - Realm Works (paid campaign manager Josh used before). - [obsidianttrpgtutorials.com](https://obsidianttrpgtutorials.com) and the Obsidian TTRPG Community Discord (free). ### TTRPG products and maps - The Red Larch town map by Mike Schley, from the D&D 5e adventure *Princes of the Apocalypse* (paid, Wizards of the Coast). - The Forgotten Realms world map. ## Bios - **Josh Plunkett** is an Australian GM and YouTuber who runs Obsidian TTRPG Tutorials, teaching tabletop players and world builders to run campaigns in Obsidian. He runs a Patreon with a ready-made Starter Vault. - **Sig** is an Obsidian TTRPG community member who opened the GitHub issue asking for local-image support in the Maps plugin. - **Bag of Tips** is a fellow Obsidian TTRPG content creator who helped Josh rally the community behind that issue. - **Mike Schley** is a fantasy cartographer known for official D&D maps, including Red Larch. - **"Lamb"** is the Obsidian core developer Josh thinks (but isn't sure) built the Maps plugin, and a heavy Leaflet user.