README file from
GithubAdvanced Maps
English · 简体中文 · User guide (in this repository)
Turn Obsidian's native Maps view into a photo atlas, a route viewer, and a map of the notes connected to the one you are reading.
Advanced Maps reads GPS from whole photo folders, draws GPX/GeoJSON/KML/TCX routes and areas, and creates an Around view from ordinary Obsidian links. It extends the first-party Maps view instead of replacing it: MapLibre, backgrounds, markers, popups, and every built-in map option remain native. No Leaflet, no bundled renderer, no runtime dependencies.

One Base, one map: the pins are place notes coloured by a Base formula,
thumbnails are photos placed by their own EXIF, and the line is a .gpx a note
links to. 63 results.
Three workflows
| Use Advanced Maps as… | Put this in the Base | What appears |
|---|---|---|
| A map photo album | A photo folder, including a link to an external album | Every photo with readable GPS, at its EXIF location |
| A route viewer | Notes linked to .gpx, .geojson, .kml, or .tcx files—or those files alone |
Routes, areas, markers, photos, elevation, and statistics a Base can sort on |
| An Around map | Your place-note collection | The current note, its links and backlinks, plus their tracks and photos |
These compose. One map can show place notes, a multi-day route, and every geotagged photo taken along it.
Advanced Maps and Map View
Map View is the other map plugin for Obsidian, and it is a whole GIS: its own map view, its own query language, display rules, an edit mode, routing, and a Bases view of its own. Advanced Maps is a different shape. It has no map view of its own at all — it adds to the one the Obsidian developers ship with Bases, and it bundles no renderer.
Map View's own comparison with the native Maps view is a fair one, and the column it marks unsupported is the clearest description of what this plugin is for:
| Native Maps on its own | With Advanced Maps |
|---|---|
| No paths | GPX, GeoJSON, KML and TCX, linked from a note or mapped as files, with areas, direction arrows, elevation profiles and statistics |
| No geocoding | Place search and reverse geocoding, through OpenStreetMap or Amap |
| Display only | Coordinates entered from the map, a pasted map link, a photo's EXIF, a search result, or the device's own position |
| No offline usage | A folder of tiles already on disk as the background of every map, with no request leaving the machine |
Markers stay native throughout, which is the whole point of extending rather than replacing: Bases formulas still decide their icon and colour, filters still work, and every built-in view option is still there.
Map View is the better choice if you want several locations in one note,
inline geolocations in the body text, marker display rules, built-in routing, or
a map that does not need Bases at all. Advanced Maps does none of those, and
ROADMAP.md records which of them are deliberate non-goals and why.
Both read a lat,lng coordinate from front matter, so one property can feed
either.
Requirements and install
Advanced Maps requires Obsidian 1.13.1 or newer with Bases enabled and the first-party Maps plugin installed. Without that native view, it reports or skips the unavailable enhancement and leaves Obsidian usable.
Install it from inside Obsidian: open Settings → Community plugins, turn off
Restricted mode if it is on, select Browse, search for Advanced Maps,
then Install and Enable. The store listing is
community.obsidian.md/plugins/advanced-maps.
For a build the store does not have yet, copy main.js, manifest.json, and
styles.css from Releases into
<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/advanced-maps/, or add
Jin1c-3/obsidian-advanced-maps in BRAT.
Quick start
Save this as atlas.base, replace the folder paths, open it, and choose its map
view:
filters:
or:
- file.inFolder("places")
- file.inFolder("assets/onedrive/Pictures")
views:
- type: map
name: Atlas
coordinates: coords
trackWeight: 4
trackOpacity: 85
fitMaxZoom: 16
The first branch maps notes whose coords property holds a coordinate. The
second maps supported photos directly from their GPS metadata. See
Getting started for the Base boundary, view
keys, supported photos, and the next recipes.
User guide
| Topic | Covers |
|---|---|
| Getting started | Installation, Base boundaries, first map, view keys |
| Photo maps | Photo folders, OneDrive, linked photos, thumbnails, index |
| Tracks and areas | Route links, inline maps, GPX/GeoJSON/KML/TCX, polygons, statistics as properties |
| Around and navigation | Around views, reusable Base, Open in map, follow, measuring, shared pins |
| Places in and out | Importing a file of placemarks as notes, exporting a Base as GPX/KML/CSV |
| Offline basemap | Named tile packs already on disk, picked from the map, with their own zoom bounds |
| Coordinates and services | WGS-84/GCJ-02/BD-09, external maps, search, geocoding, location |
| Reference and privacy | Supported inputs, option ownership, operational limits, network disclosure |
Notes, tracks, and photo contents do not leave on their own. The plugin has no telemetry, update ping, or server; the privacy reference lists the requests made when you use maps or external services.
Project documentation
- CONTRIBUTING.md: setup, testing, pull requests, and releases.
- OpenSpec capabilities: stable technical contracts.
- CHANGELOG.md: released behavior.
- ROADMAP.md: possible future work and deliberate non-goals.
Licence
MIT.