MapLibre GL Layer Manager

A powerful and user-friendly layer management plugin for MapLibre GL JS that provides comprehensive controls for managing layer visibility, opacity, and styles.

Features

• Layer Visibility Control: Toggle individual layers or all layers at once
• Opacity Adjustment: Fine-tune layer opacity with intuitive sliders
• Style Editor: Modify layer paint properties in real-time:
  • Circle layers: color, radius, opacity, blur, stroke properties
  • Line layers: color, width, opacity, blur
  • Fill layers: color, opacity, outline color
  • Raster layers: opacity, brightness, saturation, contrast
• Layer Management: Remove unwanted layers from the map
• Collapsible Interface: Clean, space-saving design
• Responsive Design: Works on desktop and mobile devices

Installation

NPM (Coming Soon)

npm install maplibre-gl-layer-manager

CDN (Manual)

Include the CSS and JS files in your HTML:

<!-- MapLibre GL JS -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/maplibre-gl.js"></script>
<link
  href="https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/maplibre-gl.css"
  rel="stylesheet"
/>

<!-- Layer Manager Plugin -->
<link href="path/to/layer-manager.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<script src="path/to/layer-manager.js"></script>

Usage

Basic Example

// Initialize your MapLibre GL map
const map = new maplibregl.Map({
  container: "map",
  style: "your-map-style.json",
  center: [-98.5795, 39.8283],
  zoom: 4,
});

// Wait for the map to load
map.on("load", function () {
  // Create the layer manager
  const layerManager = new LayerManager({
    layers: [
      {
        id: "background",
        name: "Background",
        visible: true,
        opacity: 1.0,
      },
      {
        id: "cities",
        name: "World Cities",
        visible: true,
        opacity: 0.8,
        originalStyle: {
          "circle-radius": 5,
          "circle-color": "#3388ff",
          "circle-opacity": 0.8,
        },
      },
    ],
    position: "top-left",
    collapsed: false,
  });

  // Add the control to the map
  map.addControl(layerManager, "top-left");
});

Configuration Options

LayerManager Constructor Options

| Option | Type | Default | Description | | ----------- | ------- | ------------ | ------------------------------------ | | layers | Array | [] | Array of layer configuration objects | | position | String | 'top-left' | Position of the control on the map | | collapsed | Boolean | false | Whether the panel starts collapsed |

Layer Configuration Object

| Property | Type | Required | Description | | --------------- | ------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | id | String | Yes | Layer ID (must match the layer ID in your map style) | | name | String | No | Display name for the layer (defaults to id) | | visible | Boolean | No | Initial visibility state (default: true) | | opacity | Number | No | Initial opacity (0-1, default: 1.0) | | originalStyle | Object | No | Original paint properties for the Reset function | | minzoom | Number | No | Minimum zoom level for the layer | | maxzoom | Number | No | Maximum zoom level for the layer |

Methods

addLayer(layer)

Add a new layer to the layer manager.

layerManager.addLayer({
  id: "new-layer",
  name: "New Layer",
  visible: true,
  opacity: 1.0,
});

removeLayer(layerId)

Remove a layer from the layer manager.

layerManager.removeLayer("layer-id");

getPosition()

Get the current position of the control.

const position = layerManager.getPosition();

Supported Layer Types

The Layer Manager supports styling for the following MapLibre GL layer types:

• Circle: Point features rendered as circles
• Line: Linear features
• Fill: Polygon features
• Raster: Raster tile layers (imagery, terrain)

Style Editor Properties

Circle Layers

• Circle Color
• Circle Radius (0-20)
• Circle Opacity (0-1)
• Circle Blur (0-5)
• Circle Stroke Color
• Circle Stroke Width (0-5)
• Circle Stroke Opacity (0-1)

Line Layers

• Line Color
• Line Width (0-20)
• Line Opacity (0-1)
• Line Blur (0-5)

Fill Layers

• Fill Color
• Fill Opacity (0-1)
• Fill Outline Color

Raster Layers

• Raster Opacity (0-1)
• Raster Brightness Min (-1 to 1)
• Raster Brightness Max (-1 to 1)
• Raster Saturation (-1 to 1)
• Raster Contrast (-1 to 1)

Demo

To run the demo:

1. Clone this repository
2. Open demo/index.html in your web browser
3. Interact with the layer manager in the top-left corner

The demo showcases:

• Base map background layer
• USGS satellite imagery layer
• US States polygon layer
• World Cities point layer

Browser Support

• Chrome/Edge (latest)
• Firefox (latest)
• Safari (latest)
• Mobile browsers (iOS Safari, Chrome Mobile)

Development

Project Structure

maplibre-gl-layer-manager/
├── src/
│   ├── layer-manager.js    # Main plugin code
│   └── layer-manager.css   # Styles
├── demo/
│   └── index.html          # Demo page
├── package.json
└── README.md

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License

Credits

Built with MapLibre GL JS

Support

For issues and questions, please open an issue on GitHub.

Roadmap

Future enhancements planned:

• [ ] Layer grouping
• [ ] Search/filter layers
• [ ] Export layer configurations
• [ ] Import layer configurations
• [ ] Layer reordering
• [ ] Symbol layer styling support
• [ ] Custom style templates
• [ ] Keyboard shortcuts
• [ ] Accessibility improvements (ARIA labels)

Examples

Advanced Configuration

const layerManager = new LayerManager({
  layers: [
    {
      id: "satellite",
      name: "Satellite Imagery",
      visible: false,
      opacity: 0.8,
      originalStyle: {
        "raster-opacity": 0.8,
        "raster-brightness-min": 0,
        "raster-brightness-max": 1,
      },
    },
    {
      id: "boundaries",
      name: "State Boundaries",
      visible: true,
      opacity: 0.6,
      originalStyle: {
        "fill-color": "#627BC1",
        "fill-opacity": 0.6,
        "fill-outline-color": "#ffffff",
      },
    },
  ],
  position: "top-right",
  collapsed: true,
});

map.addControl(layerManager, "top-right");

Dynamically Adding Layers

// Add a new GeoJSON source to the map
map.addSource("earthquakes", {
  type: "geojson",
  data: "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/feed/v1.0/summary/all_day.geojson",
});

// Add the layer to the map
map.addLayer({
  id: "earthquakes",
  type: "circle",
  source: "earthquakes",
  paint: {
    "circle-radius": 8,
    "circle-color": "#ff0000",
    "circle-opacity": 0.6,
  },
});

// Add it to the layer manager
layerManager.addLayer({
  id: "earthquakes",
  name: "Recent Earthquakes",
  visible: true,
  opacity: 0.6,
});

FAQ

Q: Can I use this with Mapbox GL JS? A: This plugin is designed for MapLibre GL JS, but it may work with Mapbox GL JS v1.x with minor modifications.

Q: How do I save the user's layer configuration? A: You can access the layer configurations through the layerConfigs Map property and save it to localStorage or a backend.

Q: Can I customize the colors and styling? A: Yes! Override the CSS variables and classes in layer-manager.css to match your design.

Q: Does it support 3D layers? A: Currently, the plugin supports 2D layers (circle, line, fill, raster). 3D layer support is planned for future releases.

Changelog

Version 1.0.0 (2025-10-11)

• Initial release
• Layer visibility controls
• Opacity adjustment
• Style editor for circle, line, fill, and raster layers
• Layer removal
• Collapsible interface