MapStore 2025.01 Release

Dear Reader,

We are pleased to announce the release of the new series 2025.01 of MapStore, our flagship Open Source WebGIS product. In Github it is possible to consult the full list of new features, enhancements and fixes we have provided within the 2025.01.00 version and  2025.01.01.

We want to thank everyone who contributed to all new features and improvements that are included in the release 2025.01.00, primarily the Vlaanderen, Total Energies, the Municipality of Genoa, the Municipality of Florence, ABO Energy, ABITAT, Region de Murcia and last but not least Cleveland Metroparks (the full list is available at the v2025.01.00 release page).

The main focus of the 2025.01.00 release was to introduce a wide range of improvements, including enhancements to the Home page, the overall look & feel and usability but also a large set of new other features such as: better resources filtering and management, support of the Cesium ION Terrain provider, improved printing and legend functions, expanded support for Cesium map settings and many more are included.

New Home Page Design

The MapStore Home Page has been completely redesigned, including significant enhancements, new features and expanded functionalities. Alongside this, the UI/UX has been carefully reviewed and updated to improve overall usability and user interaction. Key enhancements include:

• Better access to favorite resources
• Tags support for resources
• Improved resources search
• More configurable and user-friendly catalog items to also support downstream projects and custom installations
• Multiple catalog modes: grid and list

You can review all the new features on the online user guide

New MapStore Home Page

Look & Feel Enhancements

We’ve made a series of UI improvements to enhance consistency, usability and the overall user experience. This update introduces a unified design across components, streamlined layouts, and improved accessibility. Key changes include visual refinements, new navigation elements and better responsiveness throughout the application. Here below is a list of the main improvements. Key enhancements include:

• All modal windows have been reviewed and standardized based on a unified design
• Redesigned Users/Groups admin interface
• Updated user menus for improved usability
• The new About plugin is now consistently available across all pages
• Introduced a new Brand Navigation Bar with high-level application controls, present on all pages
• Side panels have been reduced in size to better optimize and manage the UI space
• Primary color and header shadows in panels have been removed
• Enhanced responsiveness across the application

MapStore Look & Feel enhancements

Cesium Expanded Support

The new lighting controls let you shape the mood and clarity of your 3D scenes with ease, offering a range of lighting options that provide multiple ways to explore your data and reveal deeper insights. Perfect for storytelling, analysis, or just impressing your audience. Moreover, you can now connect to Cesium Ion terrain unlocking rich and realistic landscapes right in your browser. Key enhancements include:

• Added support for Cesium Ion Terrain Provider: you can now connect Cesium Ion terrain layers to MapStore via dedicated integration.
• Expanded Cesium 3D map settings: it’s now possible to configure the map’s light source for enhanced 3D visualization.

Enhanced 3D features

Interactive Layer Legend

With MapStore’s Interactive Legend your map becomes more than a view, it becomes a control panel. Click on legend items to instantly filter what you see, focusing only on the data that matters. And with the new Dynamic Legend, your map updates on the fly, showing only what’s visible in your current view. Key enhancements include:

• Interactive legend: Legend class visualization is now aligned with layer visibility behavior and map date settings (e.g. layer filtering), improving both the readability of the legend and its consistency with the user’s map view
• Dynamic Legend: it is now possible to make the legend dynamic to visualize only rules in the current viewport.

Interactive Layer legend

Printing Improvements

MapStore’s new print preview lets you fine-tune your map layout without affecting your main view. Users can now selectively hide layers in the legend, keeping the focus of the viewer on the most relevant information. From screen to paper your maps stay sharp, focused, and ready to impress. Key enhancements include:

• Enhanced print preview: The print preview map is now decoupled from the main map, offering a smoother and more reliable experience when adjusting the view before printing.
• Improved print setup: You can now configure certain layers to be excluded from the printed legend, allowing for cleaner and more focused print outputs.

Printing Improvements

Enhanced User Session

The User Session plugin have now a more granular control over what to keep,  from zoom level and layer settings to widgets and more. MapStore can automatically remember your last setup, so when you come back to the same map everything is just how you left it,  no saving needed. By default sessions are stored in your browser but you can also enable database storage to sync sessions across browsers and devices.

Enhanced User Session

Advanced control of MapView settings

Work with complex Map Views more effectively with one-click control over layer visibility. Batch tools let you manage groups of layers at once, adjust opacity and streamline what appears on screen. You can now customize views quickly and flexibly, even when working with many layers or thematic groupings. Key enhancements include:

• Enable full disconnection between TOC and MapView layer visibility with a single action, instead of toggling layers individually.
• Introduce batch layer control tools to manage visibility for multiple layers at once within a MapView.
• Improve handling of complex maps with many layers, especially those with similar names or organized in groups.
• Streamline the user experience when customizing layer visibility in MapViews for large or intricate maps.

Advanced control of MapView settings

Images upload for Text widgets

Widgets in MapStore just got better, starting with a smarter Text Widget that now lets you upload images directly. The Text Widget just got easier for maps and dashboards with the new image upload feature in Text Widgets. No more hunting for URLs, just drag, drop, and display directly in your content. It’s never been easier to make your maps more visual, expressive, and engaging.

Improved the text editor by adding a new function to upload external images.

Images upload for Text Widgets

StreetSmart support for OIDC

MapStore’s Street View plugin now fully support Cyclomedia’s StreetSmart with OpenID Connect (OIDC), giving you secure access to high-res 360° street imagery. Browse real-world views just like before, whether it’s Google Street View or StreetSmart, same button, same smooth experience. High detail, high security, no extra steps. StreetSmart can be selected as a provider in the Street View plugin configuration, offering a seamless experience alongside other supported sources like Google Street View, all through the same familiar interface, allowing secure access to high-resolution street views within the platform. Cyclomedia provides high-resolution, 360° panoramic street imagery and spatial data. Its StreetSmart viewer enables detailed visualization and analysis of the urban environment.

StreetSmart OIDC support

Time Zones configuration for the Attribute Table

No more confusing UTC timestamps! MapStore now lets you configure time zones for temporal attributes in the Attribute Table. Dates and times are shown in a way that’s consistent with your chosen formats, making data easier to read and interpret. A new configuration capability to manage the time zone of temporal attributes has been included for Attribute Table. By default, UTC is hidden, so what you see always aligns with your local time and expectations. This customization is handled through the FeatureEditor plugin, ensuring that date and time fields follow your selected formats.

Time zones configuration for the Attribute Table

Configurable limits for vector files uploads

MapStore makes it easy to upload vector files assests, and now it’s getting smarter about handling file size limits. To keep performance smooth and uploads under control, a configurable size check will help prevent oversized files from slipping through. This check will apply to shapefiles (contained in zip archives), KML/KMZ, GeoJSON, GPX, ensuring consistency and reliability.

Configurable limits for vector files uploads

Smarter proxy handling

As part of ongoing improvements, MapStore now features automatic proxy detection for cross-domain requests. Instead of relying on the proxy by default, the application is now able to intelligently determine when the proxy is actually required, based on the nature of each request. This helps avoid unnecessary proxy usage, streamlining performance and simplifying configuration in many scenarios.

For those relying on the previous setup, retro-compatibility is fully preserved, it’s still possible to explicitly force the use of the proxy when needed, ensuring a smooth transition and maximum flexibility. This change lays the groundwork for a more efficient and adaptive MapStore experience.

Code Cleanup for a leaner, faster release

As part of the 2025.01.00 release, we’ve completed a major internal cleanup across several pull requests (#10442, #10889, #11068), removing dead code, unused dependencies, and legacy assets. This effort improves maintainability, reduces technical debt, and results in lighter builds with an estimated 700 KB to 1.5 MB in size savings. It also speeds up CI processes, enhances security, and sets the foundation for better long-term performance and stability.

Dependency updates and security improvements

In this release, we’ve reviewed and improved a significant part of the application dependency management to ensure better performance, security, and long-term stability. Here’s what’s new under the hood:

• React upgraded to 16.14.0 – paving the way for modern UI improvements
• Spring Framework updated to 5.3.39 and Spring Web Security to 5.7.13 – for stronger, more up-to-date backend security
• Webpack upgraded to 5.94.0 – bringing faster builds and better optimization
• react-pdf bumped to 7.7.3 – for smoother, more compatible PDF rendering

And these are just a few of the many enhancements coming your way, the 2025.01 series is just getting started, so stay tuned for more powerful upgrades ahead!

If you are interested in learning more about how we can help you develop a WebGIS using MapStore or help you achieve your needs with MapStore, GeoServer, GeoNode and GeoNetwork through our Enterprise Support Services, Professional Training Services and Subscription Services  please contact us!

The GeoSolutions team,