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Infinite Skills

In this Creating Custom Web Maps training course, expert author Matt Sidor will teach you how to create custom web maps using Leaflet, Mapbox, or OpenStreetMap. This course is designed for users that already have experience with building web applications.

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In this Creating Custom Web Maps training course, expert author Matt Sidor will teach you how to create custom web maps using Leaflet, Mapbox, or OpenStreetMap. This course is designed for users that already have experience with building web applications.

You will start with an introduction to Leaflet and learning how to set up your first map. From there, Matt will teach you about custom basemaps in Mapbox Studio. This video tutorial also covers OpenStreetMap, including how to edit in OpenStreetMap, extract OpenStreetMap data, and filter and export data in QGIS. Finally, you will learn how to import GeoJSON data in Leaflet.

Once you have completed this computer based training course, you will have learned how to create your own custom web maps using Leaflet, Mapbox, or OpenStreetMap. Working files are included, allowing you to follow along with the author throughout the lessons.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Once you have completed this training course, you will have learned how to create your own custom web maps using leaflet, mapbox, or openstreetmap
  • Learn how to create your own custom web maps

Syllabus

Introduction
Important - Download These First - Working Files
Introduction To Web Maps
About The Author
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Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Develops skills for creating and deploying web apps
Tailored for learners who are already experienced with web apps
Extends capabilities of Leaflet by integrating with Mapbox and OpenStreetMap
Leverages QGIS, a widely used tool in the industry
Provides hands-on experience with working files

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Reviews summary

Custom web maps: clear & practical guide

According to learners, this course provides a strong foundation in creating custom web maps, particularly praising the clear explanations and hands-on approach by the instructor. Students find the working files and practical exercises highly beneficial for immediate application in professional projects. While it effectively covers essential tools like Leaflet, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap, and QGIS, some learners note that the course assumes prior web development experience and a basic understanding of GIS. A few mention minor challenges with outdated library versions or uneven pacing in certain sections, requiring some independent troubleshooting. Overall, it's considered a very useful resource for developers looking to gain practical web mapping skills.
Matt Sidor provides exceptionally clear and engaging explanations.
"The instructor, Matt Sidor, explains complex concepts like Leaflet and Mapbox with incredible clarity."
"The instructor's teaching style is engaging and easy to follow."
"Matt Sidor does a great job explaining the fundamentals."
Strong emphasis on hands-on exercises and working files.
"The hands-on examples and working files are super helpful."
"The practical exercises really cement the learning."
"I was able to apply what I learned to my current projects almost immediately."
"Incredibly practical and useful course. The hands-on approach with Leaflet and the clear explanations for using Mapbox Studio and QGIS made this a standout."
Pacing can be uneven, some topics rushed, others detailed.
"I felt the pace was a bit uneven. Some topics were covered in great detail, others felt rushed."
"Some parts, particularly around QGIS, could have benefited from a slightly slower pace."
Some tools/libraries might require independent troubleshooting.
"Some parts feel a bit dated now, especially some of the library versions or external tool interfaces."
"I had to do some troubleshooting on my own to get things working."
"When issues arose with setup (e.g., specific library versions), there wasn't enough guidance."
Requires prior web development and some GIS knowledge.
"It definitely assumes you're already very comfortable with web app development and potentially GIS."
"Assumes a decent level of prior web development knowledge... also a baseline understanding of GIS principles might help."
"While it states 'experience with building web applications' is needed, I felt some parts, particularly around QGIS, could have benefited from a slightly slower pace or more context for those less familiar with GIS tools."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Creating Custom Web Maps with these activities:
Review JavaScript fundamentals
Refresh your JavaScript fundamentals to ensure you have a solid foundation for working with Leaflet and other web mapping libraries.
Browse courses on JavaScript
Show steps
  • Review online tutorials or resources on JavaScript syntax.
  • Practice writing simple JavaScript code snippets.
Attend industry conferences and meetups
Engage with the web mapping community by attending industry conferences and meetups to expand your network and stay updated on the latest trends.
Browse courses on Networking
Show steps
  • Research upcoming industry conferences and meetups.
  • Attend sessions and presentations to gain insights.
  • Network with other attendees and industry professionals.
Explore Leaflet documentation and tutorials
Review Leaflet's documentation and tutorials to gain a solid understanding of its features and capabilities.
Browse courses on Leaflet
Show steps
  • Visit Leaflet's website and read the user guide.
  • Follow the Leaflet tutorials to create basic interactive maps.
Five other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all eight activities
Create practice maps in Leaflet
Practice creating custom maps in Leaflet to reinforce your understanding and develop proficiency.
Browse courses on Leaflet
Show steps
  • Design a simple map with markers and polylines.
  • Add custom icons and event handling to your maps.
  • Use Leaflet plugins to extend the functionality of your maps.
Connect with experienced web map developers
Seek guidance from experienced web map developers to accelerate your learning and gain valuable industry insights.
Browse courses on Mentoring
Show steps
  • Attend online forums and meetups dedicated to web mapping.
  • Reach out to industry professionals on LinkedIn or Twitter.
  • Request mentorship from your instructors or colleagues.
Build a web map showcasing your skills
Create a comprehensive web map that demonstrates your mastery of Leaflet, Mapbox, or OpenStreetMap.
Browse courses on Web Mapping
Show steps
  • Select a real-world dataset and design a map to visualize it.
  • Use a combination of Leaflet, Mapbox, or OpenStreetMap to create an interactive and visually appealing map.
  • Incorporate data visualization techniques to make your map informative.
  • Document your code and share your map online.
Contribute to open-source web mapping projects
Participate in open-source web mapping projects to gain hands-on experience and contribute to the broader community.
Browse courses on Open Source
Show steps
  • Identify open-source web mapping projects on GitHub.
  • Review the project's documentation and contribute code or bug fixes.
  • Collaborate with other developers to improve the project.
Develop a web mapping solution for a real-world problem
Apply your web mapping skills to solve a real-world problem and create a tangible solution.
Browse courses on Project-Based Learning
Show steps
  • Identify a problem that can be addressed using web mapping.
  • Design and develop a web map solution that meets the problem's requirements.
  • Present your solution to potential stakeholders or users.

Career center

Learners who complete Creating Custom Web Maps will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Reading list

We've selected 50 books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Creating Custom Web Maps.
Is widely used as an introductory textbook for GIS. It provides a solid foundation in GIS concepts and theory, making it excellent for gaining a broad understanding. It's suitable for high school and undergraduate students, and a good review for others. The book balances concepts with practical applications and exercises.
This workbook is designed for both classroom use and independent study, providing a comprehensive introduction to QGIS 3.x. It covers basic GIS concepts, spatial analysis, data management, and cartographic design through hands-on exercises. is highly valuable for beginners and those transitioning from other GIS software, serving as a practical guide to solidify fundamental QGIS skills. It is commonly used as a textbook in academic settings.
This workbook is designed for hands-on learning using ArcGIS Pro, a widely used commercial GIS software. It's excellent for beginners and those transitioning to ArcGIS Pro, providing step-by-step exercises to build practical skills. It is commonly used in classrooms and for self-learning.
GeoJSON: A Guide to Encoding Geographical Data book that provides a comprehensive overview of GeoJSON. great resource for anyone who wants to learn about the history, design, and implementation of GeoJSON.
This comprehensive text covers both the science and systems aspects of GIS. It's a valuable resource for gaining a deep understanding of the underlying principles and technologies. Suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals, it serves as both a textbook and a reference.
Provides a solid introduction to QGIS, covering the interface, working with vector and raster data, using plugins, the Processing Toolbox, georeferencing, and creating maps. It's an excellent resource for beginners to gain a broad understanding of QGIS capabilities. The book includes data to follow along with chapters and is useful for self-study.
Serves as a direct introduction to the concepts and technologies used in creating interactive web maps. It covers foundational web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the context of mapping and introduces popular libraries such as Leaflet. This is an excellent starting point for beginners specifically interested in the web development side of web mapping and provides practical examples to get started.
This cookbook provides recipes for automating geoprocessing tasks in QGIS using Python. It's ideal for users with programming experience who want to extend QGIS functionality and create custom workflows. It's a valuable reference for anyone interested in the Python API for QGIS.
Is an in-depth guide for becoming proficient in spatial data analysis using QGIS 3.x with Python. It's aimed at users who want to master geospatial development and utilize the full potential of QGIS through scripting and advanced techniques.
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Analyzes GIS from a computer science perspective, providing an in-depth look at the underlying computational concepts. The third edition includes contemporary topics like GeoAI, graph databases, and decentralized computing, making it highly relevant for advanced students and researchers interested in the technical aspects of GIS.
A collection of practical recipes for using the Leaflet JavaScript library to create dynamic web maps. is invaluable for developers working with Leaflet, providing solutions to common tasks and demonstrating various features of the library. It's a great reference for quickly implementing specific web mapping functionalities.
Provides a comprehensive overview of spatial analysis techniques used in GIS. It's suitable for those looking to deepen their understanding of how to analyze spatial data. It can serve as a reference for students and professionals involved in spatial analysis.
Focused on hydrological applications, this book provides practical recipes for using QGIS in catchment hydrology and water management. It's valuable for students and professionals in environmental science and hydrology, offering domain-specific QGIS skills and workflows. It includes exercises and links to video materials for enhanced learning.
This is the first volume in a series focusing on GIS analysis techniques using Esri software, which is widely used in the industry. It's practical and application-oriented, making it valuable for students and professionals who want to learn how to perform spatial analysis.
This guide provides a step-by-step approach to getting started with QGIS, covering loading data, creating data, styling, and making maps. It's a good resource for absolute beginners to quickly gain confidence with the software interface and basic functions.
Focused on Esri's widely used ArcGIS platform, this book guides readers through the process of creating and sharing web GIS applications. It covers publishing data, configuring web maps and apps, and leveraging the capabilities of the ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise platforms. This is particularly useful for those working in environments utilizing Esri technology and provides practical workflows for building functional web GIS solutions.
This guide is specifically for those who want to program with QGIS using Python (PyQGIS). It covers understanding the QGIS API, writing scripts, and building plugins. It's a technical book best suited for users with Python experience looking to customize and extend QGIS.
Focuses on spatial data science using the R programming language, which is popular for statistical analysis. It's relevant for those interested in the intersection of GIS, statistics, and data science, particularly at the graduate level and for researchers. It explains core spatial software packages in R.
This accessible text introduces fundamental geographic and cartographic concepts relevant to GIS. It's suitable for students new to the field and provides a strong theoretical background. The second edition includes new material on web applications and Big Data.
Teaches geospatial analysis using Python, a widely used programming language in GIS. It's practical and aimed at users who want to automate GIS tasks and perform more advanced analyses through scripting. Relevant for undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals.
This guide focuses on using QGIS for working with satellite imagery and remote sensing data. It's particularly relevant for courses involving remote sensing and environmental monitoring, demonstrating how to process and analyze satellite data within QGIS.
Showcases real-world applications of GIS and spatial analytics in various scientific disciplines. It provides inspiring examples of how GIS is used to address pressing global issues, making it relevant for students and professionals interested in the practical impact of GIS.
Is tailored for ecologists and environmental scientists, guiding them on using QGIS for creating maps for ecological surveys and reports. It's a practical guide with no jargon, focusing on the specific mapping needs of this field.
An introduction to GeoServer, a popular open-source server software that allows publishing geospatial data as web services (WMS, WFS, etc.). Web mapping applications often consume data from such servers, making understanding GeoServer valuable. guides beginners through setting up and configuring GeoServer to serve their own spatial data.
With the increasing importance of online mapping and web-based GIS, this book covers the principles and applications of Web GIS. It's relevant for students and professionals interested in sharing and disseminating geographic information online.
A practical guide to geocomputation using R, covering topics such as spatial data handling, analysis, and visualization.
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Aims to provide a complete beginner's guide to QGIS Desktop, covering the basics, working with data, styling, and creating maps. It includes a working project to help solidify understanding of fundamental GIS and cartography concepts in QGIS.
Aimed at intermediate and advanced users, this book delves deeper into QGIS capabilities, covering advanced data management, visualization, and spatial analysis techniques. It's a good resource for those looking to become power users and transition from proprietary GIS software. While the second edition is older, it provides a solid foundation for advanced concepts.
GeoJSON for the Cloud book that shows you how to use GeoJSON in the cloud. great resource for anyone who wants to learn how to use GeoJSON to create and manage geospatial data in the cloud.
Offers a very accessible introduction to GIS concepts for beginners. It's ideal for high school students or those with no prior exposure to GIS who want to gain a broad understanding without getting bogged down in technical jargon. It provides a good starting point before moving on to more detailed texts.
Explores geospatial analysis using a combination of R and QGIS. It's suitable for users interested in leveraging the statistical capabilities of R within a GIS workflow. It provides practical examples for real-world projects.
For users already familiar with GeoServer, this book covers more advanced topics such as performance tuning, security, and utilizing Web Processing Services (WPS). It's a valuable resource for professionals looking to optimize their GeoServer deployments and implement more complex server-side geospatial processing for their web mapping applications.
Focuses on geospatial analysis using Python, with practical techniques applicable to GIS and remote sensing. While not exclusively about QGIS, it's highly relevant for users who want to integrate Python scripting with QGIS for advanced analysis and automation.
Provides a practical guide to spatial analysis within the context of urban planning and the built environment. It's relevant for students and professionals in these fields who need to apply GIS techniques to real-world problems. The book includes global examples and practical advice.
A comprehensive introduction to cartography, covering the principles of map design and the visualization of geospatial data. While not exclusively about web mapping, the fundamental concepts of how to effectively represent spatial information graphically are directly applicable to creating compelling web maps. provides essential theoretical background for anyone designing maps for any medium, including the web.
Aimed at experienced Python developers, this book guides the creation of geospatial applications using QGIS and Python. It's a resource for advanced users looking to build custom solutions and integrate QGIS into larger applications.
This contemporary book delves into the concepts and techniques of spatial data science, a field highly relevant to modern web mapping that involves complex data analysis and modeling. It covers topics such as spatial statistics, machine learning, and big data in a spatial context, providing advanced knowledge for those looking to incorporate sophisticated analysis into their web mapping applications.
Focuses on using QGIS in conjunction with Mergin Maps for field data collection and management. It's a valuable resource for anyone involved in fieldwork and mobile data collection using QGIS.
Guides users through viewing, editing, and analyzing geospatial data in QGIS, including an introduction to Python scripting for QGIS. It's suitable for beginners and those looking to expand their skills beyond the basics. While slightly older, the fundamental concepts remain relevant, although newer editions or supplementary resources may be needed for the latest QGIS versions.
Is part of a series focusing on remote sensing applications with QGIS in specific domains. This volume is relevant for those interested in using QGIS for agricultural and forestry applications, providing domain-specific examples and workflows.
Offers an introduction to using GIS specifically for biological research. It includes practical exercises using both ArcGIS and QGIS, making it suitable for undergraduate biology students and researchers who are new to GIS and want to apply it in their field.
Focuses on spatial data analysis and visualization in the context of health data, utilizing the R programming language and tools like Shiny for web visualization. It's relevant for those interested in applying spatial data science techniques and creating interactive web-based visualizations of spatial data, particularly in a public health or research context.
Provides a comprehensive guide to using GeoJSON with Java, a popular open-source programming language for enterprise software development. It covers everything from the basics of the Java language to advanced topics such as using GeoJSON to create custom maps and charts.
While not solely about QGIS, this book is highly relevant for those interested in spatial databases and integrating them with QGIS, as highlighted by the course on PostGIS and QGIS. It focuses on performing geospatial analysis using SQL, a valuable skill for advanced QGIS users working with databases.
Focuses specifically on cartography and map design using QGIS. It's an excellent resource for users who want to create professional and visually appealing maps. It covers styling, labeling, and advanced cartographic techniques.
A foundational text on the theory and practice of geographic visualization (geovisualization). explores how interactive visual environments can be used to facilitate thinking about geospatial data. The concepts of interactive exploration and visual analysis discussed are highly relevant to the design and functionality of modern web mapping applications.
Provides a practical guide to using and developing OpenStreetMap, including how to contribute data, use the data in various applications, and develop applications using the OpenStreetMap API.

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