Put strava heatmap as overlay on WMS map
Answered
I use a strava heatmap overlay on top of a Swisstopo WMS map.
I just switched to locus 4 (classic since now) and I always thought it's a problem with the older version.
I used to sometimes be able to have the heatmap on top of the wms but not always, never understood why.
So now locus 4 It does the same.
As a workaround I figured I can have the heatmap as basemap and make the wms translucent but that's not soo nice to read.
Why can't I put the heatmap as overlay on top of the wms?
Thanks for your help!
The same question
HI,
WMS or WMTS is an overlay itself and it is not possible to put two overlays above each other. Use Swisstopo from Locus Store as the base map. It's free too.
HI,
WMS or WMTS is an overlay itself and it is not possible to put two overlays above each other. Use Swisstopo from Locus Store as the base map. It's free too.
Hi Michal,
Thanks for your super quick reply.
Indeed that's possible.
But I can't go down to the 30m zoomlevel like on the wms Which I like to have for orientation while mountainbiking.
Mabe I can set it up somewhere in the options to do so? Couldn't find a setting myself.
Here to 2 Screenshots for comparison
Hi Michal,
Thanks for your super quick reply.
Indeed that's possible.
But I can't go down to the 30m zoomlevel like on the wms Which I like to have for orientation while mountainbiking.
Mabe I can set it up somewhere in the options to do so? Couldn't find a setting myself.
Here to 2 Screenshots for comparison
In Locus, a WMS source isn't a regular base map — it's already rendered as an overlay layer above the currently active background map (vector or raster). You can see this called out in our docs here: https://docs.locusmap.app/doku.php?id=manual:user_guide:maps_wms ("WMS map is displayed only as an overlay above the currently active non-WMS map — not as a single map").
That means the WMS effectively occupies the "overlay slot" in the rendering pipeline, so a second overlay (your Strava heatmap, in this case) can't sit cleanly on top of it. When both are enabled, the order ends up depending on activation order and load timing, which is why you saw it sometimes work in older versions — it was never deterministic.
So your workaround is actually the right approach for this setup:
A few small things that might help readability:
We do understand this is a real limitation for users who layer GIS-style data, and it's something we've discussed internally. Unfortunately we can't promise a timeline for changing the rendering order or supporting a true second overlay above WMS at the moment.
In Locus, a WMS source isn't a regular base map — it's already rendered as an overlay layer above the currently active background map (vector or raster). You can see this called out in our docs here: https://docs.locusmap.app/doku.php?id=manual:user_guide:maps_wms ("WMS map is displayed only as an overlay above the currently active non-WMS map — not as a single map").
That means the WMS effectively occupies the "overlay slot" in the rendering pipeline, so a second overlay (your Strava heatmap, in this case) can't sit cleanly on top of it. When both are enabled, the order ends up depending on activation order and load timing, which is why you saw it sometimes work in older versions — it was never deterministic.
So your workaround is actually the right approach for this setup:
A few small things that might help readability:
We do understand this is a real limitation for users who layer GIS-style data, and it's something we've discussed internally. Unfortunately we can't promise a timeline for changing the rendering order or supporting a true second overlay above WMS at the moment.
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