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Map Pins are here in Early Access beta for Pro and Elite subscribers!!

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Lavi
Roll20 Team
Hi everyone! The wait is finally over: Map Pins are here in Early Access beta for Pro and Elite subscribers!!  Here’s everything you need to know:  What are Map Pins? Map Pins connect handouts to locations on the tabletop; GMs drag from their journal to the map and populate pins that automatically fill with the information found inside! Pins can be hidden or visible, and have a handful of configurable settings, perfect for keeping track of GM information or revealing notes to players. These small but mighty tools help organize campaigns and keep games running smoothly in the moment, all while providing more opportunities for deepening the narrative of your campaign.  Read the full announcement and take a deeper look at how Map Pins work in our latest blog post . About Early Access  Early Access is a subscriber feature (Pro and Elite tiers) that lets eligible users try new tools first and provide feedback that influences the final release. If you’re passionate about being an early adopter and love getting your hands on new features first, it’s a great way to directly influence development cycles.  That said, we’re happy to hear feedback from everyone based on what you see so far. Non-subscribers can experience Map Pins in games created by Pro and Elite GMs during Early Access, and once Map Pins are released publicly, they’ll be available to all users.    Note: Mod Script (API) support is not available at launch, but is in development and coming soon.  A Note of Thanks We really appreciate the years' worth of suggestions and ideas about Map Pins that were contributed on the Forums. They helped bring this feature to its current state, and we’ve got no doubt that the feedback we get over the next few weeks will help us deliver the best feature possible for the most GMs and players.  Thanks so much for being part of what makes Roll20 great. Please let us know if you have any outstanding questions and let us know what you think in this thread after reading the blog!
is there going to be a way to link maps to the pin? Say for example your map has stairs the go to second floor and the pin will open the second floor map.
I have a base map pin with many rooms. I don't see any of the room map pins for me to be able to sublink - how is this functionality accessed?
1762977389
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
larry L. said: is there going to be a way to link maps to the pin? Say for example your map has stairs the go to second floor and the pin will open the second floor map. Hi larry!' Clicking on "Go To Pin" in a handout header will take you to that pin, even if it is on another page. This is a GM feature, as is the placing of map pins in general. If you wish to move the party to a place mentioned in a handout (that has a map pin). Click on "Go To Pin". When the new page loads and you are auto centered on the pin, right click on the VTT and choose "Place Party". If you have defined a party, their tokens will be placed there, and the player flag will move to that page.
Really great feature!   Is there a way to resize the pins?  
Hi mike! Currently, no. Tell us why you want to resize, is it, so that it fits your grid more nicely? Is it because you want the icon to be less obtrusive? Is it some other cool reason? Let us know!  Hi tom, What do you mean by  base pin ?  If you mean that you have a handout with a bunch of rooms listed, make sure those rooms are headers - like H3 - then when the handout is open, you can drag that header to the board to pin it.  (sorry for the repeat notification, i posted with a test account on accident.)
Fran said: Hi mike! Currently, no. Tell us why you want to resize, is it, so that it fits your grid more nicely? Is it because you want the icon to be less obtrusive? Is it some other cool reason? Let us know!  Hi tom, What do you mean by  base pin ?  If you mean that you have a handout with a bunch of rooms listed, make sure those rooms are headers - like H3 - then when the handout is open, you can drag that header to the board to pin it.  (sorry for the repeat notification, i posted with a test account on accident.) Hiya.   Its because I might want to put a bigger pin next to a large structure or title text on a top down map and then comparatively smaller ones on smaller structures :)   It's currently one size fits all :) Rob 
Fran said: Hi mike! Currently, no. Tell us why you want to resize, is it, so that it fits your grid more nicely? Is it because you want the icon to be less obtrusive? Is it some other cool reason? Let us know!  Hi tom, What do you mean by  base pin ?  If you mean that you have a handout with a bunch of rooms listed, make sure those rooms are headers - like H3 - then when the handout is open, you can drag that header to the board to pin it.  (sorry for the repeat notification, i posted with a test account on accident.) Ah sorry, it seems like I don't know how to make headers! Do you have a link to a tutorial for how to make headers?!?
Aha, got it! 🫡 Thanks for your reply, this helps a lot. 🫡 Mike E said: Fran said: Hi mike! Currently, no. Tell us why you want to resize, is it, so that it fits your grid more nicely? Is it because you want the icon to be less obtrusive? Is it some other cool reason? Let us know!  Hi tom, What do you mean by  base pin ?  If you mean that you have a handout with a bunch of rooms listed, make sure those rooms are headers - like H3 - then when the handout is open, you can drag that header to the board to pin it.  (sorry for the repeat notification, i posted with a test account on accident.) Hiya.   Its because I might want to put a bigger pin next to a large structure or title text on a top down map and then comparatively smaller ones on smaller structures :)   It's currently one size fits all :) Rob 
Another bit of feedback -  would be good to enable a wrap text option of some sort so that the name that appears under the pin could be over two or three lines rather than being on only one line :)
1762979497
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Mike E said: Really great feature!   Is there a way to resize the pins?   Not individually, it looks like. However, if you set the cell size of the page to 0.5, for instance. They will display at half size. This works even if you subsequently turn the grid off.
1762979659
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Tom said: Ah sorry, it seems like I don't know how to make headers! Do you have a link to a tutorial for how to make headers?!? In this case, Headers refers to setting a Header styl in a handout. For example, setting a header style in the forum, here is an example of Header 2: Header 2 Each header has a draggable map pin icon. Plus an icon to copy the header link, and an icon to zoom to the pin on the VTT.
keithcurtis said: Tom said: Ah sorry, it seems like I don't know how to make headers! Do you have a link to a tutorial for how to make headers?!? In this case, Headers refers to setting a Header styl in a handout. For example, setting a header style in the forum, here is an example of Header 2: Header 2 Each header has a draggable map pin icon. Plus an icon to copy the header link, and an icon to zoom to the pin on the VTT. OMG I thought the style button changed the font and I have never ever clicked it. Not once.... I have used Roll20 for 11 years. Thank you!
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Edited 1762980038
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
This looks like a really solid launch. I know this is a beta launch, and the pin interface hints at features to come. Not knowing what is planned, here are my requests and some other notes: 1. The ability to use custom graphics in place of the map pin image 2. The ability to place a blank map pin on the board from the toolbar. Currently, it looks like the only way to create a map pin is to drag from a handout or to copy/paste an existing one. 3. "Copy Link" icon in the handout gives us a URL that includes the header of a handout, yet using that link in chat or in a journal command button only seems to open the handout. Double clicking on a pin opens the handout and skips to that header. Request that the URL behaves the same. This would finally make long document navigation possible. 4. When creating a pin with a custom message, request a GM field as well as a player field.. Example: Player text : This is a plain, ordinary old chest and not a mimic GM Text : This chest is totally a mimic.
I absolutely love a conveniently succinct list, Keith!!! ;) and you know the team also appreciates the kudos on a solid launch.
Nit-picking here by the bottom of my 'Y' has been cut off
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keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Mike E said: Nit-picking here by the bottom of my 'Y' has been cut off It's more that the entire handout fades out at that point. Map pins look to have a max height, and you are looking through a "window" to your handout and seeing the bit that fits into that area. Depending on the content (and browser font rendering) that cutoff is kind of unpredictable.
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Tom
Pro
The ability to lock pins in place (unless it already exists) or a pin layer would be amazing. I am going to accidentally bump my pins around when moving tokens, etc. (I am loving these pins by the way - thanks, folks!)
Just came to say best feature add in years IMHO. Can’t to see it improving over time. I agree resizing , custom pin images, and maybe the ability to display the pin on exploration of an area.  Now give Custom journals for my world lore - pretty please 
Another idea: How about being able to toggle the tooltip so that you can choose whether it appears above or below the pin when the pin is clicked.  
1762991435
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Lavi or Fran, can you explain this setting? I understand that the map pin can display GM notes if the map pin refers to the handout as a whole, but what does it mean "no gm notes at anchor in linked handout?". Typically an anchor is a spot in a document. In this case, does "anchor" refer to the entire handout? The setting seems to indicate otherwise. How do I put GM notes at an anchor?
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First impression is pretty solid. Just being able to link room descriptions as players move around the map saves so much hassle of either scrolling through handouts or flipping through pages.  Looks like this works fine with the handout that was created for the Dragon Heist module I'm using....but isn't working for a handout that was created for Blue Alley. Oddly, it lets me drag a pin from the header section for a room, but then gives an error "anchor not found". Not really sure what's missing there. Definitely would like a way to lock a pin, as well as customize it's appearance. Either setting our own graphics, or having at least an assortment of different options. Edit: Interestingly, it is possible to make a 'custom pin' that's not attached to a handout.  First make the pin, then unlink the handout, and change the tooltip to custom. Now we have a pin that's not linked to anything and just has whatever text has been entered. 
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From my own testing, you can have GM notes at an anchor, but this seems to be either/or.  keithcurtis said: Lavi or Fran, can you explain this setting? I understand that the map pin can display GM notes if the map pin refers to the handout as a whole, but what does it mean "no gm notes at anchor in linked handout?". Typically an anchor is a spot in a document. In this case, does "anchor" refer to the entire handout? The setting seems to indicate otherwise. How do I put GM notes at an anchor?
I see your confusion, Keith. It looks like you are linked to a header (Starless Void), and headers cant really have both notes & GM notes. What should we write here instead? :) 
Looks like this works fine with the handout that was created for the Dragon Heist module I'm using....but isn't working for a handout that was created for Blue Alley. Oddly, it lets me drag a pin from the header section for a room, but then gives an error "anchor not found". Not really sure what's missing there. We have a known bug out there that throws an "anchor not found" error that the devs are working on, you probably found it! Send us your game page and handout from which you are trying via zendesk, please.  To your other points, YES you can back your way into a custom pin that way! You found the workaround, you get a prize! YES its currently an either/or situation with notes & GM notes if drag from a header within a handout. You are dragging this header from within the Notes section or the GM Notes section. We don't currently have a concept of having both here if linking from a single header. About 'locking' a handout, is anyone accidentally dragging pins instead of tokens (or vice versa) or are you preemptively asking for them to be locked? 
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Love these pins! Absolutely wonderful tool. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the customization of the pin.
This is a solid implementation of a much-requested feature. Kudos to the team! Here are a few bits of feedback: I'd like to echo earlier requests for the ability to resize the map pin, if only to help the screen be less cluttered. Are there plans to add color tinting functionality to the default pin icon? The ability to "lock" pins like we can tokens to avoid accidentally moving them would be nice, though it's by no means a must-have.
ohhh! nice :v
1763004949
Daniel S.
Pro
Marketplace Creator
Sheet Author
Compendium Curator
Second all of these things. keithcurtis said: This looks like a really solid launch. I know this is a beta launch, and the pin interface hints at features to come. Not knowing what is planned, here are my requests and some other notes: 1. The ability to use custom graphics in place of the map pin image 2. The ability to place a blank map pin on the board from the toolbar. Currently, it looks like the only way to create a map pin is to drag from a handout or to copy/paste an existing one. 3. "Copy Link" icon in the handout gives us a URL that includes the header of a handout, yet using that link in chat or in a journal command button only seems to open the handout. Double clicking on a pin opens the handout and skips to that header. Request that the URL behaves the same. This would finally make long document navigation possible. 4. When creating a pin with a custom message, request a GM field as well as a player field.. Example: Player text : This is a plain, ordinary old chest and not a mimic GM Text : This chest is totally a mimic. I am beyond excited about this. Been waiting for this for years. A couple of things I'd love to see: 1. Right now the popout of text is quite small. It would be nice if it matched the UI scaling of the tooltip popouts, or if the size of the window when clicked on the maps was adjustable. 2. Would be cool to have the option for the info preview to popup on hover , not just from clicking on it. Essentially behaving like a regular tooltip. For now, I suppose a regular tooltip can be used in that instance, but would be neat if those features were combined. Could see that going smoother. 3. Second what Keith and others suggested with customizing the image, and being able to resize the pin.  All in all though, this brings incredible functionality to Roll20 and can't wait to use it in games. This has probably been the biggest pain point using Roll20 and think this is a real game changer, pun intended lol. Thanks for the rollout! I'm impressed at all the things this can do right out of the gate, it's more than expected. Would also love to see some improvements to the UI of handouts in general after this. It still feels pretty bulky when trying to type, as the GM Info section is quite large, and it's just clunky to get around. Have to scroll and resize things often before typing. Would pair well with this update, though another topic altogether. Thank again Roll20! 
First, let me just say: this is awesome!  I have so many uses for this, my head spins.. Now let me nit-pick: - I second Tom's request for a pin layer.  It's too easy to select a pin by accident (and they're selectable regardless of the layer you're on now) - And Mike E's suggestion for resizing.  Right now it nearly fills a square, obscuring everything else there, including a token placed in the square, being able to have smaller ones would be helpful in that circumstance. - The pin has one shape, a teardrop with a dot in it.  I'd really like that to be customizable somehow. Not that the teardrop is bad, but I can see using different shapes (eg, circles, rectangles, triangles, hexagons etc) for different kinds of notes. - It would be good if you could have an option to number pins (eg, to tie them to room keys that use numbers); that should support "numbers" like "A" or "1.A" as well as just digits (ie, a simple text field in the edit box that appears inside the pin shape itself, visible without being selected).  I could do that by simply giving the headers a number and using it as the nameplante (eg., "13. Temple of Doom") but I'd rather leave off the nameplace in some cases and just make use of the pin (much the same as putting a number token on the map layer). - Please add a "see/don't see" permission pulldown to the nameplate, so I can hide it from the players while showing them the pin itself and its text (e.g, they could see the pin number "13" and the description (first paragraph): "a large room containing the statue of a demon", but not the header text "Temple of Doom"). - I see the text is limited to ~250+ characters (I'm guessing 255 and a newline), could there be a way to make it longer with a scrollbar?  My first test got about 80% of the paragraph following the header I used.  I also see it stops at the first newline.  It would be nice if there was an option to stop at the next header, so I could optionally have a long text (the inscription on the wall) or limit it to just the first paragraph. - When you link a header to the pin, a couple of icons get added to the handout next to the header.  Could you add a switch to turn that off?  I use the markdown.js API script to create my handouts and the icons don't really fit the style I'm going for (plus, I don't necessarily want to telegraph to the players that "this header was important enought to be a pin somewhere" if they get to read the handout first). I had been going to suggest some way to visually distinguish visible from hidden pins, but I see you did that with the dashed/solid outline, nice!
1763009318
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Ken S. said: - When you link a header to the pin, a couple of icons get added to the handout next to the header.  Could you add a switch to turn that off?  I use the markdown.js API script to create my handouts and the icons don't really fit the style I'm going for (plus, I don't necessarily want to telegraph to the players that "this header was important enought to be a pin somewhere" if they get to read the handout first). I don't believe that players see those icons.
First, this is a great feature! The thing that would make even greater for me would be if we could link not just to Handouts, but to Characters as well. I'd love being able to place a pin on a house, and when they enter I make it visible and they meet the character inside and can see the "Bio and Info" section of its Character page. I know you can technically achieve the same thing with a Handout, but it seems like a pain to have to redo a separate Handout with the same picture and infos of the Character page when I already have a perfectly good one done with their monster stats as well in case they fight them. And then have to redo a Handout for every new character they might find in that house or dungeon.
1763011176
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
MightyReg said: First, this is a great feature! The thing that would make even greater for me would be if we could link not just to Handouts, but to Characters as well. I'd love being able to place a pin on a house, and when they enter I make it visible and they meet the character inside and can see the "Bio and Info" section of its Character page. I know you can technically achieve the same thing with a Handout, but it seems like a pain to have to redo a separate Handout with the same picture and infos of the Character page when I already have a perfectly good one done with their monster stats as well in case they fight them. And then have to redo a Handout for every new character they might find in that house or dungeon. You might be interested in looking at the Supernotes mod script. It can display the bio from a token's character in a variety of ways (chat or handout). Instead of duplicating your effort, you could just have them read it from the token.
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Hi all!&nbsp; I can't get it to work.&nbsp; I tried to click and drag the handout name, as well as the icon (three lines).&nbsp; Neither one creates a pin on the map.&nbsp; Any idea how to fix? Under Settings, I toggled on "Beta Features," but that didn't help. I have a Pro subscription. I never clicked "Upgrade Your VTT Engine" (under Settings).&nbsp; Is that the reason why map pins don't work? <a href="https://pages.roll20.net/redesign" rel="nofollow">https://pages.roll20.net/redesign</a>
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keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Hi&nbsp;Scrotok! Yeah, this is definitely a feature for the current tabletop engine (was called Jumpgate). It will not work on the legacy VTT. If you want to convert your game, instead of using that button, I would go to your home page and make a copy of your game. Set that copy to be Jumpgate. The conversion button is supposed to save a pristine copy of your old game, but this way is just a tad safer. That way, if the new VTT gives you issues, you can always continue to use your old game.
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Excellent, thanks Keith! I tend not to be an early adopter, which is why I never updated to Jumpgate.&nbsp; What are the risks?&nbsp; Don't want to lose my existing game (level 17 campaign)... Aha, just realized you said to make a copy of old game, so we can just keep using Legacy if Jumpgate crashes the game.&nbsp; Correct? Making a "Jumpgate" copy now.&nbsp; I currently use "D&amp;D 5E (Shaped)" character sheet, which it picked by default, so that's good news.&nbsp; All the boxes on the right are checked except "Game Forums."&nbsp; What are "Game Forums"?&nbsp; I checked it just to be sure.
Locking Pins is definitely just a pre-emptive thing.&nbsp; Playing around with the pins, I don't think it's likely that they will get moved accidentally since click and dragging tokens doesn't mess with pins. Still, just some right-click Lock function can be useful for peace of mind. Fran said: Looks like this works fine with the handout that was created for the Dragon Heist module I'm using....but isn't working for a handout that was created for Blue Alley. Oddly, it lets me drag a pin from the header section for a room, but then gives an error "anchor not found". Not really sure what's missing there. We have a known bug out there that throws an "anchor not found" error that the devs are working on, you probably found it! Send us your game page and handout from which you are trying via zendesk, please.&nbsp; To your other points, YES you can back your way into a custom pin that way! You found the workaround, you get a prize! YES its currently an either/or situation with notes &amp; GM notes if drag from a header within a handout. You are dragging this header from within the Notes section or the GM Notes section. We don't currently have a concept of having both here if linking from a single header. About 'locking' a handout, is anyone accidentally dragging pins instead of tokens (or vice versa) or are you preemptively asking for them to be locked?&nbsp;
Hiya.&nbsp; Some constructive feedback from two of my players - and this falls into the accessibility category somewhat.&nbsp; They both said that text inside the tooltip is difficult to read due to the font size. There's currently no way of resizing it or zooming in.&nbsp; Thanks!
Mike E said: Hiya.&nbsp; Some constructive feedback from two of my players - and this falls into the accessibility category somewhat.&nbsp; They both said that text inside the tooltip is difficult to read due to the font size. There's currently no way of resizing it or zooming in.&nbsp; Thanks! I noticed that too.&nbsp; You have to double click to open all of the text in a new pop-up window.&nbsp; I wish instead it would allow you to use the mouse wheel to scroll down inside the original pop-up window.
1763045969
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Scrotok (John P.) said: Excellent, thanks Keith! Aha, just realized you said to make a copy of old game, so we can just keep using Legacy if Jumpgate crashes the game.&nbsp; Correct? Correct! Be sure to inform your players of the new game so they don't accidentally go into the old one on game night. If you are curious about the new VTT features, here is a list of many of the Quality of Life improvements it offers. <a href="https://help.roll20.net/hc/en-us/articles/25289127045143-VTT-Quality-of-Life-Feature-Improvements" rel="nofollow">https://help.roll20.net/hc/en-us/articles/25289127045143-VTT-Quality-of-Life-Feature-Improvements</a> Making a "Jumpgate" copy now.&nbsp; I currently use "D&amp;D 5E (Shaped)" character sheet, which it picked by default, so that's good news.&nbsp; All the boxes on the right are checked except "Game Forums."&nbsp; What are "Game Forums"?&nbsp; I checked it just to be sure. On your games home page, near the bottom, is a forum similar to this one, using the same software. Only you and your players can post in this forum. Checking it did not hurt anything.
Fran said: Looks like this works fine with the handout that was created for the Dragon Heist module I'm using....but isn't working for a handout that was created for Blue Alley. Oddly, it lets me drag a pin from the header section for a room, but then gives an error "anchor not found". Not really sure what's missing there. We have a known bug out there that throws an "anchor not found" error that the devs are working on, you probably found it! Send us your game page and handout from which you are trying via zendesk, please.&nbsp; To your other points, YES you can back your way into a custom pin that way! You found the workaround, you get a prize! YES its currently an either/or situation with notes &amp; GM notes if drag from a header within a handout. You are dragging this header from within the Notes section or the GM Notes section. We don't currently have a concept of having both here if linking from a single header. About 'locking' a handout, is anyone accidentally dragging pins instead of tokens (or vice versa) or are you preemptively asking for them to be locked?&nbsp; I have a map that I use as a base for a superhero team. I loaded it up with map pins. The players tend to use it for RP and so on. I also expect to use map pins for their missions (for example they'll be defending a location from an attack next week and I'll have map pins in use).&nbsp; I keep accidentally moving my map pins when I have NPCs and enemies walking through areas. If there was a lock button next to VISIBLE / HIDDEN, that would be great. Of course I might bump into that too - so maybe a lock button next to GO TO PIN button in the handout?
Ya'll have some incredible points in here &lt;3&nbsp; I've got this all noted for the team, we have lots to talk about and we are super excited to keep improving.&nbsp; Now - I want to see your pins!!&nbsp;
Hi, Do you really think I'll modify my campaigns with the new handouts pins ? YES! I will :) Thanks for this improvement