Is there an OpenLayers layer type that supports just labels on a map without an underlying feature?
I think this is called an annotations layer in GIS.
If not, I'm not sure how to approach this and any advice would be appreciated. I thought styling a vector point layer so that the point itself would be invisible might be a good approach but then the user won't be able to select/edit/delete the feature, which is part of the requirement.
The application is a bit like the 'Create Map' functionality in Google Maps. The user can add markers, lines and polygons to the map using OpenLayers vector editing controls. A popup allows them to edit a label, change the styling and delete the feature. The map settings (zoom, centre, background layer) and features are saved to a SQL Server database and stored as geometry. This is sent to the database as WKT but the layers are loaded as GeoJSON from a handler on the website.
The client has asked for the ability for users to just place labels on the map (without a marker) and save these too. As I mentioned above, I thought about implementing this as a labelled point layer with the points styled to be invisible but this stops the user from selecting/editing existing features.
My question was whether there was an annotation layer type where the user can create annotations, select them and move them around on the map - similar to vector layers.
It looks like there isn't so how should I go about approaching this?