There has been a whole raft of updates over the last week or so – here is a brief summary of the main ones:
Improved iframes
There have been some updates to the iframe maps, used to embed a map on another site. Firstly, probably quite overdue, OS maps are now supported – the iframe map will load the map type you have specified (rather than defaulting to Google Maps).
Secondly, iframe maps now support ‘live mode’ – this means that if your map is live, it will automatically refresh every few minutes (previously iframe maps were static).
The third change relating to iframes, is that there is now a ‘latest’ iframe you can embed – this will always show your lastest public map (again using the correct map type) – there is no documentation yet, but the iframe link to use is http://new.socialhiking.org.uk/maps/iframe/YOURUSERNAME/latest
SPOT support
Quite a few users have asked to use their SPOT satellite trackers as a location source – SPOT systems are more expensive than phone location sources, but they do have the advantage of not requiring mobile signal and having better battery life.
SPOT support has been implemented, but is still being testing – if you wish to be included just let me know on Twitter (@socialhiking).
New design
Earlier in the week, I published a sneak peak of the new design – it looks fantastic! It will probably take a month or so before the new design is implemented, but in the meantime here is the link to the preview: http://twitpic.com/4gvygx
Bug fixing
There have been a few bugs discovered and squashed:
- Problems relating to Twitter geo-tagging (thanks @richardmackney for your testing)
- Issue relating to instamapper when the UK timezone changed (due to barren documentation)
- A change in yfrog image urls caused all the images to break – this was fixed before anyone noticed!
- A self inflicted dodgy bit of error reporting code crashed the server when it flooded the mail server… fortunately resolved quickly late at night before it affected anyone!
Future developments
The list of future features is ever growing – a well as some new features related to the new design, there is also:
- more accounts to support
- supporting push notifications (near instant updates)
- building on the peak bagger feature
- supporting other local maps (especially in US and Germany)
It never ends!
In terms of supporting other local maps – I’d suggest adding the OpenStreetMap Cycle map view first – which gives you global coverage! In France I think it is better than the OS equivalent.
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=45.1448&lon=5.6519&zoom=14&layers=C
Thanks Andy – I have to admit I had discounted the OpenStreetMaps as they are not comparable to OS in the UK, however I take your comment on board about them being better than local equivalent in France and will look to add them!
Make sure you take a look at the cycle map rendering. It is a lot better for hiking than the original renderings – because it emphasizes the trails over the roads, and includes contour lines.
http://www.gravitystorm.co.uk/shine/cycle-info/