Sunday 5 January 2014

Happy new 2014

Happy new 2014 year!

As you can see from posts on this blog -- 2013 was a busy year for Trackprofiler. This year will probably see some more features. In the last few weeks I was compiling a list of features from users, and here it is. This is what you can expect this year:
  • Simplify tracks by removing too many points.
  • OpenStreetMap and Leaflet integration instead of Google Maps.
  • Easier handling of multiple tracks (bulk rename, change tags, delete, ...).
  • Support for the newer GPX version of: GPX 1.1 (and possibly more track formats, as well).
  • Show multiple tracks on one page. 
  • Multistep undo. At the moment the only way to revert an edit is to use "Revert to original track". With multistep undo You'll be able to undo only single edits.
  • Login with Mozilla persona.
  • Better editing tools for tags, automatic detection of tags.
  • Share waypoints between multiple tracks.
  • Public Trackprofiler API.
  • Bulk download of tracks on Dropbox.
  • User-defined colors for track segments.
  • Microsites (more on this later...).
In italic are the features planned for the first 3-4 months of this year.

This is not a definitive list, maybe some new and important features will be added, but I hope that at least two-thirds of this list will be ready this year.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Tomo

    Further to my previous email and your list of things to expect:
    Handling of multiple tracks at once would be great. I was thinking in a tabular format with all routes selectable for edits, including metadata such as author, copyright, email addresses etc.
    Other track formats would be great - tcx, kml etc.
    Sharing waypoints also would be fantastic, almost want waypoints stored separately which you can then link to the tracks you have.

    I can do a lot of this manually using other programs but having everything in one place would be fantastic as I currently have to bounce between programs to get what I want.

    2 other points on functionality not listed:
    Combining track segments - any chance for a combine all as well as the combine adjacent?
    No route support.

    Keep up the good work

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    1. Thanks Will!

      If you need some specific track format feel free to send me a sample file. In most cases it is easy to implement (let's say implementation + test = 2-3 days).

      Bulk uploading, I was thinking to use the existing list of tracks but to add some edit icons/links to change tags/title/description directly there. You can reach your track as a search result or by clicking on a tag, latest tracks or your profile -- anywhere you find it you'll be able to edit those generic metadata. At least title, description and tags. I didn't think about those you mentioned, but this is a possibility and relatively easy to add later.

      For waypoints, I'm still thinking how to implement it. I have hundreds of tracks and some of them have waypoints for the same location on slightly different positions. And the names, too, can be slightly different (for example the city where I live is called ViĆĄnjan, but I name waypoint sometimes as "Visnjan"). I'll need some heuristics on how to recognize that this is the same place.

      I still didn't try, but maybe openstreetmap has some APIs to suggest places (that's, too, on my list, but if I put everything there, it would become too unrealistic).

      By "combining segments" you mean just joining them together in the same order as they are at the moment? If yes, that's easy. If I have some time this weekend I can try to upload a beta with this.

      Cheers,
      tk

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    2. Hi Tomo

      Don't really have a specific track format needed just need to be able to edit all forms of metadata often applying specific ones to multiple files.

      I manage many 'routes' across the UK for charity cycle rides that we are currently implementing as a downloadable GPX on registration. I'm creating the routes as a track in Strava as at the mo their auto-routing is the most intuitive based on other cyclists chosen routes.

      Many of these routes have varying distances for different abilities and thus share waypoints which I want to create in your app. So a way of storing these separately to the track and then assigning them to different routes would be a real bonus.

      Having recently started using GPX I have learn't how to do a lot of this by editing the GPX in a text editor and adding metadata, copying waypoints across, removing to make one track segment (so yes combining all segments in the order they appear) etc. Would be wonderful though if all I had to do was use one interface to do the lot.

      Few points I have noticed recently.
      Clicking on a routes tag or searching for tag without selecting 'search yours only' will produce 0 results - my routes are private. Therefore to search for tag I have to go through search from topbar nav and select 'search yours only' to get a result, could be quicker.
      On adding elevation to route the overall length reduces, both 2d & 3d, about 4-5 miles over 100.
      Could a Profile tab be available left of Track when working on a track to get back to list of routes etc. One click rather than account>profile if my account name isn't on the page?

      Will

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  2. Hi Tomo,
    When can we expect the User-defined colors for track segments?
    Or is there another way to change these colors.
    Rolph

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    Replies
    1. I'm working on custom WMS layers and GPX1.1 at the moment. Sometimes after those two features custom colors will be ready, too.

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