New Hillwalking website

Theinsideman

Deleted User wrote: »

Fair play. Big fan of Mountainviews myself and use it a lot, and find their maps, descriptions, pictures, details, anecdotes, local history, organised walks etc. a great resource. But it possibly is geared more towards the hillwalker, the walks section there is perhaps one that they would like to have a few more entries and those that are there (certainly in the SW of the island anyway) lean more towards the peak bagger than the person who wants a stroll through woodlands. It strikes me that a forum is always useful though, can that be incorporated in your site?

Hi Conor,

agreed mountainviews is a great resource but I guess i felt for the casual user its not very easy to get into.

Good idea on the forum, tbh i wasn't expecting such a positive response so I didn't initially think a forum was necessary but it seems i'll need to rethink that! There is a comments tab on each trail at the moment, so users can discuss the unique trails.

Taltos

Theinsideman wrote: »

Thank you Taltos, its great knowing people find the site useful. Did you create the Glen of the Downs trail? If so many thanks as I have wanted a trail for this area for a while but dont know the area well enough. Pretty bad considering I'm from Wicklow.

http://www.walkingroutes.ie/942-Glen-of-the-Downs-Wood---Octogon-Steep-Return-Trail.html

Few more trails in there - will add them in when I can cook them up - also loads on that hill I just don't know - will add in the alternate entrance later - or maybe just add it as a long walk to link to the Coolagad woods as there is no off road parking there

Tobias Greeshman

Deleted User wrote: »

Fair play. Big fan of Mountainviews myself and use it a lot, and find their maps, descriptions, pictures, details, anecdotes, local history, organised walks etc. a great resource. But it possibly is geared more towards the hillwalker, the walks section there is perhaps one that they would like to have a few more entries and those that are there (certainly in the SW of the island anyway) lean more towards the peak bagger than the person who wants a stroll through woodlands. It strikes me that a forum is always useful though, can that be incorporated in your site?

I'll +1 that forum idea.

Really like the photo's and comments on each trail, and the facebook/twitter integration as well.

How about adding the latest activity to the main page, so something like "so and so" commented on trail X, added trail, or posted a photo. So regular users to the site see new trails, comments, photos?

Theinsideman

Tobias Greeshman wrote: »

I'll +1 that forum idea.

Really like the photo's and comments on each trail, and the facebook/twitter integration as well.

How about adding the latest activity to the main page, so something like "so and so" commented on trail X, added trail, or posted a photo. So regular users to the site see new trails, comments, photos?

Oooh nice idea Tobias. I'll get on that straight away for the home page. If folks want a forum, then a forum they shall have

Theinsideman

Taltos wrote: »

Few more trails in there - will add them in when I can cook them up - also loads on that hill I just don't know - will add in the alternate entrance later - or maybe just add it as a long walk to link to the Coolagad woods as there is no off road parking there

Great, thanks again Taltos.

Micilin Muc

fergusb wrote: »

Great site, one thing which I think would be useful is the ability to import a walk. I've a few walks i've done plotted with GPS and have them on Google Maps. So it would be useful if I could create a route off these points.

Possibly an upload KML file option?

Keep up the good work!

Theinsideman wrote: »

Hi Fergusb, I'm currently working on a tool which allows people to upload KML files. In theory this should be easy as the current system is all based of KML XML feeds.

I second fergusb's suggestion!

I'd suggest a download/upload tool. ww.gpsies.com have a great one.

Download to and upload from a Garmin would be great. The formats used most commonly with Garmin devices are

.crs
.tcx
.gpx
.kml

Theinsideman

Micilin Muc wrote: »

I second fergusb's suggestion!

I'd suggest a download/upload tool. ww.gpsies.com have a great one.

Download to and upload from a Garmin would be great. The formats used most commonly with Garmin devices are

.crs
.tcx
.gpx
.kml

Thanks you Micilin Muc. For creating trails I was going to start with KML files and expand out to other formats over time. I'm writing all the code myself in my spare time so please bear with me.

Thank you for the file formats I tried looking into this but got conflicting info. Allowing people to download trails as files is a lot easier so I should be able to get this out sooner.

You think of contacting groups like Killarney National Park or Cork/Kerry tourism who might be happy to see any trails they have uploaded, I guess the more coverage the better. And in fairness you really give Kerry the cold shoulder! :D

dbloke

Hey Conor, I'm sure ye have a few Kerry walks you can add! Although they might need a couple of new categories - very hard and extreme!

I'll try to add some this weekend.

Taltos

Any idea why some map icons are now appearing with a large cross on them and what looks like a "high" threat indicator?

Have added one Kerry one - just cause besides Wicklow where I live - that is the county I want to live in.

Esroh

Great Site
Added a walk for Lough Coolin.
Lots of walks in Joyce Country/ South Mayo. Our Hills are not high but the area is worth showing off

The Black Oil

Theinsideman wrote: »

Any luck blackoil?

Yeah, I was able to login after you posted/fixed it, thanks. I'm still very new to smartphones, so apologies for the basic nature of the question, but is this an app or just a site you log on to each time at m.walkingroutes.ie?

Theinsideman

Taltos wrote: »

Any idea why some map icons are now appearing with a large cross on them and what looks like a "high" threat indicator?

Have added one Kerry one - just cause besides Wicklow where I live - that is the county I want to live in.

Hi Taltos, I cant see the cross icon your referring to. can u send a screen shot. it may have been a temporary issue on googles side.

Theinsideman

The Black Oil wrote: »

Yeah, I was able to login after you posted/fixed it, thanks. I'm still very new to smartphones, so apologies for the basic nature of the question, but is this an app or just a site you log on to each time at m.walkingroutes.ie?

Hi Black Oil, Its a mobile version of the site, designed to be easy to use on a smart phone. There is the added benefit of being able to record trails as you walk them with the mobile site.

Theinsideman

Deleted User wrote: »

You think of contacting groups like Killarney National Park or Cork/Kerry tourism who might be happy to see any trails they have uploaded, I guess the more coverage the better. And in fairness you really give Kerry the cold shoulder! :D

Hi Conor, no i didn't consider that. Not sure how I'd go about convincing local/nation authorities to use it though. I wouldn't have any contacts so it would be a case of just sending emails and hoping for a reply.

dbloke

dbloke wrote: »

Hey Conor, I'm sure ye have a few Kerry walks you can add! Although they might need a couple of new categories - very hard and extreme!

You say that like you never been there maaaaaan, but I seeeeeeen you...:D

Taltos

Theinsideman wrote: »

Hi Taltos, I cant see the cross icon your referring to. can u send a screen shot. it may have been a temporary issue on googles side.

Can't they have gone again - it was only one or two maps each time - guess it was just me. It was also only the icon - the map itself was still accessible.

Theinsideman

Taltos wrote: »

Can't they have gone again - it was only one or two maps each time - guess it was just me. It was also only the icon - the map itself was still accessible.

That sounds like an issue on Google maps side alright. I saw that once but it doesn't happen very often.

Theinsideman

Hi all, just so you know I have added a recent activity dashboard on the homepage.

Roen

The link in the header needs fixing. http://www.walkingroutes.ie/\

Theinsideman

Roen wrote: »

The link in the header needs fixing. http://www.walkingroutes.ie/\

Fixed now. Thank you for the help.

Roen

Theinsideman wrote: »

Fixed now. Thank you for the help.

No probs, been adding quite a few walks too.

Theinsideman

Roen wrote: »

No probs, been adding quite a few walks too.

Hi Roen,

thanks for adding the trails its great to have some trails for Waterford. I see this puts you in a solid second place as a top contributor!

Roen

Theinsideman wrote: »

Hi Roen,

thanks for adding the trails its great to have some trails for Waterford. I see this puts you in a solid second place as a top contributor!

Only getting warmed up

Theinsideman

Hello all,

Just a quick note for those of you that may be interested. You can now create trails by uploading GPX files from your GPS device (such as a Garmin).

This should save folks a lot of time.

To use just sign in and click 'Create New Trail' from the 'My Tails' section of the website.

Barnavave

What about the six counties in the north east of the country?

Theinsideman

Barnavave wrote: »

What about the six counties in the north east of the country?

Hello Barnawavave, because I 'd need significant changes to the code to accommodate N.Ireland I decided to get up and running with the south counties first. However it is my intention to include the North ASAP.

Thank you for your interest.

fergusb

Thanks a million for the GPX import feature makes it a lot more useable.

I just tried it by uploading a route I did a while back up Lugnaquilla, but I think there is something wrong with the distance. According to walkingroutes.ie it was only 8.99km. but the GPX tracker gave it as 17.08km.

Might be worth investigating, the route is:
http://www.walkingroutes.ie/detail.php?rid=1111

Theinsideman

fergusb wrote: »

I think there is something wrong with the distance. According to walkingroutes.ie it was only 8.99km. but the GPX tracker gave it as 17.08km.
http://www.walkingroutes.ie/detail.php?rid=1111

Thanks Fergusb, Good catch.

I've fixed that now. However just to note that as the logic for calculating distance on the website vs. your GPX tracker will differ somewhat there may be a 0.3 km variance in the distance. This is mainly due to how elevations are calculated.

Thanks Again

p.s. if you 'edit' this trail the distance will be recalculated correctly.

fergusb

Great thanks, distances seem correct now! Thanks for the quick fix.

will upload a few walk over the next few days.