Release Notes

29th February 2024

I got the urge to make some new features related to the Map search page, so much so that I've had to split it off to a whole new site: https://solentmaps.uk. All the Map search page features are over there, plus a whole load of new stuff. No other changes were made here.

7th February 2024

Added a new feature to locate your current position on OS maps (provided your device supports GPS location finding - nearly all modern phones do). So I have split the map search-related features off to a new Map search page, leaving the GPX-related ones where they were before. The map search pages now show a cross-hair to show exactly where the found location is. I have also added a blog page where I spout whatever incoherent thoughts comes to mind.

There should be no breaking changes in this release hopefully.

12th January 2024

The site has moved to a new server. So I took the opportunity to make some changes:

• The site's appearance has been updated and simplified to make it work more uniformly across different devices (a big thanks here to simple01.css)
• The OS maps now render faster thanks to some code efficiencies with OS authentication tokens which I should have thought about much earlier
• The Google maps code has been updated to use Google's latest recommended API calls
• Uploaded GPX files now open up in a new tab which is easier for comparing tracks side-by-side

Hopefully there are no breaking changes this time, though you may need to do a refresh of the pages to clear any locally cached files. I try to only use JavaScript features which have been supported in all common browsers since 2017 so that the maps work on older devices. Often though, these decisions are forced on me by updates to the map providers' code. Map providers, like time and tide, wait for no man. Please do let me know if there are any problems with this release via the email address at the bottom of the page.

10th November 2022

Minor style and layout improvements for mobile devices. Fixed some map displays failing due to outdated OpenLayers CDN links.

9th November 2021

The elevations data panel and mini-graph shown when viewing a British GPX file have been updated to use OS Terrain 50 elevation data rather than SRTM data. The reasons for this are explained in the new OS Terrain 50 page, which developers might be interested in. Also, the site has undergone a much-needed content update, internal sort-out, de-lousing, and fumigation. So please let me know if anything which used to work is now broken (email address at the bottom of this page).

24th July 2021

The site has been re-written to use the new Ordnance Survey Maps API code. This was necessitated by the planned withdrawal of the OS OpenSpace code (in August 2021) on which this site was formerly based. The old code had been running since 2008 but would no longer work once OS switch off access to the old OpenSpace server. This has forced some changes to the site as follows:

The new good stuff:

• The site now contains 1:25k scale maps in addition to the 1:50k maps we had previously. Yes, the OS crown jewels for hikers and riders are now publicly available for free!
• GPX files now load up showing the full extent of the route or track (at the cost of the tile images loading more slowly than before).
• GPX distance and elevation summaries have been re-worked. If a GPX file has elevations in it, then they will be summarised as ascent and descent as before.
• Elevations and a graph using SRTM data have been added to allow a comparison against GPS-recorded elevation data (which is usually hideously inaccurate). This is nothing to do with the new OS APIs but they seemed like a useful addition.

The new not-so-good stuff:

• The new OS code only works with modern browsers. In particular, Internet Explorer will no longer work here. Recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox et al. should all be fine.
• There is a monthly limit to the free access of 1:25k and 1:50k OS Leisure maps. If the limit is exceeded, then the OS maps won't render.

If the changes made have broken something you used to rely on, then perhaps try OS Maps, which is terrific value for money. It has all the online OS features you will likely ever need, including plotting & viewing saved routes and importing & exporting GPX files.

If you find any other problems then please drop me an email at bobosola@gmail.com.