Well I finally got around to implementing some of the interface changes that needed to happen. The goal was to make it more intuitive and streamlined. To make that happen I made the following changes:

• Plot mode is now ‘Route.’
• Panel mode is now ‘Divide.’
• Print mode is the same.

I’ve also started calling the ‘panels’ ‘pages.’ Which I think more people understand. I’ve also updated the print-out so that each page gets it’s own sheet of paper. I’ve also removed the ‘Font Size’ button. Now the font is always set to small. I think that size is easily readable and shouldn’t need to be adjusted. Along with that I’ve removed the text directions from all the modes but print. This removes the unnecessary clutter that they produce. Lastly I scrapped the old print mode and made a new one. When you move into print mode the main map recenters on the entire route and each page you have created gets it’s own map which is displayed below the main map. The text directions associated with each page are displayed alongside. Since all the pages are displayed you only need to print once!

The only new functionality I added was the ‘- Route’ button. This button takes a route which has been plotted and turns it back into waypoints. So if you wanted to adjust the route without having to start over you can click this button; move your waypoints; and plot the route again. I had actually created it a while ago but held off in releasing it because I didn’t think it was really necessary. I’m still not sold on it so if you like it give me some feedback.

I’ll be working toward making some way of loading/saving routes to a database after this. I’m guessing this will take a while so don’t think this site has died if nothing changes for a while.

You may have noticed a lack of activity on the site recently. It started with the Thanksgiving holiday and will continue through the new year. I have been doing some work to the bike map creator but I don’t have anything to show for it. A lot of what I’m doing is conceptual right now.

I had planned to focus on making some kind hardwired way to save/load routes but I realized that the interface (always) needs work. After talking to my roommate who isn’t a cyclist about the program I decided that I need to cut out some of the bloat in the program. You can expect to see the split function disappear along with a redesign of the plot and print modes.

In fact all of the modes are getting renamed. Plot, panel, and print is great for alliteration but I think it isn’t very clear what the purpose of each mode is. Right now the program is overly flexible. I think this makes designing the bike maps harder because the things that happen during each mode aren’t intuitive. Here are some of the areas I’m looking at:

• Text directions (they should show up sooner)
• Font size button should show up with the text directions
• Print mode is a mess, you really should only have to hit print once, not for every panel
• What the hell is a panel anyway? I think I might be the only one who knows
• The split function is slow and doesn’t really have a huge benefit considering that printing your own pages is cheap.
• Route editing could use some attention. What happens if you want to add a way-point in the middle of the route? Or you want to edit the route after it has been plotted?
• You probably can’t tell but the code is a mess…
• If the view point gets changed then clear text directions.
• Individual panel deletion needs to be added

That is a lot of stuff. I also just got a new job so my time to work on Ride Free Bike Maps has diminished a lot. The job requires that I get up super early too and my body is seriously rebelling against that right now. That means working on the site after work is just not gonna happen. My body needs rest and because of that my mind doesn’t function well at all (OOOH philosophy BONUS!). On top of all that I’m headed to Kauai for the first week of the new year and I will not be working on the site at all. You may see pics of some sort if I find neat bike stuff but most posts will head to my personal blog/facebook.

So there you have it. Stay tuned I will be adding to this site in the future. I really want to move on to the next phase where saving/loading bike maps will come into being but I must do this first.