arctic-cycler.com

In this post I examine different options I have found in posting cycle routes on a free wordpress.com blog.

For my upcoming cycle adventure I want to track my trip, and post the route on my blog. I use a wordpress.com free blog. As many have noted in various forums, most iframe and flash elements are blocked due to security concerns on wordpress.com, which means it is quite difficult to post a freshly tracked route on your blog – especially when the post is created from the WordPress smartphone app.

In the past I have tracked my route with the EveryTrail smartphone app, and embedded the track on the wordpress.com blog using a flash workaround. This map often takes a long time to load, and is not visible at all when viewed from a smart phone. Much preferable would be an iframe element like on the TwistingSpokes blog. (Martin and Susanne from TwistingSpokes say they use a wordpress.org blog with a google maps gpx viewer plugin. WordPress.com does not allow plugins.) This loads quickly, and is also viewable on a smart phone.

It is possible to use iframe directly with google maps on wordpress.com, and so, if you can import your tracked trip into google maps, you can then post it on the blog. This can be done in several steps (which cannot be done on a smart phone).

• Save the recorded gpx file. (Using EveryTrail, the download gpx file option is in the bottom right of the screen.)
• Convert the gpx file into a kml file with GPS Visualizer. Save the converted kml file.
• Open google maps in the classical interface. Go to My Places  and click on Create with Classic MyMaps.
• Click on import and then load the kml file just created.
• Click on the link button and then copy the iframe text. Post this in the wordpress.com post.

Below is the EveryTrail flash version of the map, and the iframe version described in this post.

For my blog, I intend to use the iframe version when I have more time and access to wifi.