As January draws to a close, here's a quick roundup of the small additions and improvements we've made to PitStopper this month.
Demo GPX Routes
You can now try PitStopper without uploading your own GPX file. We've added a "Try PitStopper" section on the landing page with example routes for both cycling and walking.
The routes automatically change based on your language setting:
- Cycling: Fred Whitton Challenge (UK), Miami to Homestead (US), Tour de France Stage 4 (France), Friedensroute (Germany), Costa de la Luz (Spain), Potenza to Naples (Italy), Shimanami Kaido (Japan), Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Walking: Affric Kintail Way (UK), Yoho Valley Trail (Canada), GR10 Pyrenees (France), Black Forest (Germany), Pyrenees (Spain), Alta Via 1 (Italy), Kumano Kodo (Japan), E2 Path (Netherlands)
It's a great way to explore PitStopper's features before planning your own adventure.
Address Lookup
We've added address lookup in two places:
- Right-click context menu: When you right-click on the map, you can now copy the address of that location
- Add POI screen: When adding a manual POI, the address is automatically fetched and displayed
This uses Nominatim and Photon geocoding services to provide accurate address information.
Query POI Improvements
The "Query POIs at Location" feature has received several improvements:
- Search 500m button: After searching with the default 100m radius, you can now quickly expand to 500m with one click
- Extended OSM details: POI popups now show more information from OpenStreetMap including surface type, access restrictions, opening hours, and the OSM element type
- Auto-zoom: The map now automatically zooms in when needed, instead of showing a warning
Small Fixes
We've also made some smaller improvements:
- Accessibility: Added aria-labels to icon-only buttons, fixed form label associations, and improved colour contrast
- Character display: Fixed an issue where POI names with special characters (like ampersands) weren't displaying correctly
- Compressed projects: Project files can now be saved in a compressed .psp format for smaller file sizes
Looking Ahead
We're not anticipating adding many new features during February, but PitStopper will continue to receive bug fixes and small improvements as needed.
As always, we'd love to hear your feedback. If you have suggestions, find a bug, or just want to say hello, drop us a line at hello@pitstopper.net.
Happy route planning!
