Wikivoyage talk:How to use the GPX export feature

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What apps do you recommend using to load our GPX files?[edit]

Swept in from the pub

So far I've only tried the app GPX Viewer (for android) and I wasn't impressed -

  • it shows all the POIs in one color (while on the mapframe window at our site the POIs have different colors for each category).
  • It doesn't show the city/region boundries which are shown on our articles using the template template:mapshape
  • It doesn't show metro lines or other route lines which are shown on our articles using the template template:mapshapes

Am I missing something? do you actually prefer using the maps in our articles over GPX files when you are on the go? ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 16:56, 1 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

CC the main two users whom have worked on the template Template:GPX indicator so far: Andyrom75, WOSlinker, RolandUnger
ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 11:39, 3 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Usually, Gpx files do not contain colors but only waypoint and track positions. A waypoint can contain a description and a comment.
To store more information Gpx extensions are needed. At Wikivoyage/de we additionally use the Garmin extension to store phone numbers etc. Apps like Locus and Openandromaps use additional extensions.
Waypoints and tracks are obtained from the article itself. Boundaries and other geographic objects are not part of the articles and must be obtained from the Foundation's map servers and converted from GeoJSON to Gpx.
If I have some time, I will extend our Gpx tools in future, but it is a huge task because I have to become acquainted with Gpx. --RolandUnger (talk) 14:43, 3 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
RolandUnger, thank you for the answer. From your answer I understand that our readers would most likely get most benefit from using the mapframe maps in our articles instead of the GPX files if they need to use either of them on-the-go (unless they just want to put a bunch of POIs in the old Garmin GPS. By the way, which GPX app do you recommend using ? ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 18:37, 3 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Osmand+ seems to work pretty well in terms of displaying POIs exported from an article, it even uses thesame colors as wikivoyage. I've been using it for years for offline navigation and I'm pretty happy with it. It costs a few bucks in the play store but the full version is also available for free from fdroid. --El Grafo (talk) 19:00, 3 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately, I am not able to recommend an app. The main problem is that many apps behave in a different manner and use a set of undocumented gpx features which makes it difficult to implement. If we use undocumented tags or tags without schemas then some apps will not import these Gpx files because they cannot perform a tag pass validation.
mapframe and gpx are completely different tools which cannot be easily compared. Mapframe can be used only online with a reduced set of maps. Gpx is an exchange format bringing the data to different (offline) map viewers. Gpx contains also additional information like elevations, phone numbers and others. The can calculate moving times and landscape profiles which are of interest to hikers and bikers. --RolandUnger (talk) 05:14, 4 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

RolandUnger (or anyone whom knows), is there any official instructions on the English Wikivoyage on how to use GPX files? ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 17:58, 4 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I started this instruction page for one of the most useful features on Wikivoyage[edit]

Swept in from the pub

Please help me improve it. ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 10:12, 20 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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