A new way to download Wikiloc's trails!!

Throughout tomorrow and Saturday the Wikiloc's trail download system will experience some changes which will gradually get to all users. We have created a new functionnality to directly connect Wikiloc with your Garmin GPS. Read a little further down for details of this new feature.

On the other hand, this new plugin has forced us to redesign the trail download interface. It's a redesign which does not affect the way we download trails and it's just a visual and interface update. From now on, when you download a trail a window will pop up with these three tabs:

- GPX: with the current existing list of options for downloading in GPX format
- Google Earth: download in KML format for viewing on Google Earth
- Garmin: to create the connection with the Garmin Communicator plugin for direct download to your GPS



But with the new plugin is where there's really a significant change. Let's go through the details.

Wikiloc-Garmin Connection

From now on it'll be even easier to download trails directly to your Garmin GPS. The new connection enables you to download and store trails straight to your gps, making the process much faster and easier to carry on.



How it works:
To download trails straight to your Garmin GPS follow these steps:

• Find a trail on Wikiloc and click on the Download link


• On the download window, select the Garmin tab


• Install the Garmin Communicator plugin on your computer (if it's not already installed or if you have an older version)


• Make sure that the install process worked fine by going to the Garmin test page (reboot if needed)


• Plug in your GPS to your computer


• Allow Wikiloc to communicate with your GPS


• Once the GPS is detected, click on Download (optionally, you can change the number of points the track can be downloaded as)

Supported Platforms:
The Wikiloc-Garmin connection will work on all platforms on which you can install the Garmin Communicator plugin. Currently those are:

PC: PCs with Windows 7, XP or Vista and Internet Explorer 6 +, Firefox 1.5 + or Chrome
Mac: Intel or PowerPC G4 or later Mac OS 10.4 or later with Safari 2.0 +, Firefox 2.0 + or Chrome

We would like you to tell us how well this new connection works, if it's easy to use, if it brings up errors, etc... So we'll greatly appreciate your feedback!

Wikiloc Downtime November 5th 2011

On Saturday November 5, 2011 Wikiloc not available on Saturday from 22:00 GMT until 05:00 GMT the next day. You may not access or search for trails, upload them or use any of the Wikiloc's usual functionality. We will use this downtime in the service to improve the infrastructure and give more power to the system, which will result in faster loading pages and more room to store tracks and photos.


Wikiloc downtime:
from 22:00 GMT on Saturday November 5
to 05:00 GMT on Sunday November 6

Thank you,
Wikiloc Team

Wikiloc er nú fáanleg á íslensku!!!

(Wikiloc is now available in Icelandic)

Thanks to the effort and great colaboration of Robert Beck, Wikiloc is now fully available in Icelandic! Robert is a heavy user of Wikiloc and has shared many tracks of his own. Thank you Robert, we appreciate your hard work!!

And just to show you one of the ton of Iceland's trails you can find on Wikiloc, here's a great route from humall in one of the corners of this beatiful country

On this weekend's downtime

First of all thank you for the patience you all have had with this unexpected downtime of Wikiloc (Sept. 18 to 20)

During maintenance tasks we detected an unusual behavior of the database that was affecting its contents. Given the possibility of this being a huge problem we decided to stop the server and analyze the situation looking for the source of the issue.

It seems that some records in the database were corrupted due to disk failure. Once this has been detected we have proceeded to the recovery of the data, also including the content added after the last backup. This process has been painfully slow, but that was the only way users were not affected and that you didn't loose any of the information uploaded.

Once the problem has been fixed, we have also taken advantage of this situation to update the structure of servers and put some updates in place, like our brand new homepage. We hope you like it!

Please, excuse us if we have caused any inconvenience during these three days.

Thank you so much for all the suport we have received from you during this hiccup. Happy trails!

Wikiloc Team

New filters on searches

One of the most common requests to improve Wikiloc which many users ask for is definitely improving the search for trails existing on the system. It is difficult (or, rather, long) to find trails based on criteria such as the type of activity, distance or trail difficulty. We knew it was a necessary improvement but we have not been able to put it on the system for quite some time. But search filters are finally here!



In the last few days on all search pages and listings of trails you have on the left side of the screen different filters that can be applied to fine-tune searches and quickly reach the trails you're interested in. The filters which can be applied are:

- Loop trails or just one way
- Trail distance
- Type of activity
- Difficulty
- Origin of the track (GPS, mobile, hand-drawn)

In addition to those new filters there's another feature added in the search results. Now these results can be sorted according to three different criteria :

- Popularity : the 'best' trail first (a 'best trail' means having a higher quality track, a good description and title, many visits, pictures and videos added, etc)
- Relevance : first the trails with the search criteria in the title, description, etc.
- Upload date : the latest added trails on top of the list

Also note that you can activate an activity as the search criteria by the default in all searches. That is, if you have set it up that you like climbing, on the searches you do (provided that you are logged in the system) will focus only on climbing trails, and the results will show up only this type of trails (you can then modify the criteria to broaden it up to more activity types). To set the default activity in searches you must select the activity on your user profile.

We hope this is going to help you find the best trails in the world!

Wikiloc for iphone

It took us a while, but we've got ready our shiny new iphone application!!!

More and more you, outdoors lovers, get out there to practice your favourite sport with your favourite gadget to track your outings and share them with your friends afterwards. But we know that you always also carry your smartphone with you, and sometimes 2 devices is one device too many. Here's where the Wikiloc iphone app comes into play! With the new app you will be able ditch your heavy GPS and still track those amazing hiking routes you discover every weekend!

So, what exactly can I do with the app?

The Wikiloc app is a route tracker. This means it uses the iphone's built-in GPS to track your location, show it to you on a Google map and then store it so you can upload the full track into your Wikiloc account. So this will be very useful for any type of outdoor activities, but specially for the hikers, runners, bikers and all those who like to travel light. Another important feature is that you can take photos on the go and they will be uploaded together with the track.

Here's some details on the features you can find in the app:

• Record your activities on the go and upload them to Wikiloc


• Take photos and upload them into the trail on Wikiloc


• Get stats (distance, speed, elevation,...) of the track


• Store your tracks on your phone for later upload


• Block the phone and keep it recording the trail

We have built the application following the 'Wikiloc philosophy': make it useful, make it simple. There are no instructions, nor a million configuration options. Just install it and start recording your activities. It's that simple!

Remember also that if you have your Wikiloc account connected to your Facebook profile, the trail you have just done and uploaded into your account will show up on your Facebook wall instantly. Let the world know you worked out hard!

And last, but not least, the Wikiloc app is free!! So go get it on the app store and let us know how do you like it!

If you have any suggestions for improvements or have uncovered any bugs, head over to the forum and leave there some feedback for us. We have improvements coming up but we'd like to know what's important for you to get it done first!

Download the Wikiloc iphone App now!

Wikiloc Helps Writing Books

We all turn to Internet to find places, trails and info for our outdoor outings. But let's not forget there's invaluable info not available in digital format. There are thousands of books that might be your best chance to find what you need for your next trip into the wild.

And it doesn't have to be just one media or the other. And the proof that mixing both worlds is a great idea is on these two books:

Hudson Valley GPS Hiking - Louis T. Rivas has done a great job on putting together popular hikes through some of the forgotten places around the New York Hudson Valley, an area he has been exploring for 12 years. But he has also been a Wikiloc user for a long time (HikingLou) and he has been uploading and sharing with the community the tracks and waypoints that will help you using the book. You can get his book on hudsonvalleyhikingny.com. Well done Louis!


Still unpublished, the second book is about a hiking trip that must be totally amazing to do. The book title is "De Reus a Roma" (From Reus to Rome) by Josep-Àngel Gassó Garreta and it describes the complete route from the Spain's city of Reus to Rome. Each stage has very carefully detailed information for hikers and it includes a link to the GPS track for that day uploaded on Wikiloc. We look forward reading you work Josep-Angel!