I like to see it on OS mapping - API is fairly straight forward (if you know the Google API) and works off lat / long as well. I like to be able to use Google routing or Cyclestreets API for routing; and be able to change the choice of routing or indeed to turn it off as I click along the map.
i'm having a travel mode menu (car, bike, walk, or as crow flies) as the 'default' for the track/route but the ability to override for individual points via the right click menu, as I often want to do mainly car routing, but the odd section as crow flies where it doesn't think you can go but I know you can, for instance.
Both are again easy to use if you're familiar with the Google APIs. Because I'm using OS Mapping I'd be able to see contours on the route and want to be able to drag the route to a flatter option if so desired.
my site will not be using true google style dragging, as in with the white dot hovering over the line, such as you get by setting the 'draggable' option on the DirectionsRenderer (I've tried it but it sort of messes up other things I want to do in a way that I can't quite remember) but it should be possible to implement it in a custom way on a per-segment or per-track basis, much in the same way as bikehike does. However I think I will make per-segment the default, rather than per-track, and make it very clear where it thinks the hardpoints are, rather than having to insert them manually (I've been tripped up by the way bikehike does it on a per-track basis by default, I once found myself unnecessarily using about a 20 mile stretch of the A556 near manchester when I could have been on rural cheshire lanes, and it was because I'd dragged the track and it had re-routed the whole track rather than just, as I'd intended, the last bit.)
I'd like it to calculate the positions for Audax controls by using the distance API of Google.
I'm going to have a 'create a route based on this track' and then you'll be able to do things like insert a route point x km along the track, so you know where the points and controls on the routesheet actually are on the ground.
I'd like to be able to select others routes based on distance i.e. 100km 200km and distance from a location I choose.
I would very much like to be able to do this, however I am in two minds as to whether to do it or not due to the (very slight) possibility of the legal issues cited as the reason bikehike doesn't do it any more. I'm sceptical as to how much of a risk it is however as lots of other websites like bikely, bikeroutetoaster, mapmyride, ridewithgps etc all seem to do it.
I'd like it to highlight known cafe's using Google's own data plus anything else added by others.
Yep, definitely. It relies on people putting them in in the first place though so initially it might only have ones I've ever been to.
I'd like it to be touch enabled and work on a tablet or mobile phone.
It'll probably work on a tablet ok but am not going down the route of optimizing it for mobile. Can't see people planning routes on phones as being a very high percentage of its usage.
I'd like it to be location aware and work with a phones GPS when out on a route. I'd like to be able to choose the next point on the route by address, postcode, lat long, grid reference, or clicking on the map.
my site's going to be purely a gpx editor / route
planning tool, not an actual navigation aid when actually out on a ride. MOst of the target audience (primarily me
, but also audaxers/tourists) probably use garmins/dedicated GPSs actually on their bike rather than phones.
It will however have location awareness in the sense that the place-search box will be like the one on google maps itself rather than on bikehike - as in, its results are tailored for where the map is zoomed to, and it also offers a drop-down of likely matches as you start to type.
Thanks for the suggestions. It's making progress but isn't up to saving and loading a track yet, so you can't do much with it yet so probably not much point people trying to play with it but when it can at least 'round-trip' I'll post the URL here, with a list of what features i've got planned next.