Troubleshooting

When things don't work as expected, look closely at the following possible causes:

1. I wrote the code into my article, but it doesn't show a map

- i just see the code instead!

• Make sure you have a working internet connection (well, that is rather obvious, because the maps are loaded from OpenStreetMap, but you never know - just exclude this as a possible cause of the problem.) 
• Make sure you have Javascript enabled in your browser.
• Make sure the plugin is installed and enabled -> look here and here
• Make sure there are NO HTML tags in the code -> look here. Actually, look there twice :-)

2. I just see an empty box

If your "map" looks like this:

...then the OpenLayers.js script can not be loaded.

• If you have left the Advanced Settings in the plugin options at default: most likely the OpenLayers server at OpenLayers.org is down (you should think about putting the OpenLayers.js script locally onto your own server, as described here).
• If you have changed the OpenLayers script source setting in the Advanced Settings: make sure the URL is correct, and the access rights on your server are set correctly. To test this, just copy-paste the URL from the Plugin Options to the Adrress field of your browser and hit Enter. You should see a big bunch of JavaScript code - if you don't, there's something wrong with the URL.

3. I see a box and some controls, but no map or track

If your "map" looks like this:

...then the OpenLayers.js script is fine, but the OpenStreetMap.js script can not be found.

• Check the same things as above, but for the OpenStreetMap.js script. (I recommend to also put that script on your own server as described here).

4. I see a box for the map, but no map (and no track)

If you see something like this:

then the plugin can not find (or access) your GPX track file. The good news is: the OpenLayers Javascript stuff is basically working :-)

• Read the notes about the GPX root folder here.
• Go to the plugin options (here) and make sure the GPX root folder is really where you believe it is.
• Make sure the permissions on the folder (where you have put your track file in) are set to public access. Try putting the GPX file into an accessible folder like /images and adjust the path in the options. If that works, then it's a permission problem.

5. I see the track, but no map

If your display looks like this:

...this can have several reasons:

• You zoomed in to close. Zoom out one or more steps until the map starts to reappear. Note: the different tile servers (OSM, Hike&Bike) have different maximum zoom levels, so you can also try to switch to a different map layer. The default, standard Mapnik layer usually has the best max. zoom. My favourite layer (Hike&Bike) does not zoom in as close as Mapnik. Also check the "Zoom Out" parameter in the Plugin Options here.
• The tile server that is supposed to deliver the map image parts ("tiles") is unavailable or down. Try to select a different map layer. (That's why it is always good to have more than just a single map layer available!)

6. The map shows, but the track doesn't look like i expected it

• Check the plugin options -> here
• If you have used Parameter Presets, make sure you have used them the right way. Especially make sure to understand how Back-End parameters, Parameter Presets and Individual Parameters are evaluated -> look here.

7. It all works, but page display is very slow

• Try not to put to many track maps on a single page. Every map has to load a bunch of image tiles from the tile server(s), so putting a lot of maps on a single page will slow things down.
• If you use the "Track information" feature: Note that the plugin parses each GPX file on the page to calculate the statistics information. So if your GPX files have a lot of trackpoints in them, this can also slow things down. To find out if this is the problem, disable the Track information feature (set it to "no track infos" here). If that fixes the speed issue, but you want to have the Track Info feature, you can reduce the amount of trackpoints in your GPX file(s) as decribed here. (I'm thinking about a caching feature for the Track Infos, so that each track file has to be parsed only once - but for the time being these are your options.)

8. I've got a different problem (not listed here)

Please use the Forum to post a description of your problem. The better you describe the problem, the more likely you will get help that gets you going. Note that i will not answer private support requests - i will just put them in the Forum for everybody to see and learn, so you may just as well put your question there yourself right away :-)

Please also note that i'm not a PHP, let alone a JavaScript expert, so if you post your question to the Forum your chances to get a good answer are better- maybe from some other user.