Applied Vitals

Instructions on how to embed Garmin Connect activities in WordPress

The notice that Garmin Connect would be down for a portion of the day for enhancements was pretty unassuming.  I figured that at best the page load times would be improved and perhaps some broken functionality, like the ability to delete goals, would be repaired.

Instead, Garmin Connect users were treated to a dramatically improved user interface.  Some of the features and functions that were added are ones that I’ve been wanting for for a long time.

The ability to toggle between pace and speed is one I’ve been anxious to see.  Because I use my Forerunner 310xt for multiple sports, it was previously not possible to see my min/mile run pace and then switch to mph ride speed.  To see the different calculations of the data, the activity type needed to be changed for the entire workout.

Google Earth viewing and KML file export has been added. This adds tremendous flexibility to map data presentation options, including angled view with topography.

The ability to change the scale of the graphs is a nice addition as well. The feature is presented thru simple zoom and expand icons in the lower left-hand corner of the graphs.

An embed option for posting data on external sites is now available. It’s not actually an “embed” though, but rather an iframe.  The distinction is worth making because embed implies the use of a browser plugin like flash, where iframes display html from another site.  Both have their pros and cons.  Flash currently isn’t available (prevalent) on mobile devices and iframes doesn’t play well with some content management systems.  The TinyMCE toolbar editor in WordPress (running this blog) will actually strip out all iframe code if toggling between html view and visual view before saving.  GPS and activity data from recent Palmetto Swamp Fox Adventure Race iframed bellow:

How to embed Garmin Connect activities in WordPress

Read a bit more about the Garmin Connect user interface enhancements on Garmin’s website.

Full list of enhancements from the Garmin Connect Help page:

• New Details Page
  Revamped Details page to show more data, charts and new features.
• Edit Summary Data
  Edit summary data provided by devices or manual entries.
• Elevation Corrections
  Improved elevation corrections for devices without a barometric altimeter with the option to toggle between elevation reported by device and corrected elevation.
• Time/Moving Time/Elapsed Time
  Breaking down Time and Speed/Pace based on recorded time, moving time and elapsed time on the Details page.
• Speed Metrics Toggle
  Easily switch between Speed and Pace metrics on the Details page.
• Heart Rate and Power Metrics Toggle
  Easily switch between BPM – % Max – Zones for Heart Rate metrics and Watts – Zones for Power metrics on the Details page.
• Embedded Details Widget
  Get widget code for a specific activity to add to a blog or website.
• Explore Improvements
• Improved the User Interface of the Explore page. Added RSS feeds based on search results.