Just a quick post about some blocks for which I received suggestions:
1. visitor count
This would be redundant. If you want to count visitors then I highly recommend the great and free Google Analytics service, which I use myself on all pages I ever had. It is extremely easy to add this, simply copy/paste the code that Google generates for you. In case of Meteotemplate, the best idea is to actually paste this code in the header.php, because you then get all views counted and you only have to copy the code once. The GUI then shows you very detailed info, which a person like me, who loves statistics (as you have probably noticed based on the weather station stats I have in my template) enjoys quite a lot. You can filter results by all sorts of parameters including location, time span, or even browser type, OS, desktop/phone/tablet etc. etc.
2. YoWindow
I know some of you use this, but I do not plan on adding this into the template. One of the goals I set at the beginning and also mentioned in the wiki as an advantage, is that I do not want to use any outdated or potentially vulnerable technologies. Flash (used by the YoWindow) is a primary example of this. It does not even work on most phones these days (unless you specifically install plugins), it will soon stop working by default in browsers such as Chrome or FF, it is not secure and overall, it is a thing of the past. Basically everything (and even more) can be done today using HTML5 and CSS3, technologies previously unavailable, so Flash made sense - today it does not.
3. Gauges
Theoretically it is not a problem to add this, but I think it is better not to. It is of course desirable to have current conditions right up front on the homepage - but that is exactly what the current block is for. There are several reasons for why I think it is better than gauges. First of all, it is true that seeing number is more precise. Gauges could be difficult to read. You could argue that some gauges can also display the actual values, but then you are basically showing the same thing twice and the current block does the exact same thing. Second, lot of you want lot of blocks and so saving space is a good idea and you do not want redundant stuff to be there (gauges + values). But the most important reason is acutually related to the scripts behind these gauges.
One of the great things about this modular independent blocks is that you can include lots of them without affecting loading time. Some of them simply load slower and you see the spinner, but the rest of the page loads instantly. However, this still means that all the blocks must be loaded by the browser and into the computer memory. The more blocks you have, the more demanding your site will be. When I tried to put all the blocks on the homepage and opened it with my 1GB RAM laptop, it completely froze. And it is true that most of you probably have faster computers, but it would still be quite slow. Most gauges, especially the ones that look good and are more sophisticated, use extensive JavaScript, which is ok on its own, but having all that loaded along all the blocks and scripts necessary for displaying the homepage as such (the interactive banner, the menu, the stats in the menu bar, all the blocks...) is really not ideal and can significantly affect the user experience.
In my opinion it is more important to get the information you want in a clear, fast and easy to use manner, then having all those fancy gauges turning up and down, left to right, full of shadows and 3D effects.
