Author Topic: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.  (Read 3734 times)

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Offline wcrowder

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Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« on: October 29, 2016, 05:08:55 PM »
Updated today adding video using Blue Iris and IPTimeLapse. Suggestions welcome.

www.crowderfarm.com
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Just playing around, work in progress. :)

Offline ocala

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2016, 06:00:52 PM »
Nice place you have there.
The blues had a baby and they named it Rock & Roll

Offline Jáchym

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Offline wcrowder

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2016, 06:47:28 PM »
Yes it is, but in two different areas of the forum. I am actually looking for feedback and very few people actually take the time to do this any more I was posting to two different target audiences... Personal site links and those that develop personal links :)
« Last Edit: October 29, 2016, 07:01:22 PM by wcrowder »
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Offline ValentineWeather

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2016, 07:00:41 PM »
When you say not into it anymore are you talking about websites with cameras? I think there actually is more than ever with camera prices so much lower, could be wrong though.
BTW nice site I've been to it before.
Randy

Offline wcrowder

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2016, 07:05:05 PM »
When you say not into it anymore are you talking about websites with cameras? I think there actually is more than ever with camera prices so much lower, could be wrong though.
BTW nice site I've been to it before.

A couple years ago there was a constant flow of new posts on this forum, now it seems there a just a few a day. That's all I meant. And no, it's not websites with cameras. It is responsive HTML 5 websites and scripts... You can create all the "XHTML 1.0 Strict" websites you want... If it doesn't work on Mobile or Tablets, nobody will see it...
« Last Edit: October 29, 2016, 07:15:39 PM by wcrowder »
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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2016, 07:14:50 PM »
LOL if thats what you meant you are IMHO totally wrong, its just not the best idea to look on Saturday evening ;)

Offline wcrowder

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2016, 07:38:20 PM »
LOL if thats what you meant you are IMHO totally wrong, its just not the best idea to look on Saturday evening ;)

10 new threads in "Personal Weather Station Links" since July? What does Saturday evening have to do with it? Last new post in "Self Built" sites until today was September 26th... Until today...

I like what you've done, but it's to cluttered... The top menu is a mess, shouldn't it shrink to a hamburger with a drop down instead of scroll? Have you tried CSS? I can see your code with "view source", do you want mine, you might make it better and we can learn off of each other... ?
« Last Edit: October 29, 2016, 07:52:16 PM by wcrowder »
http://www.crowderfarm.com
Just playing around, work in progress. :)

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2016, 07:52:58 PM »
The menu is fine if you are looking from a PC or a fullHD tablet. If someone uses a smaller screen the script automatically redirects them to "mobile version" with hamburger menu ;)

Offline wcrowder

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2016, 08:00:27 PM »
The menu is fine if you are looking from a PC or a fullHD tablet. If someone uses a smaller screen the script automatically redirects them to "mobile version" with hamburger menu ;)

I understand that, I tested it already. You understand that a lot of people will slide that app to the side of there desktop while working on "Work", and that is not really responsive? Redirection is not responsive design... I'm not an expert web designer, but I know the same site should work on all devices whether the identify themselves to the app or not. That is what HTML5 was made for... Simple question, can I use your template as a Webapp back end to IOS, Android or Windows Mobile?
« Last Edit: October 29, 2016, 08:06:38 PM by wcrowder »
http://www.crowderfarm.com
Just playing around, work in progress. :)

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2016, 08:12:12 PM »
I know that very well, but in this case it is not possible to use for a very simple reason - it is not me who "creates" the website.

What you are talking about is 100% responsive design, something that uses the concept of segments, something like Bootstrap. Now, the problem is that you can easily do that when you know what you are working with. In my template, you as a webmaster have complete freedom over how many columns you put on your homepage, which blocks you use, how wide you make the columns, how many there will be etc etc.

That is all great, but obviously it also has its downsides. Given I do not have one predefined layout, I have no way of doing what you suggested because I have no clue what each user puts on their homepage, how wide they make the columns, how many... so I cant adjust it simply because I have no clue what I am trying to adjust if you see what I mean.

So I created the "mobile version" and it is recommended to only use one column or two columns there. What I can do and I did is make further modifications to the mobile section to make it work better on smaller screens - there is the hamburger menu, there is different font size scaling etc.

It is a compromise:
1) make one static homepage layout for everyone, fully responsive
2) give total freedom for the layout to the webmaster, but no possibility of using one page for both mobile and desktops

Vast majority of people prefer the latter option, so I used that.

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2016, 08:18:18 PM »
There is a homepage setup page in my template where you just say how many columns you want, percentage width of each and then the blocks you want in that column and their order. All in GUI, very simple and intuitive. But as I said, it comes "at a cost". But I can guarantee you I would never be able to come up with a layout that everyone likes- looking at the 300+ Meteotemplate websites, you would probably not find a single one that would look exactly like some other in terms of its layout.

Offline wcrowder

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2016, 08:22:41 PM »
I think it is possible. Everything is possible and for our community to continue, we need to figure it out... :)
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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2016, 08:25:06 PM »
Well I think it is impossible because there is infinite number of possible layouts. Infinite.

I know how Bootstrap works and you always have to specify how to split the segments based on all the widths and overall page layout, which is something you dont know.

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2016, 08:25:58 PM »
And I dont really see a problem with how it works now, if you have a small screen, you use the mobile version which works fine. And it solves the problem.

Offline wcrowder

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2016, 08:37:56 PM »
Well I think it is impossible because there is infinite number of possible layouts. Infinite.

I know how Bootstrap works and you always have to specify how to split the segments based on all the widths and overall page layout, which is something you dont know.

I was thinking you could simply limit the choices for the less apt, and add the ability to actually code into the "middle". Example, I am in the process of porting Serendipity, clean-blog template. I can actually code in anything HTML, PHP right into the WYSIWYG screen. Works, kind of neat.  I have it also where I can add my custom navbar and footer. This is way over my head, and I'm hacking at it, but it works... Some one better then me, IE. You could build this.  :) :-P
« Last Edit: October 29, 2016, 08:39:51 PM by wcrowder »
http://www.crowderfarm.com
Just playing around, work in progress. :)

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #16 on: October 29, 2016, 08:43:48 PM »
I think that the fundamental problem in this case is that you dont know how exactly Meteotemplate works.

You specify the number of columns, you download which blocks you like from meteotemplate.com, then place them on the homepage by specifying which column and which position. This is now all done via GUI. The template then creates a configuration file based on which the homepage is rendered.

So you say that you want for example 3 columns, column 1 block1, block2, block3.... column 2 block for current conditoins, block for forecast etc.

And you then get the 3 columns you wanted.

It is all via GUI and very simple to do, no need to do any coding at all and that was my goal. If you are more skilled then there is of course nothing preventing you to implement whatever changes you want.

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #17 on: October 29, 2016, 08:47:09 PM »
And it is extremely customizable, and what I tried to achieve was so that the user can set all this without ever seeing the code, which has finally been completely done in version 10, so you can now do all this just via GUI and the Control Panel:
- set up the blocks and homepage
- set up the header
- over 20 color themes with any 2 color combination
- over 20 languages
- you can set the footer and header - what you want there, which data/text
- header/footer images
- block borders, shadows, 3D effects, graph font sizes, border radius, the way the menu behaves (normal/sticky)

You can also update/install and set up all the blocks and plugins from the control panel.

This is how I wanted it, no need to code at all. And as I said previously if you know how to, then feel absolutely free to modify the code to your liking.

So if you know how many columns you have and how you want it to look on mobile devices, you can adjust it.

Offline wcrowder

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #18 on: October 29, 2016, 08:48:43 PM »
I understand, you have a niche to fill. You do good work, don't get me wrong...
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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #19 on: October 29, 2016, 08:53:04 PM »
Thanks,
same goes with you, I really appreciate your help/tips, but in this particular case, it is always a compromise and I guarantee you that if I asked again - do you want a fixed layout, fully responsive, or do you want to be able to set everything the way you like it, but with mobile/desktop versions separate, you would see what the users want...

One last thing - the mobile version was originally not there at all. Given my very limited HW resources (a 10yr old laptop with just 1GB RAM) and the fact I do not have a smartphone or tablet myself, it is relatively complicated for me to even test this. Fortunately people here from the forum helped me and I came up with what you see there now, which more or less works.

But you should also keep in mind that website such as Meteotemplate or even any other similar web is not completely possible to view on very small screens no matter what you do. That is why only some pages are included in the mobile version.
The simple reason for that is that with text, you can always split it and put it "below". But now think about graphs, maps, tables... tables yes, but it becomes confusing when you split those.
Maps and graphs? Impossible. You can make the axes smaller, you can adjust the legend, the scaling... but there comes a point where you just cant make it any smaller so certain graphs will always either overflow or be tiny and useless.

Offline Scalphunter

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #20 on: October 29, 2016, 09:01:34 PM »
There may be some who don't care to tell the world what they do. Some folks just do their thing and keep on truckin and  others have to get out there  an say HEY LOOK WHAT I DID?.  Think most of the older folks here   just do their thing quietly and go about  their business. if I develop something it not for everyone to know about it. In my area websites are waste of time and money.  People here want to now about weather they go to NWS site and get it or listen to weather radio.


John

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #21 on: October 29, 2016, 09:05:24 PM »
I see your point and Im not saying there is anything wrong with not having a website.

But you should also keep in mind that for some having a website and playing around with it is not just to inform others about the weather, but it is also a hobby that you enjoy yourself ;)

Offline CW2274

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #22 on: October 29, 2016, 09:57:51 PM »
Wow, did anybody else see an inflammatory post(s) come and go in a blink of an eye?

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #23 on: October 29, 2016, 10:08:25 PM »
Yes, it was a funny one :D

Offline sundevil01010101

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Re: Doesn't seem that to many people are into this any more.
« Reply #24 on: October 30, 2016, 02:18:22 AM »
I don't know about how many people running websites or how often people are posting but I do know WU monitors this forum.

So that means the community here matters as it is certainly a vital repository of collective knowledge on personal weather stations and web sites if so inclined.

I found this place when I finally decided to get into the hobby and the folks here were/are extremely helpful on questions about weather station selection, station siting, webcam selection and all sorts of stuff you can only get from other PWS owners.

And, frankly, without finding Jachym's most excellent Meteotemplate there would be 0 chance I'd have my own website.   

This site turned frustrated weather nut into a certified weather nut!   

And, it's not exactly a dying hobby either with WU recently celebrating over 400,000 PWS station owner reporting data!   

Just not all of them go beyond simply reporting to WU and so they may be using the site but not signing up to post as they can browse a lot of knowledge already posted.   

Almost forgot, very nice site!   On my part, I accept the fact the for my site like 99.9% of all visits to my site are by me lol...  And that's fine by me!
« Last Edit: October 30, 2016, 02:23:41 AM by sundevil01010101 »
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