What would make you a raving fan?

[weatherforyou]

What I'd like to see? I've asked before about how to add the weather history on my page like is done in Weather Display, but never got a reply.

Sorry I missed any requests about that.  Are you talking about your station's history?  Or the "This Date in Weather History" like at http://www.weatherforyou.com/weather_history/?  I still have messages between us about the latter, but thought it kind of ended when you weren't sure if you could use a MySQL or flat file database.  I just got done adding a bunch more recent events to the database.  I'd be glad to make that available to anyone that wants to use it.

I'm terribly sorry, Joe. I must have been confusing our prior conversation with something else completely. We definitely did discuss using "This Date in Weather History", and you did offer a solution. My recollection is that I didn't (and still don't) understand how to use the information to get the data onto my web page. That's completely irrelevant to this discussion. I'm sorry for the confusion.
Steve

No reason to apologize, Steve.  I just wasn't sure if you were referring to your weather history or general weather history.  And not necessarily irrelevant to the discussion.  I'm asking what we can do to serve you. 

[weatherforyou]

Can Weather For You do the same? Currently I have no reason to ditch WU, but we will see what the future brings.

First off... I'm not asking anyone to ditch WU or anyone else.  There is a concern when WU joins TWC some services will no longer be free or available.  Therefore I'm seeking what is the most important to the PWS community so I can allocate resources to fill those needs where possible.  If after we add something someone decides to use ours over WU that's another matter.

I provide my data to WU and they let me use the following resources for free:
#1 Radars
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/radar.php#regonradar
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/areaweather.php

That is one of the things I'm working on.  Either allowing use of my current radar or I may purchase an enterprise license so it can be used on other sites.

#2 Historical data and graphing
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/history.php
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/wxwugraphs.php

I'm pretty sure this is one of those things that were written by someone other than Weather Underground.  Nothing similar has been written for PWSweather.  If someone wanted to write something similar using data from PWSweather.com/WeatherForYou.com I would greatly welcome it and provide whatever information was needed to do so. 

#3 WD pulls data for:
$WUmaxtemp    89.0            Todays average max temperature from the selected Wunderground almanac station
$WUmintemp    67.0            Todays average min temperature from the selected Wunderground almanac station
$WUmaxtempr    102.0    Todays record max temperature from the selected Wunderground almanac station
$WUmintempr    52.0;    Todays record min temperature from the selected Wunderground almanac station

We're redoing the historical database.  While we're at it I can see about making it available either as data or through an image.

Thanks for the ideas!

[weatherforyou]

Joe, how about the ability to show a photo of of the weather station and its surroundings?  Encourage contributors to show more than just a photo of the anemometer in the air.

Good idea.  We haven't gone into the photo realm yet.  This may be a good way to do it.

The ability to show a larger map of the regional PWSes such as something like this: http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/?lat=39.41600&lon=-119.79500&zoom=12&type=ter&units=english&rad=0&wxsn=1&wxsn.mode=tw&svr=0&cams=0&sat=0&riv=0&mm=0&hur=0&fire=0&tor=0&ndfd=0&pix=0 would be better than the tiny, boxed maps available now.  You could trump then WU by allowing the viewer to delete the unreliable stations (ones that apparently have poor radiation shielding, poor sensors, poor locations, etc.) from that map view.

I'm looking at what it would take to add personal weather stations to the interactive maps.  We'll start with seeing how that can be done and look at user control later.

Thanks for the ideas!

[weatherforyou]

What about adding Solar readings to the history page, or cloud cover conditions.. i.e cloudy, overcast..etc

If there was a script like the WU one that someone made, Id use it.

http://www.snoqualmieweather.com/wxwunderground.php

Adding solar data is on the list for the next update.  Many stations don't send sky and weather conditions since WU didn't use them at one point (even though we do and I'm not sure if WU started using them again).

If someone wrote a script like they did for WU I'd be extremely excited.  That's where WU and personal weather station users have been really lucky to have fans like they do to write scripts like that.  I'm hoping someday we'll have fans like that. 

[ALITTLEweird1]

Joe,

If what Jeff said happens and our data is being sent to weather.com, I'm sure a lot of people are going to leave WU. I have a feeling your going to be quite busy..lol

I hope theres a php guru out there willing to help with some scripts to accommodate your data onto our sites like the WU scripts. Id be more than happy to have them on mine.

[Dr Obbins]

#2 Historical data and graphing
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/history.php
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/wxwugraphs.php

I'm pretty sure this is one of those things that were written by someone other than Weather Underground.  Nothing similar has been written for PWSweather.  If someone wanted to write something similar using data from PWSweather.com/WeatherForYou.com I would greatly welcome it and provide whatever information was needed to do so. 
Thanks for the ideas!

While the scripts are written by someone other than WU, WU has stored my data since 2008. This data is what is pulled for these pages.

[weatherforyou]

#2 Historical data and graphing
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/history.php
http://www.cavecountryweather.com/wxwugraphs.php

I'm pretty sure this is one of those things that were written by someone other than Weather Underground.  Nothing similar has been written for PWSweather.  If someone wanted to write something similar using data from PWSweather.com/WeatherForYou.com I would greatly welcome it and provide whatever information was needed to do so. 
Thanks for the ideas!

While the scripts are written by someone other than WU, WU has stored my data since 2008. This data is what is pulled for these pages.

If you've been sending to PWSweather your data is available back to the day you started sending.  We have data archived back to when we "signed on" in 2000. 

[kaymann]

For me to jump over to WFY would require one simple thing:

Simple easy uploading from WL.  That is all it would take for me to be a half/raving fan....

I have been using WL for 15+ years and have no interest in changing out to something else.  That is the bottomline.

I can justify my stance because I have Excel doing hand stands with pivot tables/charts, conditional formating and macros.  I have daylight hours vs. temp,  baro vs temp. With one click I can see the entire year and another click drill down to my 10 minute interval etc. This all based on the format WL exports the data.  I have seen software and websites come and go.  WL and Excel remain constants.

If WL won't add WFY then WFY should add WL: an applet we could use, an applet on your server you can use.  Either way it is much easier for you to fix it for all of us, than it is expecting all of us to fix the WL problem by switching software.

The above sounds harsh on second read... but you did ask and I don't think I am alone in not wanting to change out WL to suit the website.

I do wish WFY the best.  I have joined WFY but cannot send you my data because I use WL.

And Grants Pass is an incredibly beautiful and wonderful community to visit and live in!

[weatherforyou]

For me to jump over to WFY would require one simple thing:

Simple easy uploading from WL.  That is all it would take for me to be a half/raving fan....

If WL won't add WFY then WFY should add WL: an applet we could use, an applet on your server you can use.  Either way it is much easier for you to fix it for all of us, than it is expecting all of us to fix the WL problem by switching software.

I, in no way, expect anyone to switch from software they are completely satisfied using.  I did expect a company to respond to requests from numerous users to add a feature over a dozen other software titles have available, not tell me no one has ever requested it and tell me one year they're going to add it and then the next year they're not.

And it's not an especially easy fix for us.  None of us program in the language WL is written in.  We've hoped someone with the knowledge would step forward and help but it hasn't happened.  I could pay someone to do it, but I have an issue with spending money to develop software for one company when none of the others who freely added the support received anything more than promotion and our undying gratitude.  I may find out how much it would cost and find some way to compensate the other software authors.  It would then set a precedent for any future additions, though.

WeatherBug is in the same situation and Davis has told them similar things.  Nathan has talked to me about it and he may have someone who would make a module that would support PWS and WB.

The above sounds harsh on second read... but you did ask and I don't think I am alone in not wanting to change out WL to suit the website.

Again, I'm not asking anyone to use different software to suit PWS.  I and many others have frequently asked Davis to change WL so their users can have the same capabilities as over a dozen other software titles.

And Grants Pass is an incredibly beautiful and wonderful community to visit and live in!

I am incredibly fortunate the Internet allows me to live and work where I want.  This is a beautiful area. 

[kaymann]

Well I wouldn't be surpised if it has something to do with the new WL Network subscriptions they are offering...
The more accessible they make it to WFY the less likely we are to subscribe to WLN.

[weatherforyou]

Well I wouldn't be surpised if it has something to do with the new WL Network subscriptions they are offering...
The more accessible they make it to WFY the less likely we are to subscribe to WLN.

Perhaps that has increased their desire to not support us.  However this has been going on, for us, for over 11 years now.

[mdbelt]

Just a quick thought.  The interactive Wundermap that refreshes itself is BY FAR the biggest draw to WU.  I can just have that sit on my station monitor with my station centered & it keeps itself up-to-date.

Here's another small thing:  When I navigate to the "Station Observation" page of pwsweather my station is displayed with just an icon.  Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty icon, but it has no real data.  If I zoom out I see other stations with the temperature displayed.  I'd really like to be able to have my temperature, wind direction, & wind strength (the funny little directional line with the notches [not technical term I know]) displayed.  OK OK, I admit it, I'm trying to get it to look more like the wundermap.

[weatherforyou]

Just a quick thought.  The interactive Wundermap that refreshes itself is BY FAR the biggest draw to WU.  I can just have that sit on my station monitor with my station centered & it keeps itself up-to-date.

Our Interactive Map page also refreshes automatically.  But we're looking at adding personal weather stations to it.

Here's another small thing:  When I navigate to the "Station Observation" page of pwsweather my station is displayed with just an icon.  Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty icon, but it has no real data.  If I zoom out I see other stations with the temperature displayed.  I'd really like to be able to have my temperature, wind direction, & wind strength (the funny little directional line with the notches [not technical term I know]) displayed.  OK OK, I admit it, I'm trying to get it to look more like the wundermap.

That's because the whole page is your data.  The icon is just to show where the data is coming from while showing other stations in the surrounding area.  If there were a bunch of similar icons it might not be clear which one is the one with that station's data.  But we'll kick around an idea how to make it obvious its that station while still including an icon like the others.

[ocala]

So what do you think Joe?
Can any of the idea's, comments,& criticism's mentioned here be applied to WFY to take the place of WU if it were to disappear?

[weatherforyou]

So what do you think Joe?
Can any of the idea's, comments,& criticism's mentioned here be applied to WFY to take the place of WU if it were to disappear?

I'm thinking positive about it.   

I'm putting together a list which I'll go over with the companies we partner with.  If I can't work out something one way there's always another (door closed, look for window ).  Alternate routes may cost us some money, but we'll see about working it out.  Like I said in another post we operate 100% debt free so some things may take a little more time if we have to save up for the development cost or find some other revenue streams to cover them (WITHOUT increasing advertising or going to popups, popunders or less than tasteful ads).

[gtstricky]

One thing that would draw more fans: getting it on the first page when you search "weather" on google.
I know that is a catch 22 because you need people linking to your site to get you higher in the search results.

[weatherforyou]

One thing that would draw more fans: getting it on the first page when you search "weather" on google.
I know that is a catch 22 because you need people linking to your site to get you higher in the search results.

Yup.  Page 7 doesn't do us any good.   

There are sites in the first few pages that haven't been around more than a couple years and don't have near the traffic we do (according to Alexa, Quantcast and ranking.com).  So there's more than just traffic.  Although traffic is a big help.

We buy Google ads every so often as the budget allows.  Not great results from them.  They've offered to do a free evaluation to improve those results.  I just wish they'd offer to move us up to page one in the search. 

[gtstricky]

If you don't already, try out google analytics and google webmaster tools. Both are free and offer some great info. You add a snipet of code to your site that allows google to track traffic. Google does not know how many people go to your site unless they get there via google or the code is on your page (so they say).

One of the big things that google rankings like is when there are other sites that link to your site. Of course they also look at which sites link. So if my site links to yours it does not carry the same weight say if CNN.com has a link in an article to your site. Press releases with juicy info can get you picked up. Write some opinion pieces on global warming or the expected terrible winter coming and send them into your local paper. Stuff like that...

(sorry if you know all that already)

[weatherforyou]

If you don't already, try out google analytics and google webmaster tools. Both are free and offer some great info. You add a snipet of code to your site that allows google to track traffic. Google does not know how many people go to your site unless they get there via google or the code is on your page (so they say).

One of the big things that google rankings like is when there are other sites that link to your site. Of course they also look at which sites link. So if my site links to yours it does not carry the same weight say if CNN.com has a link in an article to your site. Press releases with juicy info can get you picked up. Write some opinion pieces on global warming or the expected terrible winter coming and send them into your local paper. Stuff like that...

(sorry if you know all that already)

Thanks for the info.  We've used Google analytics since right after they got it from Urchin.  We also have around 744,000 websites of varying quality linking to us from our Snapshots.  Not sure if I want to get into the global warming argument.  I do have an opinion but it could either make the site a star or kill it. 
 

[SlowModem]

Not sure if I want to get into the global warming argument.  I do have an opinion but it could either make the site a star or kill it. 
 

Yep, it's a no-win situation.  Either way you alienate 1/2 (or so) of your audience.

[weatherforyou]

For those who submitted ideas... thank you very much.  For those who thought I didn't really pay attention to the ideas... I'm changing planes in Detroit right now on my way to a meeting with one of my partners to go over how to implement as many of these ideas as possible.  We could have tried to go over these things through e-mail and phone, but I thought face-to-face would be best.

It took a few months because I combined it with another trip I knew would be coming up.   Can only afford so many trips east every year.  But a chance to ride the USS Enterprise (aircraft carrier) on it's last trip was reason enough.   

[Skywatch]

Awesome. I like the sounds of that.

my wish list

1. UV and solar
2. automatic updates. (no hitting the refresh)
3. camera images
4. more appealing display. Like instead of just plain numbers use dials or other graphics.
5. Click it to graph it. Instead of selecting wind graphs or temperature graphs have boxes where user can check the variables they want to graph and if possible make it cursor interactive where it displays the value and the time where the cursor is. Display more than one variable at once. Eg wind and barometer.
6. Allow a manual report for other current observations that aren't uploaded like fog ice or comments on the current weather
7. If possible include other data like ET, soil moisture, soil temperature, leaf wetness, sunshine duration. Guess not everyone reports those items so that maybe a not so good idea.
8. Better search options. I can't stand that map on the PWS Weather site under tools. Hard to pan around and find the station I'm looking for. Should just enter in the zip code and have a list of stations and their observations and have a better map depending on user preference.
9. Trend monitor to display if a variable has increased or decreased within what ever time frame.
10. If possible allow station owners to customise their own weather pages with different colors backgrounds and designs. Which kinda has something to do with my number 4.

[JACK10562]

I think navigation enhancements to make it easier to view personal/home weather station data would be a winner. As it is, when entering a zip-code using the home page "Weather forecasts, current conditions and more", the search brings one to a local "NWS station", typically at an airport.

If it's possible I would like to see an additional link perhaps under the "nearby" button drop-down menus, to bring one to nearby local personal/home weather stations. Right now the two choices are "Close Towns" and "Neighborhood Weather" neither of which gives access to personal weather station data.

In order to see personal/home weather stations one has to click on "latest" and then "personal Weather stations" which brings one to a continental US map where you have to drill down to get to to a station of interest.

It's kind of buried in there.

[weatherforyou]

Actually personal weather stations are given first priority in being included with local forecasts on WeatherForYou.com.  NWS stations are used if a personal weather station is not available.

I noticed your station hadn't been linked to the local forecast, but it is now.  It may have not been sending data during an update.  If anyone else doesn't see their data with their local forecast PM me and I'll look into it.

I do like the idea of including a personal weather station map link in the Nearby menu.  I'll look at adding that soon.

[ukwoody]

Hi, I personally wasn't aware of WFY until this thread.  So I've been and had a little play.
Now as a non US user, the first thing I notice is that when you type in my town (in Wales ,UK) of "Milford Haven", it takes you to Virginia. Nice, but just a tad too far for local weather   So you then have to navigate the tabs, and under international you then find pws which takes you to a map.

What a pain in the backside Once there, there is no way to enter a place name or postcode so you have to keep zooming and moving around.

You then find a station in your vacinity - in my case Saundersfoot, and click on it, thats great, all works ok.  Until you hit the back button, which takes you straight back to the global map again, not even your own area.

I am not trying to be negative, please do not think I am. I admire anyone who goes the lenth you do to create such sites.  But in this day and age of global communities unless you are going to make this a US site only, it seems very hard for non US stations to get found on there. The zip/post/town box needs to be international, in the way WU is.

Just my intial thoughts, and I really am trying to be helpful.  Good luck and I shall watch with interest!

woody