Author Topic: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page  (Read 16728 times)

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Offline WunderTodd (PWS PM)

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Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« on: April 11, 2019, 05:34:12 PM »
Hi there,

Want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has brought forward feedback to this forum.

We want that feedback, q&a, and community-helping aspect to keep going.
The best way to do this is not in an 80-something page thread going back more than a year, begun by someone who is no longer with WU.
As such, that megathread is now locked.

Both wunderground-pws and I take time out of our work day (and sometimes our evenings/weekends) to read this forum because of its passionate users -- both the experienced ones with tons of help to offer, and our newer folks who benefit from this.

We want to continue to offer our insight on issues as our time permits.  Going forward, individual threads for each question is probably the best way for us to read and contribute.

While we do appreciate the strong opinions you have on Weather Underground issues, there is no place in either of our lives for the constant barrage of negativity.  For those of you wishing to express negative sentiment around IBM as a company, bemoan the loss of 'The Old WU', degrade us our our teams, or just speculate on why/how a choice was made -- feel free to start an individual thread for those too, but know that neither of us will be entertaining a response in this forum.  Any similar behavior displayed in other threads will be forwarded to moderators for their consideration.

The incredible patience and dedication so many of you have displayed to WU, even during rough transitions as we've worked to modernize our small unit across a large company, is humbling.  We're grateful for your passion and hope you'll continue to provide a positive feedback loop for us to communicate with you.  And we'll continue to leverage your passion here to develop our support channels going forward.

Thanks!
-WuT

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2019, 11:47:18 AM »
Given recent removal of the CSV PWS data download (suddenly), I've elected to un-sticky and un-lock this.

Feel free to give Todd your feedback in this thread.

I am angered and extremely disappointed in the latest 'shedding of functionality' to the WU website.  Removal of the PWS data CSV download function has broken many treasured scripts (permanently) without any advance warning, and no equivalent PWS WU/TWC API functionality to replace it.

This is NOT a way to engender support from PWS data contributors.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 12:04:37 PM by saratogaWX »
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Online wvdkuil

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2019, 12:18:16 PM »
@all WU managers
In the past half year I remained positive also because we were warned about upcoming changes. Also because Victoria Gardner was always present to assist between us and the development staff

But now you removed the custom search /download without a warning, nobody could make a copy of their data, recent or old. No .csv download kills ALL history scripts that depended on that data, be it the tables or the graphs.

I find your attitude becoming not-tolerable,

The least thing to do is to give all uploaders at least the chance to salvage their data in the coming weeks.

The decent thing to do would be a download of ones own data using the new API-key.

I cincerely hope that our long-term relation will improve, please stop this, you took the wrong turn last Sunday,

Wim
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 12:22:03 PM by wvdkuil »

Offline galfert

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2019, 12:22:47 PM »
WU,
Just in case you missed my post in the other thread. Here are my thoughts on "turning the page."
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=36964.msg380328#msg380328

Quote
Ken,
Thank you for removing the WU turning the page post sticky and unlocking that thread.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=36609.0

To all,
That was the right thing to do given the way WU has neglected this community. They say one thing but do another. Enough chances. I want to see action and promises kept.

WU is not turning a new page. I've been one of the few supporters of WU.  But the recent change to remove the old site before fixing the issues of the new site was a bad move because they promised to keep it up until things were fixed. Also breaking of all weather template scripts without warning is just wrong. Learning that they don't trust us to name our stations is poor judgment, as I thought that was a new site station name bug. It can't possibly take that long to fix decimals. I don't think they want to fix it. I think someone up top is ticked off that made this idiotic decision to begin with.

I feel on this forum we should be able to express ourselves freely with decorum. This means abiding by the forum rules and policies. In the past there were some unwarranted comments and right out lies about WU. That should never be tolerated. I feel the users of this forum should be able to express themselves against the wrongs of WU without fear of being banned. Wxforum.net should not be seen as protecting WU. I never took it to do that but some people did. Perhaps Ken can respond and elaborate on this.

Please post freely with regards to the rules and policies. WU needs to know how upset and disappointed we all are, even those like me that really thought they deserved the benefit of the doubt.

Opportunity (Necessity) is the mother of invention, someone famous once said or something like that. Perhaps some other company or individual will fill the void that WU has created.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 03:14:03 PM by galfert »
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Offline awsum140

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2019, 12:29:27 PM »
As I said in another thread, WU was getting woobly before.  Once Itty Bitty Machine came along it's FUBAR.  I've given up on any significant improvements happening in anything that even, vaguely, resembles a timely manner.  Pulling the plug on WU unless and until it provides some functionality and responsiveness to contributors needs is the only option available, unfortunately.  Remember, IBM monetizes the data we all so freely upload.  RIP, WU.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 03:20:01 PM by awsum140 »
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Offline galfert

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2019, 12:58:59 PM »
Hi Todd,

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. - Marcellus

UPDATE: And he is gone. Probably off to report to higher ups that this is no way to run an online service. Hey Todd, tell IBM to give you a raise and allow you to hire some decent web developers, with meteorology knowledge.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 01:19:15 PM by galfert »
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Offline txweather.org

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2019, 01:58:09 PM »
If you use twitter is time for wunderground to actually pay attention.
Tag them and express how you actually feel and use the hashtag:
#ibmandwundergroundfail


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Offline galfert

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2019, 02:12:40 PM »
The OP has 47 Likes. Time to take those back. You can undo those people.

While we do appreciate the strong opinions you have on Weather Underground issues, there is no place in either of our lives for the constant barrage of negativity.  For those of you wishing to express negative sentiment around IBM as a company, bemoan the loss of 'The Old WU', degrade us our our teams, or just speculate on why/how a choice was made -- feel free to start an individual thread for those too, but know that neither of us will be entertaining a response in this forum.  Any similar behavior displayed in other threads will be forwarded to moderators for their consideration.

Your goose is cooked.
Hey. Look at me. Report me.
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Offline crawdad62

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2019, 02:58:29 PM »
I don't know. I just provide data. I assume this data is worth something and it's in their best interest to at least keep it running so that we are happy to provide said data and in turn provide something in return that keeps us happy. Honestly it too hard to even report what's broken on WU. Mainly because once you do you find many other things that have broken in the meantime. It's almost mind-boggling the width and breadth of the problem. And about the time you think they've got a handle on it it blows up somewhere else. It's like trying to contain the leaky dam with your finger. I can't really get in a twist. I've got software running on my computer. I upload to multiple services. I don't exactly need WU but it's nice to have. I suppose I'll just keep uploading and checking the site every once in a while but my hopes for the most part are over.

Offline openvista

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2019, 03:02:10 PM »
OK, so let me get this straight.

The data download links have been missing from the website for awhile now (1-2 months?)

See:
https://apicommunity.wunderground.com/weatherapi/topics/dashboard-no-download-option
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=33651.msg375288#msg375288.

But the red line is suddenly crossed when WU yanks out the back door, legacy functionality that allows power users & developers, like Saratoga Weather and his script users, to retrieve their data?

You do realize that 99% of WU's contributors haven't been able to download their data for months, right? They never knew those tricks.

And if you read that Wunderground thread I linked to above, you'll see there was no indication from Victoria that this was a temporary removal. She said she had asked but never received an answer from the developers about the removal of the download button. After about a month she just went silent. Although she did suggest people use the API instead, and that programming wasn't as hard as most people think!! Not making this up!

The fact that the vast majority of users were stranded seemed to be of little concern both to WU and many of its defenders here. It wasn't until certain individuals were personally affected that we were all, finally, allowed to express outrage.

Unbelievable.
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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2019, 03:10:39 PM »
Yes, I saw those threads about the Download link disappearance as they happened.  I'd hoped (given no other feedback from Victoria) that it was just another glitch in the website programming since the function continued to work.  Apparently, the spin-down of the old WU servers finally killed it, leaving us all in the lurch.

I'm making some 'shim' code for the CU-HWS template to allow a 'today' and 'last-7-days' graphs to be done with the existing codebase using the WU/TWC api, but.. since there's no 'month' or 'year' query available, a fix will be a longer term.

I think the WU-History page can likely use my (still in progress) shim code to convert the API response to the CSV format the older code needs.
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Offline txweather.org

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #11 on: May 20, 2019, 03:35:37 PM »
The fact that the vast majority of users were stranded seemed to be of little concern both to WU and many of its defenders here. It wasn't until certain individuals were personally affected that we were all, finally, allowed to express outrage.

Unbelievable.

I dont think is about an individual but about the masses. Not just Ken's template got affected, others have and hundreds of custom sites as well.... At this point it does not matter.... WU said fuk the community and that's the end of it.

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Offline JohnN

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #12 on: May 20, 2019, 03:43:21 PM »
Not to beat a dead horse (ehh, who am I kidding? Everyone loves beating dead horses), but I have decided to pull the plug on uploading to Wunderground until they bring back decimals on the new station page. I don't care for the new layout, but I would live with it if the graphs just included decimals. I don't even care if the current conditions box has decimals, I just want the decent graphs back. As the graphs are displayed now, they are useless. I hope Wunderground listens to us because I used to like the website. Attached is an image showing just how useless these new graphs are. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but these graphs have been broken for too long and I haven't seen any kind of official response to this.
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Offline openvista

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #13 on: May 20, 2019, 03:47:57 PM »
I dont think is about an individual but about the masses. Not just Ken's template got affected, others have and hundreds of custom sites as well....

Hundreds of custom sites isn't even a drop in the ocean of WU's 300,000+ PWS contributors. Also the millions of monthly visits they likely receive. That's the 99% I'm referring to.
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Offline galfert

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #14 on: May 20, 2019, 04:05:16 PM »
99% of users are conformist. They aren't techie and they allow companies to dictate how they are holding their phones wrong. This community is about using technology to the fullest. We should be able to set the course. If not we will evolve with new solutions and WU will become the next Blackberry. Nothing happens overnight. Right now there is someone in their garage or dorm room planning the next thing and this is the opportunity they have been waiting for. I have some ideas, not ready to share them yet.
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Offline txweather.org

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #15 on: May 20, 2019, 04:05:41 PM »
I dont think is about an individual but about the masses. Not just Ken's template got affected, others have and hundreds of custom sites as well....

Hundreds of custom sites isn't even a drop in the ocean of WU's 300,000+ PWS contributors. Also the millions of monthly visits they likely receive. That's the 99% I'm referring to.
Understood. What I am trying to convey is that attacking one person because of a "direct" hit is not accurate... Affecting Ken means affecting all of his user base. When I see Ken speak, I see him speaking for his user base... That aside, we cant be at each others throat and picking at one another.... WU allready flicked us off.... Now as a community we need to stand together and ether we get attention or we dont and we move on. Choose to try and get that attention so the 300,000+ contributors have a chance at hope and see their data again.

By the way I allready said this... The attention in this forum will not be enough. Yall need to breach out to social media.

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Offline txweather.org

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #16 on: May 20, 2019, 04:06:55 PM »
99% of users are conformist. They aren't techie and they allow companies to dictate how they are holding their phones wrong. This community is about using technology to the fullest. We should be able to set the course. If not we will evolve with new solutions and WU will become the next Blackberry. Nothing happens overnight. Right now there is someone in their garage or dorm room planning the next thing and this is the opportunity they have been waiting for. I have some ideas, not ready to share them yet.

Well said! That's exactly it. We need to make that difference!
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 04:09:10 PM by txweather.org »

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Offline AboutAndAround

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #17 on: May 20, 2019, 05:15:28 PM »
I really hope they're bringing all of this feedback and anger to their higher ups. I have no words do express what's been going on with them.


Offline jas340

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #18 on: May 20, 2019, 05:54:47 PM »
Wxforum has just under 15,000 members. I guess less than 200 members post on a regular basis. We are a microscopic community. WU does not need our data. There are lot's of sites that do value our data. The only thing I miss about WU is "rapid fire". I stopped sending my data to WU over the weekend.

Offline CW2274

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #19 on: May 20, 2019, 05:58:09 PM »
I really hope they're bringing all of this feedback and anger to their higher ups.
Even if they do/have been, I think it's abundantly clear that they don't care, if they did, this fiasco would have been dealt with long ago.

Offline CW2274

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #20 on: May 20, 2019, 06:25:49 PM »

Offline sacedric

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #21 on: May 20, 2019, 08:41:17 PM »
I can not believe WU could be so tone deaf. Removing the ability for us to download our own data? This may be the catalyst I needed to start logging locally. I wish there was a way to send a message but it seems like it's falling on deaf ears. Painful

Offline galfert

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #22 on: May 20, 2019, 08:53:13 PM »
No need to send a message. Just post here. They are reading all of this as is evident by the site's user controls.

WU has been removing features one at a time for the past couple years. I'm on to them as to why. It is because they are planning on bringing all the features removed back as paid subscription service fees to use our own data.

Time to forge new solutions without WU.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 09:43:32 PM by galfert »
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Offline galfert

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #23 on: May 20, 2019, 10:04:56 PM »
WU (two accounts) was very active all day today reading all that has been said in a few different threads. But we got no update. Mum must be the word from the higher ups for now as they scramble as the "S" definitely hit the fan. Yet someone just recently on this forum got a PM from WU. It was probably Ken as the recipient. I wonder what's up?

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Offline WSWeather

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Re: Our wxforum WU community - turning the page
« Reply #24 on: May 20, 2019, 11:47:33 PM »
Yet someone just recently on this forum got a PM from WU. It was probably Ken as the recipient. I wonder what's up?
They PM'd me last week wanting to have a one-on-one 30 minute chat to get my thoughts about WU.  It was a busy week with client projects and I didn't see it until after the day they wanted to do it and unfortunately I was not able to participate.

At this point, given what happened over the weekend, I wish I had.