I posted this on the Backyard home page but wanted to post this again here to update people on the WeatherLink Module and the open source publishing app.
Also, on the widget I showed you above, it's being tweaked to be more reliable to work with a greater range of browsers. It displays odd inside IE right now, so the developer is working to make it load better everywhere, as well as streamline the embed code so it's "cleaner". So expect some major under the hood changes soon. It's why we haven't officially released it yet.
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I wanted to take a moment to update people on the current status of our WeatherLink Module, the cross platform, open source weather publishing app, as well as the ability to embed your Backyard Station's data into a website or your Backyard Community profile.
As many of you are aware, we've been experiencing some major issues with our WeatherLink Module, especially with later builds of WeatherLink. A while back ago, we open sourced the module and posted the source code to the Backyard Stations page.
We're currently in the process of doing two more things to ensure the WeatherLink module is back in business for those that wish to use it:
1. We're working to migrate the source code of the WeatherLink module from the Backyard Community itself over to GitHub, and simply link the Backyard Stations page over to the project on GitHub. This'll allow anyone in the community that truly wishes to get involved in the development of the WeatherLink Module to be able to jump in there, work with the source code, and post updated builds, without us having to be involved in uploading and managing changes. This way it is truly an open-source community project.
2. I've found a developer wishing to look at the code and attempt to work on an updated build that would iron out the kinks and finally get the module back functional for those on later WeatherLink builds. As soon as I have an update from him about an updated build of the module, I will let the community know so those wishing to use the WeatherLink Module can finally give it a try again.
In addition, there is still a free, cross platform, open source weather station publishing app in the works. An independent developer is working on the project (so it's not an official project coming out of WeatherBug). He will probably host it on GitHub as well to make it easier for users to work with the source code and post updates to the project. The application, currently going by the name of "WeatherStream", will be free to download and work across PC, Mac, and Linux (as I've mentioned above). It will support Davis stations out of the box, and support for more station brands can be added as more people request it. It will also support publishing to all the major networks out of the box, so in addition to publishing to us, it'll work with Wunderground, CWOP, PWS, etc.
I did some work on the initial GUI design to make it simple for users to ingest in data into the app and get it out on the web. It's already seen a few GUI tweaks, and as soon as he connects the code up to the app and releases it, I'll be posting a update on here telling people how they can get their hands on the new application. It'll be simple and straightforward at first, but there's plenty of room to expand it into something more fully functional.
Both getting the WeatherLink module back in business and this new publishing app are not meant to replace any of the other publishing apps we currently support. If you're happy with your current publishing app or hardware publishing appliance, continue to use it. There's just a couple more solutions being added to our lineup to ensure more people can send their Backyard Stations data to us, no matter what.
One more thing. People have also been asking me how they can embed their Backyard Station data onto their own website or onto their profile page here on the Backyard Community and have the widget link back to WeatherBug.com. I'd like to update everyone and inform the community that a solution is imminent. The final touches are being put on it right now, and soon, you'll be able to embed a widget on your website or Backyard Community profile that'll allow you to display your Backyard Station data and have it link to the station page on WeatherBug.com. So stay tuned extremely soon.
