Trixology

WeatherCat => WeatherCat Web Templates => Topic started by: Weatheraardvark on April 11, 2016, 03:30:22 PM

Title: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: Weatheraardvark on April 11, 2016, 03:30:22 PM
I am not understanding, if I want to use a tag such as: Records: STRECORDS$   into a web page, what do I have to do, other than insert that into an html template? 

What settings to I change in WC to get the program to generate that information for me?    I see some of the templates and i can see that I could replace some of the tags with what I want.  I would insert  such as above.

Now what do I do to the program itself to generate what goes in those tags and how to I get that up to my website?

Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: xairbusdriver on April 11, 2016, 04:04:03 PM
Editing the Templates is exactly the reason I suggest not using them. Most of them are simply not designed for that type of use. They are usually very tightly interconnected sets of PHP files that rely on data generated in one file and used in another. Unless you understand which files (functions) work with others, editing can be difficult at best and damaging at worst.

I really think you should start out with a simple html page and "play" with any of the WC tags you want to try. Remember, html is not programming. It is nothing more than using a small set of keywords that tell a browser how to display the text/images/etc between a set of keywords. There is no logic involved. The browser simply reads the html document from top to bottom and displays what's there according to the keywords it 'sees'. A "browser" is basically just a 'text processor' that displays the stuff between the keywords in the html document. That's a very broad, over-simplification, but it hopefully removes the "magic" from writing html. [lol] Seriously, anyone can write/use html. You don't even have to upload it anywhere! You can create your own "home" page that displays on your browser when you first open it, even if you don't have an Internet connection; the "home" page can be a simple html document on your own computer.
Title: Installation info. (Re: I am missing a fundamental)
Post by: elagache on April 11, 2016, 10:47:25 PM
Dear Weatheraardvark, X-Air, and WeatherCat web spinner,

I am not understanding, if I want to use a tag such as: Records: STRECORDS$   into a web page, what do I have to do, other than insert that into an html template? 

. . . .

Now what do I do to the program itself to generate what goes in those tags and how to I get that up to my website?

Go ahead and download the SeaMonkey web templates that are described here:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?topic=956.0 (http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?topic=956.0)

The download link is here:

http://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Web%20templates/WeatherCat%20SeaMonkey%20web%20template%20(0.5.2).zip (http://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Web%20templates/WeatherCat%20SeaMonkey%20web%20template%20(0.5.2).zip)

The documentation goes into great lengths to explain how you need to organize the folders that WeatherCat will use in order to create custom web pages.  The big idea that you need to grasp is that WeatherCat looks for templates that in one folder.  Those templates have the tags described in the manual.  WeatherCat then processes the templates substituting the actual weather data for the tag, and places the resulting web page into another folder.  It then uploads the web pages via FTP to your website.

You need to create a structure of folders for WeatherCat to use before you can create any web templates.  Even if you don't have any interest in the SeaMonkey templates, the documentation will help you understand how any set of templates are processed by WeatherCat and how to setup the folders to make custom web processing work properly.

Cheers, Edouard
Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: Steve on April 12, 2016, 02:16:36 AM
Most of us on here started wit some version of a template, and learned how to tweak them when learning how to use WeatherCat's tags. Granted, the Leuven and Saratoga templates are *much* more complex, and not where I'd recommend starting out. But Edouard's SeaMonkey template is very clearly put together, and many folks have started with it as a basis for very interesting web sites.

It is much easier starting with some structure and cutting away bits and adding others than starting with a blank HTML page!
Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: Weatheraardvark on April 12, 2016, 09:03:38 PM
I am working on the Leuven template.  Still not the way I want it yet.
Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: xairbusdriver on April 12, 2016, 11:54:52 PM
Quote
I am working on the Leuven template.
Note that Mr. van der Kuil has many of the parts of his full Template as stand-alone pieces (http://www.weerstation-leuven.be) (click the left, white tab). I use his NOAA Forecast and the Meteoalarm scripts, for example.
Title: Pages uploading? (Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs)
Post by: elagache on April 12, 2016, 11:56:52 PM
Dear Weatheraardvark, Steve, and WeatherCat web spinners,

I am working on the Leuven template.  Still not the way I want it yet.

So are you getting WeatherCat to create web pages that look reasonable?  If you have the folder arrangement working properly, then you can skip reading my documentation.  I mainly was trying to help you understand how that works.  Once you've got that under your belt, you can use any template you like.

Cheers, Edouard
Title: Re: Pages uploading? (Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs)
Post by: wvdkuil on April 13, 2016, 09:27:08 AM
Dear Weatheraardvark, Steve, and WeatherCat web spinners,

I am working on the Leuven template.  Still not the way I want it yet.

So are you getting WeatherCat to create web pages that look reasonable?  If you have the folder arrangement working properly, then you can skip reading my documentation.  I mainly was trying to help you understand how that works.  Once you've got that under your belt, you can use any template you like.

Cheers, Edouard
Hello Edouard,
Could you please take a look at my description for the same proces? It is here:    http://leuven-template.eu/dokuwiki28/doku.php?id=en:uploadwc

@all All remarks to improve the description are welcome.
The two-folder process WeatherCat uses seems the natural one to use and for a programmer it is therefor difficult to describe something which seems correct, logical and simple.

Wim
Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: wvdkuil on April 13, 2016, 10:44:03 AM
Quote
I am working on the Leuven template.
Note that Mr. van der Kuil has many of the parts of his full Template as stand-alone pieces (http://www.weerstation-leuven.be) (click the left, white tab). I use his NOAA Forecast and the Meteoalarm scripts, for example.
As discussed earlier, it is easier to install the complete Template starting with release 2.8. All settings are done with Q&A and most answers are either from a selection box, or there is a detailed description where to find the info. After a one-time installation  any complete page or part or component of the template can be used in one's own website.

Example this the earthquake script on my website:
http://www.weerstation-wilsele.be/index.php?p=Earthquakes&lang=en

If I wanted to use that same page in another website , I would define a iFrame and use the same  link with one additional field:
http://www.weerstation-wilsele.be/index.php?p=Earthquakes&lang=en&ipad
And the result: There are no menus,banners, messages whatsoever. Only the main part resides.

There will be no newly developed  stand-alone scripts from me, and although the current stand-alone scripts are still available, the best way to go is to use the template to load the needed scripts in your own website.  With one installation all available scripts can be used. If one does not want realtime data, there is no upload from WeatherCat needed. 

Another example, you want to use the Davis console: upload of weather-data  is necessary to get this:
http://www.weerstation-wilsele.be/index.php?p=console&lang=en&ipad
The green colors and box is CSS. One time change to fit into your website.

Disadvantages when using stand-alone scripts: 
1. Every script needs some, often the same settings, done in PHP
2. For every script the same CSS changes has to be made to blend the script in your own web-site
3. Every script needs to be maintained

And it is far easier to give support as the scripts inside your own website can be tested by me in your (hidden) template environment.

Wim
Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: xairbusdriver on April 13, 2016, 02:05:28 PM
Sounds like a great improvement, Mr. van der Kuil! [cheer] And it appears that some of the security problems with iframe have been addressed in HTML 5, as well as making them more robust! [tup] Thanks for your continued work! :)
Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: Weatheraardvark on April 13, 2016, 03:25:37 PM
 I went with the Leuven templates and running Weathercat 24/7 with the display turned off.  I am still concerned about over heating. Right now I am at 125F.  I added a usb cooling fan blowing on the back of the unit.   I find that the computer has but one fan, draws in air through vents in the bottom and out the back.  the air blows on the back of the case and hopefully that will keep things fine.  I turn off the display when I leave.     Here is a url to see what my unit looks like:   http://tinyurl.com/ht4f2rv (http://tinyurl.com/ht4f2rv)

I still have to figure out why Weathercat and Foscam IP won't work together.  I can put the same snapshot code into my browser and it works fine.  Maybe it is something within the apple updates.   Maybe a different brand of IP camera would be better, such as a D-link (I don't want to spend a fortune on a cloud cam.)

So with these things, and  Wim's  help  things will be fine.  He has excellent support on his templates and any questions I had and I deeply appreciate his assistance with this project.

I also thank everyone pointing me in the right direction and all the downloads to the really coool stuff to make things work.    And a lot of coffee
Title: Re: I am missing a basic fundamental in this processs
Post by: Blicj11 on April 13, 2016, 03:48:00 PM
Nice explanation Wim. Thank you for supporting WeatherCat. I just spent a pleasant half hour pressing all the buttons on your website. Well done, mijnheer.
Title: I try to be more explicit (Re: I am missing a fundamental in this processs)
Post by: elagache on April 14, 2016, 12:21:46 AM
Dear Wim and WeatherCat web spinners,

look at my description for the same proces? It is here:    http://leuven-template.eu/dokuwiki28/doku.php?id=en:uploadwc

I just looked at your documentation and it doesn't say much about how to organize the folders WeatherCat uses.  I'm not sure you want to get into this, but here is how I organized my WeatherCat web processing folders.  I created a new folder on the home folder called: WeatherCat Web Sites.  Inside that folder I have all the folders that WeatherCat uses for web processing:


Some people have objected to creating a new folder directly in their home folder.  People who dislike that could instead create the same arrangement of folders in their Documents folder instead.

As I said I don't know if you want to go into this level of detail but that is what is described in the SeaMonkey template documentation and it includes screenshots of how to configure WeatherCat to use these folders.  It also explains why WeatherCat needs this sort of folder arrangement.

Feel free to use anything that you find helpful.

Cheers, Edouard

Title: Foscam camera shouldn't be the problem (Re: I am missing . . . )
Post by: elagache on April 14, 2016, 12:37:02 AM
Dear Weatheraardvark and WeatherCat troubleshooters,

I still have to figure out why Weathercat and Foscam IP won't work together.  I can put the same snapshot code into my browser and it works fine.  Maybe it is something within the apple updates.   Maybe a different brand of IP camera would be better, such as a D-link (I don't want to spend a fortune on a cloud cam.)

Before you punt and buy a new camera, give yourself some time away from the problem and look at it one more time.  Since other WeatherCat users have successfully used Foscam cameras, that seems really unlikely to be the problem.  A more likely explanation is something to do with running WeatherCat on a brand-new Mac.  Apple has been changing things that are effecting WeatherCat and most of us hang on to our Macs so Stu doesn't get a lot of beta-testing on the latest Mac hardware.

So give yourself a breather and take another look at this problem when you have some time and feel up to the challenge.

Cheers, Edouard
Title: Re: Foscam camera shouldn't be the problem (Re: I am missing . . . )
Post by: Weatheraardvark on April 14, 2016, 06:54:28 AM
Dear Weatheraardvark and WeatherCat troubleshooters,

I still have to figure out why Weathercat and Foscam IP won't work together.  I can put the same snapshot code into my browser and it works fine.  Maybe it is something within the apple updates.   Maybe a different brand of IP camera would be better, such as a D-link (I don't want to spend a fortune on a cloud cam.)

Before you punt and buy a new camera, give yourself some time away from the problem and look at it one more time.  Since other WeatherCat users have successfully used Foscam cameras, that seems really unlikely to be the problem.  A more likely explanation is something to do with running WeatherCat on a brand-new Mac.  Apple has been changing things that are effecting WeatherCat and most of us hang on to our Macs so Stu doesn't get a lot of beta-testing on the latest Mac hardware.

So give yourself a breather and take another look at this problem when you have some time and feel up to the challenge.

Cheers, Edouard
That is my thought as well.   It is something in the OSX and this model that is screwing with things