web page editor

[Weatheraardvark]

I want to set up some of the tags as well as  a web page.  Read the manual and it talks about a web page editor.  Any suggestions on what I can use?

i have generated some custom graphs and gauges that i would love to use.

[Blicj11]

I don't know how skilled you are with html or php coding, but if you are a beginner, or even if you know what you are doing, using a template is the easiest way to get a nice weather site up and running and does not require you to build everything from scratch.

Three templates you should look at are SeaMonkey, Leuven and Saratoga.

All three of these are discussed on this forum board: http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?board=5.0

[xairbusdriver]

A "web page" is nothing more than a plain text document written in a very specific format and form. It should have a suffix of ".html" or ".htm" or even ".php". You can use any text editor, including the aptly name TextEdit. You just need to make sure you are using it in "Plain Text" mode which is it's default setting. You also need to use the correct file name suffix, the most common is ".html". TextEdit will automatically use ".txt" and you have to change that manually.

However, I highly recommend the free <TextWrangler> from Bare Bones Software. You won't have to think about 'plain text' or not. But the plus is that it uses color-coded text that will help you see any mistakes you might make.

Whatever you use, absolutely, positively do NOT use anything like MS Word!

You can save yourself some trouble by visiting the dozens of sites offering instructions on writing web pages. You can learn the basics in a few hours. Good sites will provide lots of examples and really good ones will let you type in an interactive form so you can see the results of what you are doing almost immediately.

When/if you have specific questions, just ask!

I see someone else is answering as I type...

OK, I see what Blick wrote. Hes one of the most knowledgable members here. However... 

I beg to differ about his suggestion to use one of the Templates unless you are very well versed in following highly detailed instructions and have no desire to have anything unique about your site. Personally, I think the Templates, although well supported by their very talented authors impose very strict limitations on what you can do. You will learn next to nothing about creating web pages. OTOH, that may not be even a minor goal. If you decide to use a Template, you should absolutely get TextWrangler, just for it's great search capabilities, not to mention it's hundreds of other advantages and automatic functions.

[Weatheraardvark]

I have used Leuven before and it is really nice.  but i just want to generate some of the tags such as custom graphs so I can have them on my present site.  My present site is very simple, Sandvox and it does  it that way.

I had been thinking that if I could use some of the tag files, it would be great.

[xairbusdriver]

I had been thinking that if I could use some of the tag files

Are you talking about the "tags" that WC provudes? Absolutely! That's exactly why the Dev out them in the app. The Templates use them also, the rest of their massive size is to create the html for the html pages.

The Manual (WeatherCatUserManual.pdf) is the source for a listing what they are as well as what they provide. Using them couldn't be simpler; you simply insert the desired 'tag' in your html document and let WC parse it. WC then replaces the 'tag' with the actual weather value and uploads the edited html page to your site. Here's a snippet of code form displaying a few of the current weather values:

Code: [Select]

<table class="nominal center">
<tr>
<td class="right">Temperature:</td>
<td class="left">CT$</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="right">Pressure:</td>
<td class="left">CP$</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="right">Humidity:</td>
<td class="left">STAT$EXTHUMIDITY:CURRENT$ %</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="right">Dew Point:</td>
<td class="left">CD$</td>
</tr>
...After WC parses the above, it looks like this:

Code: [Select]

...
<tr>
<td class="right">Temperature:</td>
<td class="left">62.3&#176;F (-1.8)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="right">Pressure:</td>
<td class="left">29.99 inHg (0.04)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="right">Humidity:</td>
<td class="left">93 %</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="right">Dew Point:</td>
<td class="left">60.2&#176;F (1.4)</td>
</tr>
...It even adds the html entities for the degree symbol! What more could one ask?!