I've just spent 20 minutes trying to figure out the "latitude and longitude" of meteorological stations to use with this
module. It turns out the only site I could find gives them out in "dms" format (whatever that is), while Z Weather expects them in some other format. To top it off, it only accepts negative latitudes because apparently it's supposed to be used in the US only - or at least in the north hemisphere. So, unless you're a reasonable programmer (like myself) and know your way around ther guts of Joomla components (unfortunately not my case), if you live in the south hemisphere don't waste your time trying to make any use of this one.

Owner's reply:
Hi Deny,



Z Weather only works for USA cities because the weather data from the National Weather Service only supports USA locations.

I like this mod and used it for a short time on 3 sites that I operate. All 3 sites are using a Rockettheme template. I noticed a lot of server errors on these sites with error 500. Through a lot of trial and error, I found this module to be the culprit. I was sad to have to remove it but don't have the time to sort through why it caused the instability. Once removed all was well on all 3 sites. No doubt that this was the cause. Just a heads up for anyone who installs this and starts having server errors. I don't know what it was conflicting with but it was bad news. :(

Owner's reply:
Hi pixgirl,



The alert portion of Z Weather has been known to take a lot of memory when there is a lot of weather activity occuring in a state with a lot of counties. You can increase the memory in the Z Weather settings screen, or you can disable the alert feature to possibly solve your errors.

It was just a tiny bit confusing at first, but once I got the idea through my thick head it was SIMPLE! This thing is excellent! I just published it on the chapter web site for the motorcycle club I belong to so that all the riders will know what's up right away! Thanks!!

This is great component. Very easy to install, to use and the thing what was important to me - it shows hi and lo temperatures. Just keep up the good work.

Although this extension shows promise it needs work. I should have taken the hint "Beta".

Some area's that are in need of improvement:

1) A simpler way of reporting bugs rather than make me fill out a full page registration form (How about a simple form rather than make me sign up with a jomula developer site).

2) Better text display options such as custom colors, fonts and word wrap so the text does not spill out of the module. (The wind direction for example xml feed shows the direction starting with a cap, however the module display is lower case).

3) A better cache update, rather than a cron job. (My web server host limits the cron updating and frequency for security reasons).

4) The icons options are limited. For example they don't center.

All in all the extension is usable, the price is right, the ups and downs of the XML feed from the NWS is not the fault of the author but other than that its reliable, and it fits in nice with most templates I have tried it with.

This was a very nice addition to my web site. Documentation was clear and to the point. And it looks great. It took just a few minutes to get it up and running. The package fits nicely within the Joomla admin screens. And the admin interface behaved as expected, with no surprises.

On the user side the module is perfect with a nice professional look. My only minor issue is in the full component display on the user side some of the text did not wrap and was clipped, but this screen is buried under the 'see more' link and most users won't see it.

Thanks Dan for the great extension.

Z Weather is one of my favorite extensions for community websites. It provides fresh content without any fuss. It is very easy to setup -- especially thanks to jltray for documenting how to find those obscure codes. I really enjoy this extension and want to thank the developer for providing it!

With some of the tips where to find latitude, longitude, etc. this was pretty easy to setup.

So easy! Great addition to many of my sites!
Thank you!

Hi there, overall its a pretty good component. Got it installed and working easily. You have to navigate the Governments weather pages if you want to add your own locations, but thats not too hard once you get the hang of it.

The issue I have is with the cron job. I just cant seem to get it working (I get errors on argc and argv variables). I'm trying to contact the developer, but no luck yet.

4 of 5 stars so far

Thank you for this extension!! It's a really great weather add-on for Joomla! Easy to install and works as expected. There are many options. Set them as desired for a really nice addition to a web site.

Only possible minor bug I found was the 'Forecast Update Time'. Enabling this displays a time in CDT time zone (server is EDT) and the time is oddly 3.5 hours ahead. All other times and features work as expected.

Easy to install, and easy to use. Would like to see better docs. Thanks

Z Weather is a program with *infinite* possibilities. You can show one location or several. You can show the current conditions and weather forecast aligned horizontally or vertically--or you can break them up into separate blocks using the optional module. I have under a month's worth of Joomla experience under my belt and I was able to get the program up and running in 45 minutes and that INCLUDES finding the information necessary to set up my own locations. I did run into a little snag on the chron setup, but only because I have NO IDEA yet what all that path to file and mos stuff means! I emailed Dan and got an almost immediate response assuring me that the chron setup is not necessary for the program to function and that there are more specific instructions on the website at zcontent.net. Since this is for my own personal use, I don't find I need it anyway! Ü

For a newbie like me, this one fits the bill. Easy to setup and easy to configuire. One suggestion, some sort of readme file to help with configuiration. Without jltray's links I could not have set this up as easily. An additional set that will display your airports identifier longitude and lattitude in decimal format, http://www.airnav.com.

This component is used on our lacrosse site and will let our parents and players know, raincoat or not!

Nice work.

This is great addition to the Joomla community. And yes, us lazy people would really appreciate being able to simple enter a zip code and be done. However, the component, mod and cron plugin are well documented and the author's home page provides step by step instructions as well as handy links to the required source information.

What more could you possibly want for free?