Z Weather
Version
7.0.2 (last update on Mar 4, 2013)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
48
License
GPLv2 or later
Non-Commercial
Type
Date Added
5 March 2006
Editor's Note
- This extension requires registration to download.
Zap Weather (formerly Z Weather) is a Joomla application that displays weather for U.S. cities and territories using data provided by the National Weather Service. Forecasts, current conditions and weather alerts are supported. Many display options are available, including single and multiple day forecasts and a choice of either 12 hour or 24 hour forecast display. Z Weather is absolutely free to use and DOES NOT have any advertising or links to commercial sites that other weather products require. The weather data Zap Weather uses is provided free of charge by the U.S. government.
Images
This is a great addition to the Joomla! community, BUT! This has happened to me twice on the same website, yet, not on another website on the same server: all of the sudden, I start getting LONG warning messages from the zWeather module on the front page of the site about a line of code. I haven't changed anything in the site, it just all of the sudden refers to line 470 in the components/com_zweather/zweather.class.php file.
I'm not a programmer and I never have claimed to be, but I know that a warning like this isn't suppposed to appear all of the sudden after five months of use. I have tried to contact the programmers through their website twice, with no response.
I'm not a programmer and I never have claimed to be, but I know that a warning like this isn't suppposed to appear all of the sudden after five months of use. I have tried to contact the programmers through their website twice, with no response.
This is a great joomla component/module but documentation is lacking. I configured the module and the component to show the weather starting "today" but it only display starting "tomorrow". I search high and low ans still can't find a solution as to why this is happening. I spent hours turning features and options on and off to play around with this, but no luck in getting it to work right.
Very nice component/module *if* the code generated to display the weather info wasn't prone to errors and omissions that create major problems with W3C site validation. The display of even basic information created nearly 2-dozen validation problems.
If you're not concerned about validation this is a very good tool.
If you're not concerned about validation this is a very good tool.
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.
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!!
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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 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?
What more could you possibly want for free?
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