vB Weather Mk. 2

This is a post of a much-revised hack originally posted (by myself) here. I am posting this as a new hack because MSNBC, who the raw weather data is provided through, has changed their source provider (from AccuWeather to The Weather Channel), which required a retooling of the data parsing code, as well as completely new databases. I have also made obsolete the weather_functions.php file, moving the functions to admin/functions.php, simplifying the ability to show current weather data on any page (if desired). Finally, in what I'm sure will be welcome news to many people who have installed the original, I've completely rewritten the instructions, making them, as far as I can tell, much simpler.

If you are unfamiliar with the original: This hack provides current weather conditions and a five-day forecast to your members. Each member can select from over 34,000 cities, by narrowing down from region (like continents), country, and subdivision (like states). Each member can also select to see temperatures in Fahrenheit or Celsius, as well as metric or standard measurements for the other data.

A demo is available on my test board: http://www.jjr512.com/testboard/. I have set up an account for anyone to use to test it out (username: test; pw: test). If you are not logged in, you will see default weather on the home page (default is set to New York City), and cannot change settings (I forget if you can view a detailed forecast, though; you may be able to). If you do log in, you can change the settings for the test account, to see how it works.

***
If you have installed any previous version, you should completely uninstall it. Read the instructions and work backwards from there: Delete all templates added, remove changes to any existing templates (I forget if there were any or not), delete all new tables from the database, delete all new files added by the old hack. All have been changed to some extent, some more than others, and it would be easier to work from a clean slate. Especially since some of the template names have changes, so if you don't delete the old ones, they'll just be sitting there doing nothing at all. It is also vitally important to delete (or "drop") the tables--I believe there were six--you added for the original version. The new ones have different data and, for some, a different structure, so do not just empty them. Remove them totally.

Good luck!

Change Log
v1.1a: Current Version: Corrects a small error where an incorrect variable was used in the code to show the local time of the last update. If you already have v1.1, you only need to do the fix described in Post #82 below.
v1.1: Changes display of last update time to be the correct time in the user's own local time zone; previously, it was always Eastern Time (GMT-5) (Upgrade instructions are in Post #79 below). Also breaks the weather_city.sql into six smaller pieces (useful only to new installations; existing installations need not worry about this).
v1.0a: Adds instructions on how to add location to current weather on forums home page (changes to code added to index.php and forumhome_weather template).
v1.0: Original Release

[Boofo]

Try it now, Erwin. It just kicked in for some reason. All is working well.

[Erwin]

Okay, it was probably a temporary weather server problem - everything is working perfectly now!

Thanks for your great work JJ!!!

[JJR512]

If someone just tried to contact me via AIM in regards to this hack, please try again. The message "Do you wish to accept a message from this person" popped up right as I was in the middle of typing something, right as I was about to hit the space bar, and I guess the space bar dismisses that message. I didn't even get to see who it was, but this hack is the only reason I can think of why anyone I don't already have on my list would want to contact me now...so whoever you are, I apologize, I did not mean to cancel your request. Please try again!

[Ian]

I attactched it if anyone needs me... I did it by hand so it's not the most even but here you go:

[JJR512]

Originally posted by Itworx4me
Hi all,

I hope JJR512 doesn't mine. I added this to his hack. This will tell you what city,state, and country right after Your Current Weather. This will show on your forum home page. Your Current Weather For (City),(state),(country).

Find in forumhome_weather template

Your Current Weather

Then Add this right after Weather

For $weatherdata[city], $weatherdata[subdiv], $weatherdata[country]

Thanks for a wonderful hack JJR512

Sorry, I had meant to do this...I have code in weather.php which allows a subdivision name to show up as well, if there is one for the current location. I've updated the instructions to add this bit of code to the code added to index.php, and the forumhome_weather template. So, basically, re-do the instructions for index.php (remove the code you added before and add the new code now in the instructions), and replace the forumhome_weather template with the new version.

[Erwin]

I've already customized the template - can you just post and tell us what the changes actually are? Is it just the addition of $weatherdata[subdiv] in the template? What changes need to be done in the index.php?

[Erwin]

I see it.

I'll change it manually myself - thanks! Sorry to bother you.

[Boofo]

Ok, Erwin, the ball's in your court. Can you tell us the changes?

Originally posted by Erwin
I see it.

I'll change it manually myself - thanks! Sorry to bother you.

[Erwin]

To upgrade from version v1.0 to v1.0a - this post has been updated - it works.

In forumhome_weather template, find:

<smallfont><img src

REPLACE with:

<smallfont>
$weatherdata[city], $weatherdata[showsubdiv]$weatherdata[country]<br>
<img src

NOTE: The variable is $weatherdata[showsubdiv], NOT $weatherdata[subdiv]

Then, in index.php...

Find:

PHP Code:


  eval("\$currentweather = "".gettemplate("forumhome_weather")."";"); 


ABOVE it, add:

PHP Code:


  if ($weatherdata[subdiv]) {
    $weatherdata[showsubdiv] = "$weatherdata[subdiv], ";
  } else {
    $weatherdata[showsubdiv] = "";
  } 


That should do it. If there's a subdivision, it will show up, and if not, it won't.

[JJR512]

The code addition is correct.

But in my version, in the forumhome_weather template, the bit you say to find isn't there. But you do have the addition correct, and it goes after "Current Weather" in that template (I believe originally, it was "Your Current Weather").