Meteotemplate 10.0 Banana

Hi guys,

you might have noticed there has not been many updates recently…. this is because I was intensively preparing version 10. However, I should say that this version also includes many changes I wanted to do long time ago, but never completed so did not include in previous versions.

Meteotemplate 10.0 Banana is a major update, probably the most significant update yet, and this includes not just many new pages and things you will see directly on the page, but majority of the code of the Weather Station section – code that I have written over a year ago, while learning PHP, has been rewritten, optimized and some pages done completely from scratch.

One thing that you will appreciate especially if you are a new user is that I have completely re-written the data import and database update scripts. There are no more WD.php, Cumulus.php, meteobridge.php etc. scripts… there is simply “an update script”, “an import script”. These now also work totally differently. In previous versions you made a file that was compatible with Meteotemplate for import – now Meteotemplate adjusts based on what your files look like – and so you can now import data and update database with practically any file that contains the necessary information, regardless of its structure.

And in addition, this version finally completed my long-term goal – the database update was the very last thing that still had to be set up in the code itself. Now it uses GUI and is accessible from your control panel. And this therefore means, that unless you want to make specific customizations, you can now install and setup Meteotemplate, setup and install blocks and plugins and do admin actions, without ever seeing the code. And this is also a major advantage for me because it gives much less space for potential errors that people can accidentally make when they for example delete a semi-colon etc.

Some of the new features might look like minor, but they will also save you time – for example the new “remember me” function – stay logged in as an admin even if you close the browser or shut down your PC until you click the log out button, current conditions in header, site search in footer. Your homepage blocks now also have some new features – a new “header block” and “footer block” further extend the layout possibilities, possibility to highlight important blocks, set names for menu blocks. There is lot of new things, so just keep reading and then especially explore it once you have it installed yourself – btw. the update should be very easy.

New/redesigned pages

• new page: Rain Seasons
  • calculate statistics for “rain season” – select month you want as season beginning
  • year comparison and visualizations
  • month averages
  • tables + graphs
  • seasonal graphs
  • graphs resizable
  • graph selection – line/column
  • all month data
  • comparison with absolute station values
  • available also for mobile version
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/station/rainSeasons.php
• new page: Day-time Statistics
  • detailed statistics for day-time – select day iterval on the fly (from-to)
  • alltime stats
  • hour averages – graphs, tables
  • monthly averages – graphs, tables, comparison with absolute values and deviations
  • yearly averages – graphs, tables, comparison with absolute values and deviations
  • all-values graph – resizable, zoomable
  • smart caching for very fast loading
  • available also for mobile version
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/station/day.php
• new page: Night-time Statistics
  • detailed statistics for day-time – select night interval on the fly (from-to)
  • alltime stats
  • hour averages – graphs, tables
  • monthly averages – graphs, tables, comparison with absolute values and deviations
  • yearly averages – graphs, tables, comparison with absolute values and deviations
  • all-values graph – resizable, zoomable
  • smart caching for very fast loading
  • available also for mobile version
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/station/night.php
• new page/discontinued: Weather Outlook/forecast
  • this page is based on the Outlook plugin. The Outlook plugin is now DISCONTINUED as well as the WWO page! The new forecast/outlook page is now included for all in the core template files
  • added new forecast summary table – see all forecasts in a single table overview
  • available also for mobile version
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/forecast/index.php
• new page: Astronomy Calendar
  • month almanac – graphical monthly overview of sun rises, sun sets
  • Moon phases
  • solar/lunar eclipses
  • meteor showers
  • season changes
  • twilights
  • day/night length visualization
  • day number
  • zodiac
  • available also for mobile version
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/astronomy/astroCalendar.php
• daily report
  • complete redesign and code clean up/optimization
  • added station long-term averages to tables and graphs
  • added deviations from long-term station averages to tables and graphs
  • added absolute min/max for station for comparison
  • new “all-data” graph – graph shows all parameters in one graph, you can turn on/off just the ones you want to compare
  • color-underlay in tables for all parameters
  • redesign included for mobile version
  • speed optimization
  • graphs resizable
  • bug fixes – for example, in previous versions, no data showed as “0” in graphs, which completely shifted the axis. Now the graphs simply are blank when there is no value
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/station/redirect.php?url=reportDaily.php%3Fd%3D22%26m%3D10%26y%3D2016
• monthly report
  • complete redesign and code clean up/optimization
  • new all-parameter graph – all parameters in one graph
  • new “almanac” section with month calendar, moon phases, sun rise/set
  • added to graphs and tables: comparison with long-term station
  • added to graphs and tables: deviation from long-term averages
  • added to graphs and tables: absolute min/max
  • redesign included for mobile version
  • color-underlay in tables for all parameters
  • graphs resizable
  • bug fixes – see daily reports, correctly shift months when the first month in database is not January (previously showing January in all cases…)
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/station/redirect.php?url=reportMonthly.php?date=2016/9
• yearly report
  • redesign and code clean up/optimization
  • added station averages
  • added deviations from long-term station averages
  • DEMO
    http://www.meteotemplate.com/template/pages/station/redirect.php?url=reportYearly.php%3Fy%3D2012
• station climate/statistics
  • complete redesign and optimization – all parameters now handled by 1 script – much easier code management and speed
  • added station averages to tables
  • added deviations from long-term station averages to tables
  • added absolute min/max for station for comparison
• trends
  • redesign and optimization
  • all parameters now handled by just one script
  • now for mobile version as well
  • code clean up, bug fixes (same features, 95% less code…)

New features for blocks

• block highlighting – in homepage setup you can choose which blocks you want to be highlighted (different background color based on your color theme), works for mobile version as well
• header block – you can now select one block which will be right at the top and span the whole width of the page regardless of how many columns you have – ideal for gauges for example and no need to use single-column layout and multiple blocks, just put header block at the top and have 3 columns below, works for mobile version as well
• footer block – the same as above, but this time a block spanning the whole width of the page at the very bottom below all other blocks, works for mobile version as well
• menu block names – you can now specify names for menu blocks. This is optional. If you specify a name, it will be shown at the top of the menu block below the blocks menu selector, the template will also try to translate this name if it is available in the language strings, if not, it will show it as specified, works for mobile version as well

New features

• show current conditions in the header – in the Main settings you can now specify if you want to enable this. If yes then you will see the current conditions on every page directly in the header below the flag icon. The values iterate automatically and you can specify the interval for the change to another parameter. Works also for mobile version.
• site search – you can now include a search for your whole site in the footer! This can be enabled/disabled in the Main settings. For this to work you will need a Google API key, instructions included in the Main settings file.
• new feature – insert custom image background to header for mobile version (setup in Main settings)
• new features for you as an admin
  • “remember me” feature – select this and you will stay logged in as an admin even if you close the browser or shut down the computer, until you log out. This feature uses cookies and the currently most sophisticated encryption available (B-crypt)
• new Import pages – now accessible via cPanel directly
  • any software -> one import file
  • you can now import data to the database from practically any file or WU. You can precisely define the format of the file and it will automatically import it, no need to adjust the format. This allows importing log files from any software.
  • very detailed overview of what exactly is happening during the import to spot any errors (over 200 possible messages based on what is happening)
  • possibility to “test import” to see if correct values will be saved to db
  • possibility to set the time span for WU import (for slow servers importing by month was a problem, in contrast, on faster servers you can now set longer intervals for import at once)

Bug fixes/optimizations/minor changes

• GENERAL:
  • naming standardization – at the beginning I simply called the files whatever I just first came up with, so some pages were renamed to respect the naming convention of the rest of the template
    eg: daily_report -> reportDaily
    annual_report -> reportYearly
• station/pages/calendar.php
  Bug fixes, optimizations, CSS tweaks
• station warnings icons moved inside the header to save valuable space below the header
• climate pages – optimization, CSS tweaks, redesign
• interactive graph – prevent graph from not loading when there is no data available for selected period
• alldata table now created automatically when testing MySQL in Main settings
• possibility to test emails – mail server must be correctly configured on the server for emails to work, you can now test directly in Main settings, if notifications and plugins using emails will work for you
• footer code clean up – previously included all days available in the db in the code for day report selection, now handled by separate script
• prevent the settings block showing “opened” below the footer if db empty
• removed all PHP notices caused by the METAR script
• few new icons
• fixed “sun theme” issue
• new spinner
• liveData – fixed issue with total rain not showing

Depracted pages:

• all update pages (WD, WView, WU, Cumulus – replaced by update.php)
• all import pages (CSV, WU, WD, Cumulus – replaced by import.php)
• worldweatheronline.php – replaced with darksky.net outlook

Depracted plugin:

• outlook – now part of main template files with even more features

Update Instructions

Before you do the update, let me explain one very important thing – database updates. The database updates are now all handled by a single script, the update.php. This script is much better than the original scripts because it allows much better diagnostics – in other words, if something does not work, I will be able to tell exactly what the problem is.

HOWEVER! This means that assuming your updates are already working fine, there is no reason for you to change your updates to this new script. It will have NO ADVANTAGE for you and I would even say – if it works now, just leave it. Not updating the update scripts will in no way affect the rest of the template, the only thing you will not be using is the update setup via cPanel, but again, if it is working now, just leave it as it is. This way there is no risk of any potential problems and also, you do not need to make any changes to your CRON jobs. The new script for updates is very useful, but only to NEW USERS!

1. Make a backup of your files, you can use the backup feature of the template, back up the main template files, a copy of them will be created on your server in Backup directory. This is extremely important and not only during updates, but also in case something goes wrong in the future – always good to have a restore point! (if you don’t believe me ask Jeff from NY :D)
2. open the admin folder and replace all the files inside. DO NOT replace the entire directory, this would delete your homepage settings, which is saved there too. So only replace/add the new files that are inside it.
3. open css directory and replace/add corresponding files
4. open homepage directory and replace/add corresponding files
5. delete your icons directory on your server completely and replace it with the new icons folder in the update package
6. open install directory and replace/add the corresponding files, you can also delete the WU.php, WD.php, Cumulus.php and CSV import pages and showColumns pages, these are all now included in the admin folder and handled from the control panel.
7. open mobile folder and replace/add the corresponding files, in the same structure as they are on your server – again, DO NOT delete and replace the entire folder, go file by file
8. open pages folder and then you will see 5 folders, delete the same folders on your server and replace them with the new ones. However, DO NOT replace the entire “pages” folder, because there are also your custom pages in the “other” folder, which is not part of the update package
9. delete and replace the scripts folder
10. update your language files from lang folder
11. in your template root folder, replace the index pages, the header, the footer and the menu.
12. the update package does contain the new update directory as well, you can open the update folder and copy the new files into your update directory, but I highly recommend you also keep the original files and do not change anything regarding your database updates, just keep in mind that if you keep using the old files, you will not be able to set it up in the control panel – but again, if it is working now, there is no need to set it from the cPanel, so better leaving it
13. reload your page cache in the browser (CTRL+F5) or long press the reload button

Now you are ready to go, a few notes for the new features:

• open your main settings and set up the new features:
  • new section to enable/disable site search
  • new section to enable/disable current conditions in the header
  • in the customization section you can now set a background image for mobile header
  • if you are using the Outlook plugin, copy your API key in the Main settings and delete the outlook plugin from the template, if you are not using the Outlook plugin, you need to get the API key from darksky.net (free)
• new features for homepage
  • on the page where you set blocks for your homepage are new sections for: header block, footer block, highlighted blocks and possibility to give names to menu blocks. Wiki has been updated, but to see how to set the name, you can also click the Brief Instructions and read how to do it.

NOTE: It is absolutely crucial that you update your header, footer and the menu! These files were modified and they do not contain just the new links, but also other scripts that are necessary for the template to work now! If you have modified your menu, then it would be better if you took the new one and added your custom links to it, there are many changes in that file in other parts and same goes for the other pages. Some pages were renamed, some are handled differently.

E N J O Y !!!!!