MikeC
Admin
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Posts: 4635
Loc: Orlando, FL
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I'm mixed about the satellite image in the header, I may reposition it. WE've also got This page on the front with one such new position.
Another new feature that's nearing completion is the ability to set which locations you see in the weather statement pop ups on the main page. The prototype setup screen is at this link.. We'll be the ones determining hurricane or possible tropical development locations, but you can pick which areas you want (by your user account) to show up regardless.
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LI Phil
User
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Posts: 2637
Loc: Long Island (40.7N 73.6W)
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to be honest, i don't really like the image in the center, so if you're going to keep it up, it's better below and to the right as you have it in your example...just my $.02
as far as the customizable page, i think that is OUTSTANDING and i'm sure many of our users will greatly appreciate being able to pick and choose their own formats for display
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2005 Forecast: 14/7/4
BUCKLE UP!
"If your topic ain't tropic, your post will be toast"
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MikeC
Admin
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Posts: 4635
Loc: Orlando, FL
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Note the Location customization is working now on the main page or "My Home" . You can choose what areas to receive weather statements from.
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RedingtonBeachGuy
Moderator
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Posts: 342
Loc: St. Cloud, FL
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might be just me but a 100k header gif loading on every page load seems quite overwhelming.. maybe you should consider killing the banner for a more efficient one?
it would be nice if you put together a forum for Q&A's for newbies on how to gather info, decipher it, and the like so all of us non-weather guru's understand things like what a trough is, how to interpret data, etc.. maybe one of the Met guys could host a weekly beginner's class?
I agree that the weather statements overload the front page. A simple link off to current statements should be enough, I would think.
As for weather statements, you could take the zip code where folks sign up from and automatically send them alerts on the front page when they log in (or a simple flashing gif that says ALERT or something), and make a link off to the statement area otherwise available. There are numerous databases of zip codes and distances available now to do that for you.
The third column is almost a waste it seems.. you could incorporate it in the left side and open up your front page to be a very fast loading, immediate viewing of the problem areas with the ability to link off to where you want to go.
Just thinking of bandwidth.. 
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HanKFranK
User
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Posts: 1841
Loc: Graniteville, SC
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we've talked about digging up some of clark's old posts and archiving them.. maybe some others. clark is probably combined the most generous and most knowledgeable of the people who try to explain things when folks have questions. same sort of thing for jason kelley. both are mets, both have this site as a side hobby.
HF 0551z08june
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LI Phil
User
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Posts: 2637
Loc: Long Island (40.7N 73.6W)
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just to add to what HanKFranK said...a forum for archived posts has been discussed an will likely be incorporated into the boards at some point this season....aside from clark & jason, hf has himself had some pretty outstanding "explanation" posts in the past which we will likely archive as well....for now though...
we currently have a "Weather Questions and Answers" forum which any and all who have questions should make use of...we will tinker with the formats of all the forums, plus consider any and all suggestions from users....this is still quite a work in progress and look for many changes to come for the 2005 season
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2005 Forecast: 14/7/4
BUCKLE UP!
"If your topic ain't tropic, your post will be toast"
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SkeetoBite
Master of Maps
Reged:
Posts: 298
Loc: Lakeland, FL
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Suggest modifying header size for all content pages to a small, faster loading format. Recommend ditching all header content or replacing as links to this valuable content at another location.
Suggested header: (330 x 70)
Suggested tile for header background: (4 x 70)
If you want to use these images, but want them adjusted (darker, taller, whatever), please let me know.
The site looks great. Can't wait to get our contributions for the 2005 season done for everyone.
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MikeC
Admin
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Posts: 4635
Loc: Orlando, FL
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I optimized the header images (They are even smaller than skeet's images byte wise). As for the header layout that's up to Christine, she's in charge of the general layout this year.
Popups will remain since I try to emphasize real weather statements over what we discuss, but I'll rearrange the order. Web output is gzip compressed so the text really doesn't add much to bandwidth. Images are dispersed over seveal round robin image servers at different locations, so that's pretty well handled too. Although I still try to optimize images for size where I can.
I'll let Christine know to look here.
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RedingtonBeachGuy
Moderator
Reged:
Posts: 342
Loc: St. Cloud, FL
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Here is another one down to 12.4k, if it helps any
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Katie
Weather Guru
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Posts: 167
Loc: Winter Haven, FL
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I like Reddington's idea about the zip code alerts...great idea.
Just my opinion, I open the page and there is so much going on - I get lost. Is there any way to make it easier? I wear glasses on the computer but even with them, I have a hard time seeing what I am looking for because I get distracted.
I love the site though. You guys rock!!!! Looking forward to another season.
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B.C.Francis
Storm Tracker
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Posts: 331
Loc: Indiatlantic Florida
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I know we had some issues happen. I was just interested in what it was that caused the problem........Weatherchef
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MikeC
Admin
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Posts: 4635
Loc: Orlando, FL
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It was a quirk moving the off topic post, it "ate" some postsl. I've restored all of them though manually so they are there. It happened when I went out to meet up with . I actually fixed it from his laptop.
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