Cold and Hot Coding

[Fort Carson]

Hi,

I’d like to create a simple temperature table like the one at this test link and don’t know how:

http://www.fortcarson-offbase-reales...EMPERATURE.htm

Can anyone provide the correct coding to record the applicable temperatures for the cities listed at the test link so I can build a temperature table? Even coding for one city will help as I can duplicate it myself for the other cities. I already have the correct code for the TIME column.

The coding for this table was copied from a Yahoo module to illustrate the desired outcome only. I’m not too keen on this coding and would like to replace it with coding that automatically replaces the displayed temperatures as the temperatures and forecasts change. The temperatures in this test table don’t automatically update as they should.

There are weather Widgets and Gadgets from several sources and I prefer not to use them. NOAA.gov and Weather.gov have great data on domestic cities, but seem to lack data on international cities.

I’m very very new at code, so any help you can provide will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Mike

[jessiesc]

What language do you prefer to use, javascript, php other?

Also, do you have a site you want to use that provides the information you want to display?

Don't forget to take into consideration that updating the temps automatically are going to eat up resources for refreshing.

[Fort Carson]

Jessie,

PHP would seem to work.

I don't know of a site that would provide the data to display. However, I'm thinking that Yahoo (which is behind the links now) would likely be reliable.

Good point about the bandwidth; as a novice I didn't think of that.

In any case, I've been wanting to add this feature to my site for a long time and just don't have the know-how. So, I'm crossing my fingers in hopes of finding someone who has the smarts to help me.

Thank you.

Mike

[jessiesc]

Mike,

There are several ways you can accomplish this. Of course, you can code this from scratch. However, if you do you will need to have a "feed" of some sort to provide this information. I am not aware of a site that provides this information at the moment. If you find one let me know.

Usually this feed would be in XML format (or an RSS feed) and you can parse that information and display your information as you wish.

Another way would be to "scrape" or "read" a page for that information (I don't suggest this method at all).

A much simpler method is as you have already discovered, grab a widget and modify it to suit your needs.

The widget is by far the easiest and most time and cost effective method and they come in a variety of flavors with lots of information.

I build allot of custom items for my customers websites, but this is one of those things that I would just find a widget and save the time and effort.

If you find a site that has the information, feel free to post. I know I have some code around that could display it for you with a few modifications.

[Fort Carson]

Jessie,

The only single reference that has domestic and foreign city temperatures that I can find is from Yahoo. For example:
http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USCO0078_f.html

and

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/AFXX0003_f.html

I'm not good at coding at all, but I've spent hours looking for a source of the data. Yahoo seems like the easiest reference.

I've looked at several widgets and I'm just not sure of how to modify them. More importantly though, I couldn't find a reliable widget source that includes temperatures for foreign cities. My site is very simple and I'd like to keep it unpolluted with advertising that frequently comes with widgets.

Mike

[jessiesc]

Here is an interesting world weather widget.
www[dot]widgetbox[dot]com/widget/wheres-hot-when

Nice interaction and map and very easy to install.

[Fort Carson]

Hmm. Interesting graphic and it may suite my audience.

I'm going to take a look at it.

Thanks.

Mike

[jessiesc]

I looked for a feed that offers what you are looking for and could not find one either.

Granted I did not spend all day looking, but it appears you may have to go with a widget of this type.

One other thing to consider: There are some pay feeds you may be able to subscribe to that may provide the information you want. I have not searched for those, but I'm sure they must exist.

[langard]

cUrl scripts work just fine with PHP. Forget graphing, it's nebulous.

You can see a simple working script on http://www.rvthereryet.cc if you click on a campground [read property].