New Met Éireann Website (beta)

my3cents · 23-04-2018 1:32pm

Comhra wrote: »

Well, to me it's not nonsense. My main gripe about the 5 min. radar intervals is that it seems to have made the previous 6 hrs.viewing time-span redundant and it is now only possible to see a short 3 hrs. 'look-back'.

Not useful if someone wants to check something like an overnight precip event. A 6 hr. timeframe with 5 min. intervals would probably prove very long and cumbersome, and though the 5 min. updates may be a desirable feature for many, it's a pity it necessitates a reduction in the viewing time range from 6 to 3 hrs.

No doubt different folks have different needs and priorities but still it's a pity that some previous useful features have been omitted in the update.

I'd also have thought the back & forward buttons on the radar wouldn't have been too much trouble to retain. Almost every other met. website has that feature. It's pretty much standard.

I also find the further you can look back the easier it is to extrapolate where the rain is going.

I think the new map endows the rainfall radar with much greater accuracy than it really has.

Gaoth Laidir · 23-04-2018 3:41pm

Comhra wrote: »

Well, to me it's not nonsense. My main gripe about the 5 min. radar intervals is that it seems to have made the previous 6 hrs.viewing time-span redundant and it is now only possible to see a short 3 hrs. 'look-back'.

Not useful if someone wants to check something like an overnight precip event. A 6 hr. timeframe with 5 min. intervals would probably prove very long and cumbersome, and though the 5 min. updates may be a desirable feature for many, it's a pity it necessitates a reduction in the viewing time range from 6 to 3 hrs.

No doubt different folks have different needs and priorities but still it's a pity that some previous useful features have been omitted in the update.

I'd also have thought the back & forward buttons on the radar wouldn't have been too much trouble to retain. Almost every other met. website has that feature. It's pretty much standard.

(Edit) The Belfast radar cover is indeed welcome, I have to agree.

Yep, that's a valid point too. No reason why it should be limited to 3 hours.

zom · 23-04-2018 6:53pm

I am extremely happy user of old version - thank you very much for keeping it! Did a speed test recently and old page is lightweight rocket comparing to new one slow and massive elephant:
_______________________old__________new
Visually Complete:_______0.600s_______4.400s
Speed Index (google):____387__________2795
Document Complete_____251 KB_______1,815 KB

pauldry · 23-04-2018 8:37pm

Yes really and truly they should take down the new page altogether and work on it again and perhaps relaunch it in a month

gabeeg · 23-04-2018 8:38pm

zom wrote: »

I am extremely happy user of old version - thank you very much for keeping it! Did a speed test recently and old page is lightweight rocket comparing to new one slow and massive elephant:
_______________________old__________new
Visually Complete:_______0.600s_______4.400s
Speed Index (google):____387__________2795
Document Complete_____251 KB_______1,815 KB

The thing is though, that "lightweight rocket" was probably pretty slow back in 2006 when it was launched.
Broadband hadn't reached half of the country and mobile data speeds were brutal.
Imagine how much you all would have moaned about the site you grew to love way back then.

Oh I think it's also worth mentioning that at 1,815 kb - it's about half the average size of a typical webpage in 2018.
I find the site loads very quickly, and I'm using my phone as a hotspot.

sryanbruen · 23-04-2018 8:41pm

Loading speeds is not one of the problems I've been having, I find Boards far worse for loading. Boards can be absolutely appalling for loading speeds sometimes. Going by other people, I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Oneiric 3 · 23-04-2018 9:13pm

For us ancient, unmovable, pipe-smoking, backward thinking Micks, here are some Atlantic frontal charts courtesy of our similarly backward thinking European neighbours, since we in Ireland are obviously too advanced and forward thinking to have them provided by our own met service.

Portuguese Met Service (click on "Selecione Campo' and then 'Analise Frontal' on drop down:
https://www.ipma.pt/en/otempo/prev.numerica/index.jsp

ZAMG - Austrian Met Service:
http://www.zamg.ac.at/cms/de/wetter/wetterkarte

KNMI - Netherlands
http://www.knmi.nl/nederland-nu/weer/waarschuwingen-en-verwachtingen/weerkaarten

DWD - Germany:
https://www.dwd.de/DE/leistungen/hobbymet_wk_europa/hobbyeuropakarten.html?nn=357606

UKMO - UK
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/surface-pressure/#?tab=surfacePressureColour&fcTime=1524441600

AndrewJRenko · 23-04-2018 10:00pm

Just thought this article that I got today about engaging users on design changes might be interesting in the light of this example;

https://articles.uie.com/users-dont-hate-change-they-hate-our-design-choices/

pauldry · 24-04-2018 9:26am

Yeah I actually tried running my own weather website through html and it was a nightmare as I just learned copied n pasted all the tags. It ran well for 10 years but as the internet advanced with interactive charts and 100s of new weather websites I was left in the shade as my knowledge ain't that great so sadly I had to take my site down. Now I just run the blog through Facebook occasionally.

I can only imagine how difficult it is to completely overhaul Met Eireanns page. That's why I think they should have left most of it as was and just add a few new features bit by bit. Like just the same appearance as before but maybe slightly bigger font and then have "new" beside some links

gabeeg · 24-04-2018 11:36am

pauldry wrote: »

Yeah I actually tried running my own weather website through html and it was a nightmare as I just learned copied n pasted all the tags. It ran well for 10 years but as the internet advanced with interactive charts and 100s of new weather websites I was left in the shade as my knowledge ain't that great so sadly I had to take my site down. Now I just run the blog through Facebook occasionally.

I can only imagine how difficult it is to completely overhaul Met Eireanns page. That's why I think they should have left most of it as was and just add a few new features bit by bit. Like just the same appearance as before but maybe slightly bigger font and then have "new" beside some links

That's usually a very sensible approach. Iterative, small changes rather than a massive release that upsets user's workflow.

Unfortunately in this case the codebase was so outdated that it would be nearly impossible to do this.
You know a little html right? Well the old site used html and css patterns from the nineties.
The server language used is Microsoft's ASP. ASP was replaced as a coding language by .Net back in 2002.
So even if your suggested approach was doable, you literally could not find the staff to do it.

Also, making the site responsive (layout adapts to device - mobile, desktop etc) requires a re-do of literally everything.

highdef · 24-04-2018 12:47pm

Viewing the radar on the new website at the moment and I am seeing circles in the Dublin/Meath/Kildare area which is an anomaly. These are far less pronounced (almost invisible) on the legacy site, despite the fact that the new site is using the data from Belfast as well so in theory it should be more accurate. Anyone know why this is happening as it looks terrible and it makes it very difficult to estimate the precipitation rates in the Dublin/Meath/Kildare areas?

my3cents · 24-04-2018 12:51pm

highdef wrote: »

Viewing the radar on the new website at the moment and I am seeing circles in the Dublin/Meath/Kildare area which is an anomaly. These are far less pronounced (almost invisible) on the legacy site, despite the fact that the new site is using the data from Belfast as well so in theory it should be more accurate. Anyone know why this is happening as it looks terrible and it makes it very difficult to estimate the precipitation rates in the Dublin/Meath/Kildare areas?

Was watching those myself this morning. Most of the time although it was obviously raining in Limerick because Limerick was the center of one anomaly the rain radar showed no rain there.

hatrickpatrick · 24-04-2018 2:15pm

This explains a lot...

https://twitter.com/MetEireann/status/988738005363056640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Farchive.met.ie%2F

Comhrá · 24-04-2018 2:33pm

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

This explains a lot...

https://twitter.com/MetEireann/status/988738005363056640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Farchive.met.ie%2F

Met Eireann are currently recruiting for the post of Head of Technology Division.
See details in the link below
https://www.publicjobs.ie/publicjobs/campaignAdvert/77936.htm …
12:14 PM - 24 Apr 2018

Has a position suddenly become vacant?

Gaoth Laidir · 24-04-2018 2:55pm

highdef wrote: »

Viewing the radar on the new website at the moment and I am seeing circles in the Dublin/Meath/Kildare area which is an anomaly. These are far less pronounced (almost invisible) on the legacy site, despite the fact that the new site is using the data from Belfast as well so in theory it should be more accurate. Anyone know why this is happening as it looks terrible and it makes it very difficult to estimate the precipitation rates in the Dublin/Meath/Kildare areas?

It could just be bright banding.

http://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Bright_band

Tigerandahalf · 24-04-2018 4:08pm

Perhaps this has been asked already but is there any way to change the radar back to 15 minute intervals. It is a pain now with 'every 5 minutes' intervals.

Also for some reason the app says my location is Dublin. I updated the app while in Dublin but I am not resident there. Do I need to set 'location' on every time for this to know where I am.

The older app was easy and simple for my needs.

I am using the android app.

Thanks

Edit: just seen now that I can push the slide button across and it can go faster.

gabeeg · 24-04-2018 5:24pm

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Perhaps this has been asked already but is there any way to change the radar back to 15 minute intervals. It is a pain now with 'every 5 minutes' intervals.

Also for some reason the app says my location is Dublin. I updated the app while in Dublin but I am not resident there. Do I need to set 'location' on every time for this to know where I am.

The older app was easy and simple for my needs.

I am using the android app.

Thanks

Edit: just seen now that I can push the slide button across and it can go faster.

If you click "enter location" and feed in your home town, it should persist for you next time.

Does fr me anyways

highdef · 24-04-2018 5:59pm

Gaoth Laidir wrote: »

It could just be bright banding.

http://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Bright_band

It was bright banding but my point was that it was only barely noticeable on a couple of frames in the legacy radar, right over Dublin city/airport vicinity but extremely pronounced in the new radar with several rings being extremely apparent north to County Louth, south into Wicklow and west into the midlands.

If you were viewing the radar and you were located under one of these persistent rings, you would be under the impression that it was raining heavily for hours on end when in actual fact, the rain was generally moderate in any given area in the east.

Tigerandahalf · 24-04-2018 8:29pm

gabeeg wrote: »

If you click "enter location" and feed in your home town, it should persist for you next time.

Does fr me anyways

Where is 'enter location'?

gabeeg · 24-04-2018 8:41pm

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Where is 'enter location'?

I figured you were on the website on your phone.
My bad.

On the Android app you have to click the magnifying glass icon on the top right.
Then you click the "my location" switch to have it default to your location

Tigerandahalf · 24-04-2018 9:51pm

gabeeg wrote: »

I figured you were on the website on your phone.
My bad.

On the Android app you have to click the magnifying glass icon on the top right.
Then you click the "my location" switch to have it default to your location

I have done that now but it then defaults back to Dublin when I exit and return to the app.
When I go into the 'magnifying glass' icon again the 'location on' has been switched off.

gabeeg · 24-04-2018 10:33pm

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I have done that now but it then defaults back to Dublin when I exit and return to the app.
When I go into the 'magnifying glass' icon again the 'location on' has been switched off.

Sounds like it might be a bug so.

There's an update available. Might fix it.

Tigerandahalf · 24-04-2018 10:38pm

gabeeg wrote: »

Sounds like it might be a bug so.

There's an update available. Might fix it.

The app seems to want you to have gps 'location' permanently on, something I don't want.

gabeeg · 24-04-2018 10:41pm

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

The app seems to want you to have gps 'location' permanently on, something I don't want.

It won't be permanently on, dude. Just when you open the app.
It's just using your location as a basis for the forecast.

Don't worry, It's not a Mark Zuckerberg production.

Oneiric 3 · 25-04-2018 12:00pm

Pizza Pizza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez0B3lktKI4

Kermit.de.frog · 25-04-2018 5:06pm

The sferics/lightning strikes on the new radar are quite good.

Credit where credit is due.

https://www.met.ie/

pauldry · 25-04-2018 7:46pm

Maybe they are

Haven't looked as I've bookmarked old site until I see people on here giving positive feedback on new site or until I've no choice!!

Oneiric 3 · 26-04-2018 12:46pm

pauldry wrote: »

Maybe they are

Haven't looked as I've bookmarked old site until I see people on here giving positive feedback on new site or until I've no choice!!

As of now, they don't seem to be addressing any of the issues people are having with the new site.

gabeeg · 26-04-2018 3:07pm

That takes time.

They have to digest and prioritise the feedback, iterate on the design, engineer it, test it, release it and repeat.

my3cents · 26-04-2018 3:08pm

gabeeg wrote: »

That takes time.

They have to digest and prioritise the feedback, iterate on the design, engineer it, test it, release it and repeat.

They could just start fixing the bugs or is that too much to ask?

New Met Éireann Website (beta)

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