The Zap Weather Content Plugin

The Zap Weather plugin is a way to display customized weather information on your website.  With this plugin, weather information can be displayed either within an article or from a custom HTML module. The plugin has access to over 50 weather data items, including multiple period data in the forecast data items.

Read more: The Zap Weather Content Plugin

Zap Weather Content Plugin Examples

This page contains examples using the Zap Weather content plugin, which can display weather information within a Joomla article or custom HTML module. The sample output below is showing current weather information for Los Angeles using this plugin. To use these examples on your site, just copy the code and paste the code into your Joomla article or custom HTML module. Change the location variable "loc" for your particular site, using the location id in Zap Weather's list of locations.  In most cases, you will need to paste this code into the HTML code window of the editor (for example, the "HTML" icon in the standard Joomla editor or the "<>" icon or "[show/hide]" option in the JCE editor) in order for the HTML tags to be inserted properly.  For a full list of variables that can be used, including variables for forecasts, observations and alerts, read the Zap Weather content plugin article.

 

Description	Sample Output	Code
12 Hour Forecast - 2 periods in a horizontal layout	{zweather loc=1} {zweather var=f12_periodname,index=1} {zweather var=f12_weather,index=1} Hi: {zweather var=f12_maxtemp,index=1}° Low: {zweather var=f12_mintemp,index=1}° {zweather var=f12_periodname,index=2} {zweather var=f12_weather,index=2} Hi: {zweather var=f12_maxtemp,index=2}° Low: {zweather var=f12_mintemp,index=2}°	{_zweather loc=1}<table style="margin: 4px; background-color: #ddddff; border: #bbbbff 2px solid; padding: 4px" style="margin: 4px; background-color: #ddddff; border: #bbbbff 2px solid; padding: 4px"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 100px; text-align: center;"><strong>{_zweather var=f12_periodname,index=1}</strong><br /><br /><img border="0" src= "{_zweather var=f12_icon,index=1}" /><br />{_zweather var=f12_weather,index=1}<br /><strong>Hi:</strong> {_zweather var=f12_maxtemp,index=1}&deg;<br /><strong>Low:</strong> {_zweather var=f12_mintemp,index=1}&deg;</td><td style="width: 100px; text-align: center;"><strong>{_zweather var=f12_periodname,index=2}<br /></strong><br /><img border="0" align="center" src= "{_zweather var=f12_icon,index=2}" /><br />{_zweather var=f12_weather,index=2}<br /><strong>Hi:</strong> {_zweather var=f12_maxtemp,index=2}&deg;<br /><strong>Low:</strong> {_zweather var=f12_mintemp,index=2}&deg;</td></tr></tbody></table>
24 Hour Forecast - 2 periods in a vertical layout	{zweather loc=1} Today: {zweather var=f24_weather,index=0} Hi: {zweather var=f24_maxtemp,index=0}° Low: {zweather var=f24_mintemp,index=0}° Tomorrow: {zweather var=f24_weather,index=1} Hi: {zweather var=f24_maxtemp,index=1}° Low: {zweather var=f24_mintemp,index=1}°	{_zweather loc=1}<table style="margin: 4px; background-color: #ddddff; border: #bbbbff 2px solid; padding: 4px;" style="margin: 4px; background-color: #ddddff; border: #bbbbff 2px solid; padding: 4px"><tbody><tr style="border:0px;"><td style="width: 150px; text-align: left;"><table style="padding:2px;" ><tbody><tr style="border:0px;"><td><img border="0" align="left" src= "{_zweather var=f24_icon,index=0}" /></td><td><strong>Today:</strong><br />{_zweather var=f24_weather,index=0}<br /><strong>Hi:</strong> {_zweather var=f24_maxtemp,index=0}&deg;<br /><strong>Low:</strong> {_zweather var=f24_mintemp,index=0}&deg;</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="width: 150px; text-align: left;"><table style="padding:2px;" ><tbody><tr><td><img border="0" align="left" src= "{_zweather var=f24_icon,index=1}" /><strong>Tomorrow:</strong><br />{_zweather var=f24_weather,index=1}<br /><strong>Hi:</strong> {_zweather var=f24_maxtemp,index=1}&deg;<br /><strong>Low:</strong> {_zweather var=f24_mintemp,index=1}&deg;</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
Current Conditions - A basic layout	{zweather loc=1} {zweather loc=1} {zweather var=o_weather} {zweather var=o_tempstr}	{_zweather loc=1}<table style="margin: 4px; background-color: #ddddff; border: #bbbbff 2px solid; padding: 4px;"> <tr><td><img border="0" align="left" src= "{_zweather var=o_iconbase}{_zweather var=o_iconname}" /></td> <td><strong>{_zweather var=o_weather}</strong><br/>{_zweather var=o_tempstr} </td></tr></table>

Zap Weather Plugin FAQ

What is the Zap Weather plugin?

The Zap Weather plugin is a way to embed weather data into your article content or custom HTML module.  It can be as simple as displaying a single data item like today's weather forecast or it could be a fully formatted HTML page with many weather data items and css styles.  You can see an example and more information about this plugin in the Zap Weather plugin examples article.

Why should I use this plugin?

The Zap Weather plugin gives you complete control over the formatting of weather data. You no longer need to be a programmer to customize the output from Z Weather. If you know how to use the Joomla editor, you can add weather data to your articles.

How do I use this plugin?

View the articles in our support section that show you how to use the plugin, including several live examples.

Can I create my own weather module using this plugin?

Yes! You can use the custom HTML module to create your own custom weather module.  Make sure you have enabled the content plugin setting in the module settings.

Does using the plugin slow down my site?

The plugin shares the same XML cache of weather data that the Zap Weather component.  Zap Weather's cron feature can speed up accessing weather data by refreshing the XML data in the background.  Enabling page caching in Joomla will cache the output generated by the Zap Weather plugin and any other modules and plugins in use, resulting in faster display of web pages even on those pages not utilizing the Zap Weather plugin.

Installation Guide for Zap Weather

Version 7 and Above

Starting with version 7, Zap Weather fully supports Joomla 2.5.  Features include 3, 12 and 24 hour forecasts, observation and alert displays and support for automatic updating of weather data using a cron job.

Installing the Component

Like other Joomla components, install the component using the extensions manager.  Once installed, go the the Zap Weather component page in the back-end to define your location.  Zap Weather's forecast feature utilizes the latitude/longitude values in the location settings.  Enter the values for your location, or you can enter a zipcode to lookup the latitude/longitude values.

Once your location is saved, you can now create a menu item for your location.  Select the Zap Calendar / Single Location option, specify the location and weather settings and save your menu.  You can now select the menu item on the front end to display the weather for the location you just created. (Note: the initial beta only supports 12 and 24 hour forecasts).

Beginning with version 8, a module and plugin are included and are automatically installed. You will need to enable the Zap Weather plugin using the Joomla plugin manager.  The plugin is located in the content folder.

Cronjob Support

Using the cronjob feature can greatly enhance the performance of your site.  When the cronjob is not in use, users visiting your website may trigger a data pull from the NWS site, slowing performance.  When the cronjob is used, users are not slowed down by data pulls.

The cronjob support is greatly simplified in version 7.  From the global settings in Zap Weather, turn off the option "Front-End Data Refresh".  You will then need a cronjob to run at a regular interval (every 10 minutes is suggested).  This cronjob will include a URL similar to the following:

http://mysite.com/index.php?option=com_zweather&task=cron

This URL can be run from a browser for testing purposes, but you will need to include the IP address of your computer in the IP setting in Zap Weather's global settings

 

Version 6 Instructions

These are the installation steps for version 6, which is for Joomla 1.5 only.

Read more: Installation Guide for Zap Weather