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Weather Skins Not Working

Get help with creating, editing & fixing problems with skins
Developer
Posts: 4
Joined: October 6th, 2022, 6:39 pm

Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by Developer »

Hello Boys and Girls.

Im new in this Forum (just joined for a couple of minutes) but im already looking for around a week for a solution.

My issue here is, that i use a skin from a member from here (he is inactive since 2 1/2 years so no way to contact him :7) but im also not a developer/programmer itself, as my name probably suggests.

So, why i write here.
Well to say it shortly, the skin i use still use the old Location Code and i have absolutly no clue how to change this to the new location code (so before it was BUXX0005 and now weather.com as example shows 20d04d4f3580233b39aa2fb7261fc139f2eef1f866900f0a94f16d7f5eed89a0).

Since im new, im not sure if i can just share the original thread from where i got the skin, so if needed i can posts the link here (its also from this forum) else i can share it over DM if maybe someone can help me.

It would be very appreciated.

[Edit] i ask here for a way to change it or help to change it since i wanted to keep the skin itself but also for possible new skins

Best regards
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SilverAzide
Rainmeter Sage
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Joined: March 23rd, 2015, 5:26 pm

Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by SilverAzide »

Developer wrote: October 6th, 2022, 6:45 pm
Those location short codes were deprecated by weather.com years ago, and the other "long codes" you are referring to were also deprecated. Now weather.com uses latitude/longitudes. Any skin written before 2021 or so is most likely dead and needs rework.

Post the link to the skin you are having issues with, or if the skin has its own topic in the Share Your Creations forum, just post your question in that topic.

You might want to look at the curated list of weather skins here: Weather Skins.

There are also some tutorials that can tell you how to convert an old skin to the new method that uses a set of templates:
Weather.com - Parsing the V3 JSON
Step-by-Step Basic Weather Skin Tutorial
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Developer
Posts: 4
Joined: October 6th, 2022, 6:39 pm

Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by Developer »

Thanks there, i reportest my question now in the original thread, but i will also go trough your 2 links here. maybe i can figure out my issue on my own ^^.

Best regards
Steele1992
Posts: 3
Joined: January 30th, 2023, 3:09 pm

Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by Steele1992 »

Hello. Can anyone help me with getting the Weather App app by "HipHopium" working? I am not sure how to get it to load the weather data, it doesn't look like there's a section for the API key or to enter LAT/LONG coordinates.

https://visualskins.com/skin/weather-app
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Yincognito
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Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by Yincognito »

Steele1992 wrote: January 30th, 2023, 3:12 pm Hello. Can anyone help me with getting the Weather App app by "HipHopium" working? I am not sure how to get it to load the weather data, it doesn't look like there's a section for the API key or to enter LAT/LONG coordinates.

https://visualskins.com/skin/weather-app
It's the same answer as the one given by SilverAzide two replies ago. Basically, the weather part would need to be rewritten to cope with the changes that have occured in regard to the weather source since the skin worked. Check out the tutorial above and use the include files if you want to do it yourself, or look for a more recent skin that works in the corresponding link above.
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Steele1992
Posts: 3
Joined: January 30th, 2023, 3:09 pm

Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by Steele1992 »

Yincognito wrote: January 30th, 2023, 3:32 pm It's the same answer as the one given by SilverAzide two replies ago. Basically, the weather part would need to be rewritten to cope with the changes that have occured in regard to the weather source since the skin worked. Check out the tutorial above and use the include files if you want to do it yourself, or look for a more recent skin that works in the corresponding link above.
There is no other recent skin. All the weather ones on the site I went through already and they all don't work. not sure why that site is up when its all obsolete. this program is abandonware I guess. i seen the tutorial and there's no way to make code work because i dont know what text goes where or how to paste things into some code. another one of those programs that you install then uninstall it right away. ill likely go back to windows 7 gadgets.
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balala
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Joined: October 11th, 2010, 6:27 pm
Location: Gheorgheni, Romania

Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by balala »

Steele1992 wrote: January 30th, 2023, 4:29 pm There is no other recent skin. All the weather ones on the site I went through already and they all don't work. not sure why that site is up when its all obsolete.
It probably has been realized a while ago and it keeps working, even if the skins are outdated and don't work anymore. No one here neither wants nor can to close it, because we have nothing to do with it.
Steele1992 wrote: January 30th, 2023, 4:29 pm i seen the tutorial and there's no way to make code work because i dont know what text goes where or how to paste things into some code. another one of those programs that you install then uninstall it right away.
Believe me, there are plenty of working weather skins out there. Yep, not on the linked site, but here are some places which you can browse, to find a skin which you like:

https://forum.rainmeter.net/viewforum.php?f=134
https://forum.rainmeter.net/viewtopic.php?f=134&t=34689
https://forum.rainmeter.net/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=34471#p170403

I have to admit I didn't check each of the skins posted in all these links, but I'm absolutely positive there are many (if not all) working ones.
But Rainmeter has much more to do than weather, so you shouldn't uninstall it, just because you found a not-working weather skin. However finally it's completely up to you if you want o do this...
Steele1992 wrote: January 30th, 2023, 4:29 pm ill likely go back to windows 7 gadgets.
Than go back, but that gadget has nothing to do with Rainmeter.
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SilverAzide
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Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by SilverAzide »

Steele1992 wrote: January 30th, 2023, 4:29 pm There is no other recent skin. All the weather ones on the site I went through already and they all don't work. not sure why that site is up when its all obsolete. this program is abandonware I guess. i seen the tutorial and there's no way to make code work because i dont know what text goes where or how to paste things into some code. another one of those programs that you install then uninstall it right away. ill likely go back to windows 7 gadgets.
I think you have misunderstood the difference between Rainmeter and skins supplied by users in the community. Rainmeter is not abandonware. It is actively maintained and managed. Rainmeter comes with a set of simple skins (the "Illustro" suite, intended as a guide or tutorial). Anyone can create a skin and post it on the forums here, or on DeviantArt, Reddit, Github, etc., etc.

The problem is that some people have taken skins from the locations where the original author placed them and created a website that aggregates these skins. These sites do so without asking the author for permission, and some even modify the skins to change the author, in violation of the Creative Commons license. And all these sites do nothing to keep the skins in working order if the data source changes. The site you came across is one of these, and it NOT a source of working weather skins. That site is not authorized by, affiliated with, or has anything to do with Rainmeter.

If you want a working weather skin, pay particular attention to WHERE the skin gets its weather data (weather.com, yahoo, weather underground, dark sky, etc.) and WHEN the skin was last updated. If the source of the weather is weather.com and the skin has not been updated since January 2022, then it will not function. All DarkSky-based skins are broken. Older yahoo skins are probably broken. None of this has anything to do with Rainmeter. It is entirely due to changes to the source weather data website, and skin authors not keeping their skins updated with the latest changes.
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Yincognito
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Joined: February 27th, 2015, 2:38 pm
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Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by Yincognito »

Steele1992 wrote: January 30th, 2023, 4:29 pm There is no other recent skin. All the weather ones on the site I went through already and they all don't work. not sure why that site is up when its all obsolete. this program is abandonware I guess. i seen the tutorial and there's no way to make code work because i dont know what text goes where or how to paste things into some code. another one of those programs that you install then uninstall it right away. ill likely go back to windows 7 gadgets.
First, Rainmeter is not abandonware, as others already mentioned, the issue is that some of those skins are (i.e. they're not updated by their authors anymore, for various reasons - like real life or lack of time, for example). The site is notorious for having a collection of older skins, so it's no wonder that some of them don't work anymore considering the changes in how the weather source looks like.

Secondly, you give up too easily. There is always a way to do what you want, you only have to want it enough. I can post a very very simple sample skin that showcases how you add, say, the current temperature to a basic skin later on today, but you have to let me know if you're actually interested, cause I don't like to do pointless things.

Then, it would be up to you to add what else you want, as nobody will do it for you. Again, if you're looking for something easy that you can just "plug in" and work, you have the option of checking out the weather skins from the links both SilverAzide and balala mentioned. They won't look like the skin you talked about and changing the looks involves some changing in the code as well, but then it will be better than nothing. :confused:

In other words, just because something requires a bit of extra effort to make it work, it doesn't mean it's abandonware or not working at all. Many people tackled way more complicated things and succeeded (e.g. I now work with GPU shader code which involves a ton of high level math and some languages I had zero knowledge of until now ... but guess what, I already understand most of how those things work). Certainly you can edit a skin .ini file too, when there's a tutorial providing the needed info... ;-)
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Steele1992
Posts: 3
Joined: January 30th, 2023, 3:09 pm

Re: Weather Skins Not Working

Post by Steele1992 »

If you have to go through all this trouble to get a program to work - that means it is not a good program. End of.

Yahoo Widgets were just click and add, same with Gadgets.