2008

The Links system has had a significant update. The template design has been updated to more closely match the Forum and Gallery. The ability to submit and update sites on the system has been modified to require an account on the site (which is free). The options will only appear when you are logged on. These features no longer have a Captcha requirement nor do they require entering your name and email any more. The Links system gets the information it needs from your site login…

The Search function has now been moved from many different and inconsistent places. It now appears in the header, by the date and time. Click the magnifying glass to switch between an internet search and a site search (just brianjd.com). It will default to an internet search... that's probably what you want…

The Login System has been revamped. You can now login or logout from any page on the site. Just click on the small user icon below the date. If the user icon contains a green check mark, then you are logged in…

The News system has received a speed boost. Instead of loading the news every time you visit the page, it loads it on the server in the background. This trims off a few seconds to load the web page. News updates occur every five minutes... the news will never be old…

Today marked the completion of many of the missing pieces. Entering incorrect Zip Code / City information is now handled properly, as are ambiguous locations (you'll get a list to pick from). National Weather Service warnings, watches, and advisories will now display on the home page here. The Forecast Details now also contains Past Weather. You can create a PDF for your location with the forecast on it. The weather pages are cached for better server performance and the shading and colors have been adjusted…

After disappearing in early May, the weather forecasts are back and better than before. The site has switched from using Weather Channel data to using National Weather Service data. The engine that is powering the site is courtesy of HAMweather.com. You'll notice there is a lot more data available now. This is just the start... more updates are planned in the coming weeks. Future improvements will enhance the Radar display, provide severe weather notification, and other improvements.

Fixed the Captcha on the Gallery for public comments (it wasn't working before). Links Settings page no longer needs to reload when a setting is changed. Changes apply instantly without reloading the page. There is a new option to use AJAX for the details popups as well. The Forum, Gallery, and Links now generate Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs. Weather code has been optimized and loads faster. The weather module also remembers which day you were viewing when it auto updates. News system auto updates are faster and most of the processing happens with no noticeable impact…