New EAA Web Site Splash Page

[Hal Bryan]

Where is the weather page that used to be on Oshkosh365.org? I can't seem to find it now and www.oshkosh365.org just redirects to the new main EAA page.

Thanks.
pdj

Hi PDJ -

The weather feature was one of the few things about Oshkosh365 that actually got some positive feedback from time to time, but:

• It was fairly high maintenance, at least periodically - we relied on software tools from NOAA that they periodically changed without any advanced notice.
• There are scores (hundreds?) of other sites out there that provide aviation weather free-of-charge. Many of these sites are run by people who are experts in these areas - it only makes sense for us to focus on what we're good at it and let them do the same.
• It was grossly underutilized. Less than 5% of Oshkosh365 visitors used it, which translates to less than 3% of all EAA members.

I hope this helps give you some clarity into the decision not to replicate this feature on the new site.

Thanks -

Hal

[tspear]

That main page with changing graphics is not good for a low bandwidth user (my phone), and I now have to chase multiple places to find news and blogs, which are my main use for the site (other than the forums). I really don't want multiple bookmarks.

Your style seems to be all the rage, and I've seen lots of them go this way, but I've never liked it. Looks like I'm in a very small minority, though, judging by the other posts here.

Actually they did miss the mark. New websites are being developed in a mode called "responsive". This means the CSS automatically adjusts between the smartphones, tablets and computers based on the screen size. If you really go to an extreme, the CSS will automatically also downgrade the graphics on smaller devices to reduce bandwidth, display area...

A good example of this behavior is when the menu changes from a bar at the top to a button which expands to a vertical menu based on screen size.
For an example, see one of my sites: http://www.tangiblepayments.com

I do not bother changing graphic sizes and a few other techniques. But my menu, layout, and some text all are dynamically sized down to the smallest size, which is roughly the screen on an iPhone.

Tim

[tspear]

Hi PDJ -

The weather feature was one of the few things about Oshkosh365 that actually got some positive feedback from time to time, but:

• It was fairly high maintenance, at least periodically - we relied on software tools from NOAA that they periodically changed without any advanced notice.
• There are scores (hundreds?) of other sites out there that provide aviation weather free-of-charge. Many of these sites are run by people who are experts in these areas - it only makes sense for us to focus on what we're good at it and let them do the same.
• It was grossly underutilized. Less than 5% of Oshkosh365 visitors used it, which translates to less than 3% of all EAA members.

I hope this helps give you some clarity into the decision not to replicate this feature on the new site.

Thanks -

Hal

Hal,

I am one of the members who never used the weather feature. I did not know it was there... Probably to be fair, I would not use it even if I knew.
Has EAA considered partnering with one or more of those sites?

Tim

[Jim Rosenow]

Tspear, you probably know why I show the eaa.org main page trying to run scripts from googleadservices.com, google-analytics.com, microsoft.com, and ajax.googleapis.com. Seems a lot of sites do, but I'm not deep into it enough to know why. Can you elucidate?

[Hal Bryan]

Hal,

I am one of the members who never used the weather feature. I did not know it was there... Probably to be fair, I would not use it even if I knew.
Has EAA considered partnering with one or more of those sites?

Tim

Hi Tim -

Sure - we usually do something like that around convention for Oshkosh-specific weather, and the idea of expanding one of those relationships is one that's come up in conversation more than once. Nothing concrete, but something we'll certainly look at.

-Hal

[1600vw]

That main page with changing graphics is not good for a low bandwidth user (my phone), and I now have to chase multiple places to find news and blogs, which are my main use for the site (other than the forums). I really don't want multiple bookmarks.

Your style seems to be all the rage, and I've seen lots of them go this way, but I've never liked it. Looks like I'm in a very small minority, though, judging by the other posts here.

It's like going into a new town. You are lost as soon as you cross over into the city limits. I view this as going into a new town. Get use to all the roads, learn where all the shops are located and such and soon you feel at home.
Change sucks but not stopping it. Can't beat them join them. I had a hard time finding what I wanted but now its getting easier. I have about one hr surfing on the site. Myself I like this site much better but I only use a laptop on Cable Broadband.
I say thumbs up to the new site.

Tony

[tspear]

Tspear, you probably know why I show the eaa.org main page trying to run scripts from googleadservices.com, google-analytics.com, microsoft.com, and ajax.googleapis.com. Seems a lot of sites do, but I'm not deep into it enough to know why. Can you elucidate?

The new EAA website uses jQuery with a few AJAX toolsets from both Google and Microsoft. In this case, jQuery provides the dynamic backgrounds, slick menus and a few other tricks.

Tim

[tspear]

Hi Tim -

Sure - we usually do something like that around convention for Oshkosh-specific weather, and the idea of expanding one of those relationships is one that's come up in conversation more than once. Nothing concrete, but something we'll certainly look at.

-Hal

Hal,

If you can get him, Scott D. of https://avwxworkshops.com/ has the best weather programs and tools I have seen. The workshops and other stuff is just awesome.

Tim

[PaulDow]

That main page with changing graphics is not good for a low bandwidth user (my phone), and I now have to chase multiple places to find news and blogs, ...

On my Android phone I get a reduced bandwidth version without the background image scrolling. Perhaps a selection to override the detected system could be added for full or mobile version.

I do have a problem with Firefox 28. The popup menu isn't displaying in the right spot like it does in IE


I do have a rather older machine. It's an Acer laptop with a 1.6 Ghz Intel T2060 processor. Running Vista with 2GB RAM. When the photo changes, I get a spike of about 45% CPU usage. If course Firefox is a huge memory hog too.
I used the Windows Network Connection Status screen, and see that after I clear cache I get about 3.5MB loaded when I go to the new eaa.org page. There may be some other background transfer going on in those 4 to 5 seconds, but I don't think it's much.

[Jim Rosenow]

The new EAA website uses jQuery with a few AJAX toolsets from both Google and Microsoft. In this case, jQuery provides the dynamic backgrounds, slick menus and a few other tricks.

Tim

I guess I'm paranoid in my old age....I was wondering about tracking activity. Thanks!

Jim