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Classics - The Weather Channel from 1982-1999 => TWC Classics News => Topic started by: twcclassics on October 27, 2012, 05:29:48 PM

Title: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on October 27, 2012, 05:29:48 PM
I would like to change the focus of TWCC from TWC nostalgia to memorable weather events. TWC would still be the primary source of content, but I'd also use other content when available. Examples of this other content would include local stations, other cable channels, and amateur footage. And if I can master Photoshop, I'd create my own maps and charts. The idea is a combination of the memorable storms area I added awhile back, as well as my timeline idea from last month. The former of which was inspired by Ray's Weather Archive, with help from my friend Alex.

The problem is that I don't know if I can do this without re-organizing the site. Here's the things I want to do. Can anyone think of a way to accomplish this without re-organizing? Thanks!

- Organize local forecast clips by playlist date, and combine them with audio clips
- Post emulated local forecasts on a regular basis
- Post news/rumors about TWC, as well as news about current major weather events
- Create a weather 101 area, where common questions about the weather are answered
- Expand memorable storms area to include those without names, and include content from local footage, my graphics, etc.
- Create a store area w/reviews and links to weather-related dvds, books, weather instruments, etc.
- Create a section of interesting local forecast screenshots
- Expand OCM screenshots to include one screenshot of each ocm every year (when possible)
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Nick on October 27, 2012, 06:17:46 PM
I might be able to help with historical weather events. I have a feeling your list will be a lot of work though...everything would have to be sortable by date.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Lightning on October 28, 2012, 10:44:37 PM
I can't say I am for this. I LOVE twc classics because I can think back at the TWC I knew in the 80s and 90s. Please don't change it!  :no: Everything on the site now would be gone. I love the classic footage from the cards of the segments to the business travel forecast slides and city backdrops, local forecast videos featuring the 3000 and 4000 and I could go on and on. Please keep it!
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on October 28, 2012, 11:02:50 PM
I can't say I am for this. I LOVE twc classics because I can think back at the TWC I knew in the 80s and 90s. Please don't change it!  :no: Everything on the site now would be gone. I love the classic footage from the cards of the segments to the business travel forecast slides and city backdrops, local forecast videos featuring the 3000 and 4000 and I could go on and on. Please keep it!
It would still be a TWC nostalgia site. It would just focus more on the storm systems, rather than being random sets of clips and pics. Adding other types of footage would make it more interesting.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Lightning on October 28, 2012, 11:13:51 PM
I can't say I am for this. I LOVE twc classics because I can think back at the TWC I knew in the 80s and 90s. Please don't change it!  :no: Everything on the site now would be gone. I love the classic footage from the cards of the segments to the business travel forecast slides and city backdrops, local forecast videos featuring the 3000 and 4000 and I could go on and on. Please keep it!
It would still be a TWC nostalgia site. It would just focus more on the storm systems, rather than being random sets of clips and pics. Adding other types of footage would make it more interesting.
You mean you would just add content about weather events and storm systems, but everything I mentioned in my previous post in this thread would go nowhere? The clips and pics would still be on there?
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on October 28, 2012, 11:47:58 PM
You mean you would just add content about weather events and storm systems, but everything I mentioned in my previous post in this thread would go nowhere? The clips and pics would still be on there?
Yes and no. I would scale back the current content to make room for the new content. So instead of having every single LF and BTF, I would only post the best/most memorable. Maybe a sitemap would help.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Lightning on October 29, 2012, 06:23:28 PM
What about the pictures of the tour of TWC's facilities? Could u keep that? I understand you can't keep everything on there just as it is and add this other stuff  to the site because the server would crash, would it not?
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on October 29, 2012, 08:01:30 PM
What about the pictures of the tour of TWC's facilities? Could u keep that? I understand you can't keep everything on there just as it is and add this other stuff  to the site because the server would crash, would it not?
Yes, it would be under "series" category in the blog.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on November 17, 2012, 08:10:19 PM
Still in the planning stages, but here's the most recent site map.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on December 31, 2012, 03:26:19 PM
Since some have objected to the changes, I decided to post a poll to see what others think.

http://www.twcclassics.com/blog/site-news/current-or-previous-navigation/478/ (http://www.twcclassics.com/blog/site-news/current-or-previous-navigation/478/)
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Ice Man on January 27, 2013, 03:12:32 AM
Just saw this and tried to cast a vote, but it was closed. No idea what the poll results were, but another idea - of course a lot of this depends on if you're using a database to manage content. Why not make it possible to sort the material whichever way you like? A simple click could switch the site between media type or chronological.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on January 27, 2013, 10:18:40 PM
Just saw this and tried to cast a vote, but it was closed. No idea what the poll results were, but another idea - of course a lot of this depends on if you're using a database to manage content. Why not make it possible to sort the material whichever way you like? A simple click could switch the site between media type or chronological.
The results were that after a whopping 4 votes, "by media type" was the clear winner. I noticed some bugs with the polling plugin, so I'm not sure if the lack of votes was due to a bug or a lack of interest.

Most of the site's content is currently in a database, though I'm looking to get away from that due to the infrequent, but consistent connection errors I'm seeing in my error log file. Being a web developer, I can design the site in almost any way you can imagine.

Can you expand on your idea for allowing the visitor to sort? Are you talking about two versions of the same site, with the possibility for the visitor to choose the one they prefer? One organized by media type and another by date?
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Ice Man on January 27, 2013, 11:37:51 PM
Can you expand on your idea for allowing the visitor to sort? Are you talking about two versions of the same site, with the possibility for the visitor to choose the one they prefer? One organized by media type and another by date?

Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting. That's why I asked about the DB, because it would make a transition to that kind of website so much easier.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on January 28, 2013, 01:14:12 AM
That's not a bad idea! I'll have to explore it further. Thanks! :)
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: WxDaveM on January 30, 2013, 12:00:26 PM
I hope that nothing changes as far as the local forecasts go, anytime I am depressed I can come here and watch those old LF and it always brings a smile to my face.  Since LF will never be as good as they were in the late 80s and early 90s, I hope that this site keeps them so I can keep coming back.

Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on January 30, 2013, 03:36:25 PM
I hope that nothing changes as far as the local forecasts go, anytime I am depressed I can come here and watch those old LF and it always brings a smile to my face.  Since LF will never be as good as they were in the late 80s and early 90s, I hope that this site keeps them so I can keep coming back.
Local forecast videos make the majority of the content on my site. So I can assure you that they're not going anywhere.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcctornado77 on February 17, 2013, 08:05:00 PM
Add videos for each individual segement they used to do on TWC (Local Radar, Traveler's Forecast, etc;)
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on May 06, 2013, 03:27:52 PM
After several months of planning and trying different things offline, I think I found a setup that works well. But before I spend several weeks completing the work, I want to make sure I'm on the right track. So I uploaded what I have so far and would like to get your thoughts. The main thing I'm concerned about is the navigation and people being able to find what they're looking for. So don't worry about broken links or missing content at this point. Thanks!
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Bryan on May 06, 2013, 06:47:06 PM
After several months of planning and trying different things offline, I think I found a setup that works well. But before I spend several weeks completing the work, I want to make sure I'm on the right track. So I uploaded what I have so far and would like to get your thoughts. The main thing I'm concerned about is the navigation and people being able to find what they're looking for. So don't worry about broken links or missing content at this point. Thanks!

It's okay.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: toxictwister00 on May 06, 2013, 06:51:11 PM
I get a database error when I click on that link.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Localonthe8s on May 06, 2013, 07:19:56 PM
After several months of planning and trying different things offline, I think I found a setup that works well. But before I spend several weeks completing the work, I want to make sure I'm on the right track. So I uploaded what I have so far and would like to get your thoughts. The main thing I'm concerned about is the navigation and people being able to find what they're looking for. So don't worry about broken links or missing content at this point. Thanks!
I can't find the "Name That Tune" page (I love the music on there). I also identified two of the unknown songs on your page months back, hope you got my message :)
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on May 06, 2013, 07:30:15 PM
I can't find the "Name That Tune" page (I love the music on there). I also identified two of the unknown songs on your page months back, hope you got my message :)
Ooh! I need to add that page to "other pages." Thanks for the reminder. Yes, I got your message (and thought I replied). Thanks! The new information will be reflected on the "previous unknowns" page soon.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Localonthe8s on May 06, 2013, 08:04:37 PM
I can't find the "Name That Tune" page (I love the music on there). I also identified two of the unknown songs on your page months back, hope you got my message :)
Ooh! I need to add that page to "other pages." Thanks for the reminder. Yes, I got your message (and thought I replied). Thanks! The new information will be reflected on the "previous unknowns" page soon.
No problem, I like what I'm seeing so far :thumbsup:
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: Bryan on May 07, 2013, 06:46:38 PM
It would be very helpful to keep all the clips of songs for streaming even after they have been identified. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on May 07, 2013, 07:59:53 PM
It would be very helpful to keep all the clips of songs for streaming even after they have been identified. :thumbsup:
There will be. The Previous Unknowns page isn't going anywhere either.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on August 01, 2013, 09:15:09 PM
For those of you that haven't been to the TWCC blog or Facebook page today, I am excited to announce that the new site is finally live! Check it out...

http://www.twcclassics.com (http://www.twcclassics.com)
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: toxictwister00 on August 09, 2013, 09:14:38 AM
In the Local and Travel Forecast under the Audio section, the audio files don't work when clicking on a song sends me to a new tab to play the audio file. This seems to be a problem when I'm using Chrome, in IE, there's a play button next to each song and the audio files work fine.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on August 09, 2013, 10:22:02 AM
In the Local and Travel Forecast under the Audio section, the audio files don't work when clicking on a song sends me to a new tab to play the audio file. This seems to be a problem when I'm using Chrome, in IE, there's a play button next to each song and the audio files work fine.
And it doesn't play? I just tried one song in Chrome and it played.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: toxictwister00 on August 09, 2013, 11:44:49 AM
In the Local and Travel Forecast under the Audio section, the audio files don't work when clicking on a song sends me to a new tab to play the audio file. This seems to be a problem when I'm using Chrome, in IE, there's a play button next to each song and the audio files work fine.
And it doesn't play? I just tried one song in Chrome and it played.

Hmm, well maybe I need to clear out my cache or something. I'll try that later and see if it works then.
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: toxictwister00 on September 14, 2013, 08:54:06 PM
In the Local and Travel Forecast under the Audio section, the audio files don't work when clicking on a song sends me to a new tab to play the audio file. This seems to be a problem when I'm using Chrome, in IE, there's a play button next to each song and the audio files work fine.
And it doesn't play? I just tried one song in Chrome and it played.

Hmm, well maybe I need to clear out my cache or something. I'll try that later and see if it works then.

I was never able to figure out what the problem was in Chrome, but whatever it was it's been fixed since your website update last month which I really like btw. :biggrin:
Title: Re: TWC Classics relaunch
Post by: twcclassics on September 14, 2013, 10:58:08 PM
I was never able to figure out what the problem was in Chrome, but whatever it was it's been fixed since your website update last month which I really like btw. :biggrin:
Thanks! Not sure what I did (I don't think I changed anything about how the clips work since the August 1st update), but I'm glad it works for you now.