Default Website Development

The default CMX website Development

These section of the Wiki will enable you to get the latest information and resources for the new default CMX website shipped with version 3.10.x

The current default site

This will always be available to you in the 'websites' folder of your Cumulus MX Installation. However, it is not a published site until you decide to make it so.

To publish the default website you will need a web host and a domain name that you can access.

Publishing the Default Site

To publish the site you need to upload ALL of the contents of the website folder to a location on your website. Normally this would be to the public_html folder in your control panel for your web host. However, there is nothing to stop you using a sub-folder off the public_html one. If you do this you will need to make a note of the folder name you use.

Once you have copied all the above files, you need to configure CumulusMX to upload your data at regular intervals.

Configure CumulusMX to upload data

This is done on the Internet Settings Page. Under the Web/Upload Site' tab check the following:

• Enable Upload Connections
• Select a FTP protocol - Do this in consultation with your web host provider.
• Enter a Host name: - this will usually be your domain name without the http/https prefix.
• FTP and FTPS is usually port 21 but you should select the port in consultation with you web host provider.
• Enter the directory you wish to upload to. This will usually be public_html/ as this is where your pages are. If you have copied your pages to another location then give the path to them.
• Provide a username and password for an account that can FTP to the specified location.*

You should not need to change either General or Advanced settings at this stage.

Under the Interval Configuration tab check the option: 'I wish to use the supplied default web site'. This should make all the configuration changes needed but it is worth while to check:

Under Normal Interval Settings make sure that everything is selected and that the interval to use is what you want. Under Real time Interval Settings make sure that it is enabled, that the interval in seconds is what you want and that 'Upload' is enabled.

One final task you need to complete is to enable the load of the moon image. This is on the Moon Image tab of the Internet Settings page.

You can accept the default settings unless you have copied your site to a different location.

Your site should now be functioning. However, you may wish to visit the Utilities page and initiate an FTP upload of everything.

Templates

There are currently 3 alternative template frameworks for the site. These all include 4 variations for the main content area of a page; a single column, two column, three column and four columns. These can be used as the framework for existing pages or to add your own content as required. You can choose to use them in any combination or just one - its up to you. All come with a pdf readme file to help you use them but for full information about the available styles visit w3Schools.

The available frameworks are:

• A lefthand sidebar with the main panel on the right. Download at Left-handed sidebar template. Updated: 24th June 2023
• A righthand sidebar with the man panel on the left. Download at Right-handed sidebar templates. This is similar to the default site but the sidebar starts higher up the screen. Updated 24th June 2023
• A set with no sidebar - just the main content area. Download at No sidebar templates. The single column version gauges page is set wider than other pages. Updated: 24th June 2023

Additional/Alternative Pages

Gauges

We also have an alternative to the default gauges.htm page. This does away with the sidebar and places the gauges in fixed width panels that automatically reposition themselves as the page width is changed. The gauges are also able to be placed in any order without resorting to cut-n-paste. Just add/change a number to their order style and its done.

This can be downloaded from Gauges Page. Updated: 11 March 2021

NOAA Reports

This is now included in the standard default website. It enables any of your NOAA reports to be loaded into the page using Ajax calls so no page refresh is needed. Updated: 16 June 2021.

Complete ready to run alternative website pack

We now have a complete alternative 'website' ready for use. It is very similar to the current supplied website but with the following changes:

• There are two (2) gauges pages - gauges.htm and gaugesII.htm. They are both full width. The first removes the radio buttons from all gauges making is easy to see all gauges without scrolling. The options are provided in a dropdown page menu along with units. The second shows individual gauges in panels with their radio buttons.
• There is also a 'today v yesterday' page (todayYest.htm), for those that want to be able to compare readings.
• The layout of the sidebar is slightly different - it starts at the top of the right hand panel.

The menu has NOT been included in the zip and consequently you will need to adjust it to use the chosen pages listed above. The zip file does contain the three css stylesheets; colours.css, mx-templates.css and gauges.css which will need to be copied to the correct location on your waebserver.

Please backup your site before uploading and extracting this alternative website

Colour Themes

The website and templates use colour themes to make it easier to change the colour throughout the site. By downloading the colour theme pack, you can simply rename the chosen colour as 'colours.css' and it will be applied throughout your site. All colour themes have now been updated to use css variables for the available theme colours. This makes it much easier to add your theme colours to your custom pages, or style sheets. It is also possible to apply theme colours to the gauges tooltips in this way.

For example, to add a coloured border to an element you can add the style like so: <span style="border-color: var(--d2);">**</span> or <span style="w3-theme-d2-bdr w3-border">**</span>.

Visit the new Theme Viewer to preview any of these themes on a basic template page. You can download individual themes directly from that page. Alternatively you can download all themes (plus a 'readme.txt' file explaining the styles) File:ColourSchemes.zip .

Additional themes have now been added. The download includes a reworked default 'colours.css' stylesheet to also use css variables and a ReadMe file to explain the styles used.

The current list is:

Theme	Theme	Theme	Theme	Theme	Theme
AlmondBuff	AlmostMauve	Arcadia	BasicGrey	CherryTomato	ChiliOil
colours	CrocusPetal	CylonYellow	Emporador	GreyBlue (new)	GreyGreen (new)
GreyRed (new)	HarbourMist	Limelight	LimePunch	Marsala	MartiniOlive
MeerKat	NebulasBlue	QuietGrey	ReadPear	RussetOrange	SailorBlue
SargassoSea	SlateGrey	SpringCrocus	Tofu	Ultraviolet	ValiantPoppy
WarmSand	-	-	-	-	-

Use this link Additional colour schemes to down load the schemes. Updated: 24th Jun 2023.

An Alternate Default Website

Available 30th November 2023

As an alternative to the supplied website, you can now download a reworked alternative Alternative Default Site. (Updated 12:36 22nd November 2023).

This update almost completely uses flex boxes instead of tables and is very flexible to change. Just change the order style number to re-arrange the panes on the screen without any copy-n-paste required.

Important Note the system is configured to collect data from a sub-folder called 'data'. You need to edit the ws-extra.js file variable 'dataPath' on line 13. It should either be empty or contain a valid folder name followed by '/' to access your data. The gauges.js file has also been configured to use this variable.

To change the them you need to edit the 'page-manager.js file. The object 'CMXConfig' holds all the options available. Full details are included in the readme.txt file included in the zip.

To see it in action visit: Oaktree Weather

An Alternative Interface

A new addition to the existing Interface site used for managing your weather station is now available. You can find out about it here: Alternative Interface.