Cumulus Support

Hi there,

Using 1.8.6 Build 804 but see no sign of twitter.txt in my Cumulus folder?

Can some kind soul post this text file that comes with Cumulus so I can take a look and maybe start using it please?

Looks like the Cumulus download only comes as an .exe so I didn't want to run that as it might overwrite some of my existing files which would be a bad thing.

Cumulus just sits there doing its stuff month after month with little or no interaction from me...sign of great programming...thanks Steve!

Just one small thing I have noticed - and it is really small and does not cause a problem - when you hover your mouse pointer over the Cumulus icon on the tooltray there is no popup with the programs name or anythng like that. It is the only one of the icons in my tooltray that doesn't display anything.

Wouldn't it be cool if when you did hover over the icon it not only displayed its program name of Cumulus but in addition maybe the current outside temperature or something?

Having said that if I did install the latest Beta .exe over the top of my existing version would anything get overwritten?

The html files I use fo rmy website have all been renamed anyway but is there anything else that might not work or work differently?

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

GlynH wrote: Using 1.8.6 Build 804 but see no sign of twitter.txt in my Cumulus folder?

Can some kind soul post this text file that comes with Cumulus so I can take a look and maybe start using it please?

I don't supply a twitter.txt file. Instead, there's a built-in default twitter message that you can override by creating a twitter.txt file. You can create a twitter.txt file using the web tags, in the same way that you would create a custom web page, mixing plain text and tags to create the desired message.

Just one small thing I have noticed - and it is really small and does not cause a problem - when you hover your mouse pointer over the Cumulus icon on the tooltray there is no popup with the programs name or anythng like that. It is the only one of the icons in my tooltray that doesn't display anything.

I hadn't noticed that - I've fixed it, so it'll be in the next beta build.

Wouldn't it be cool if when you did hover over the icon it not only displayed its program name of Cumulus but in addition maybe the current outside temperature or something?

That's certainly possible - I've just tried it and it works. The only problem is deciding what would go in there without the need for some complicated option configuration.

Having said that if I did install the latest Beta .exe over the top of my existing version would anything get overwritten?
The html files I use fo rmy website have all been renamed anyway but is there anything else that might not work or work differently?

The main things that will get overwritten that you might not want to be overwritten are the standard web page templates (indexT.htm etc, and the style sheet etc).

Good Afternoon All,

In order to change or edit the Cumulus Twitter Updates sent to Twitter, you have to create a .txt file called Twitter, which makes it twitter.txt and assuming you have inserted the Tags into the .txt file, save the Twitter.txt file in to the Cumulus Folder.

Cumulus would then process and update the twitter feed without any manual interaction.

I have attached my Twitter.txt file, which you could use or edit, ready for use.

Also, regarding the Updating of Cumulus, The update would i expect, overwrite the Standard Webpages and main files, but it normally leaves the Config files alone.

Regards

Jason

Thanks for the replies guys...all working very nicely now!

Well it was until I added '& <#temptrendtext>' after the previously working '<#temp> °C: Trend <#temptrend> °C' in my twitter.txt and for some reason it now uploads nothing past the <#temptrend> °C bit?

Does the '&' confuse it or maybe the <#temptrendtext> does not work?

Maybe I've missed something fundamental here...

I have just changed the '&' to 'and' to see if that makes a difference.

I have attached my twitter.txt FYI - maybe some kind soul can spot something I missed?

I was up very late last night...

With regard to the overwriting of files - I think I am being over-cautious as I am sure I have done this before with a couple of betas and the 1.8.6 release with no issue.

All of the html files that I have modified and ftp upload to my website have been renamed anyway but I wanted to make sure no other config files, folders etc. were overwritten.

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

Twitter has a limit of 140 characters per tweet, you're probably exceeding that. Don't forget that's the 'processed' size, not the size of your twitter.txt file.

Possibly the ampersand is also causing confusion - it might work if you put & instead. But the above comment about the size of your tweet still applies.

Thanks for the quick reply Steve,

I knew about the 140 character limit and my previous twitter.txt was delivering a 'processed' tweet @22 characters short of that limit so I thought I would add in something else to fill the gap so to speak.

I assumed that if it were over the limit then the last part would be truncated instead of halting near the beginning at the &?

You are probably correct about the '&' character so I have now omitted it along with 'and' and also removed the word 'Forecast' to maximise the number of characters I have to play with but I have left in the '<#temptrendtext>' to see how it goes.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Your original message could still just exceed 140 (by 5 or 6, I think) depending on the conditions. And I think that removing the word 'Forecast' and adding <#temptrendtext> still leaves you potentially over the limit. To aid you in your calculations, the biggest Cumulus forecast string is 38 characters.

But I agree that it was probably the ampersand causing the truncation.

Seems like I have just about squeaked in the 140 limit with my latest twitter.txt then?

http://www.twitter.com/BanburyWeather

Until Cumulus decides to despatch one of those 38 character responses that is...

Looks like it was the '&' character causing the problem after all...

Latest twitter.txt attached for those that may want to use/abuse it...

Now all I want is a way to prevent Cumulus using Capital Letters in front of the <#temptrendtext> & <#presstrend> and I will be a happy man!

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

Don't use it myself - what kind of a 'saving' would this small rearrange give you ?

t <#temp>°C: (<#temptrendtext> <#temptrend>°C): Wind <#wspeed>mph <#wdir>: Rain <#rfall>mm: Baro <#press>mb <#presstrend>: <#forecast>...

About 11 characters or so I would guess Beteljuice!

Actually as it stands my original twitter.txt posted above seems optimum - even when I see 'Precipitation at times, very unsettled' which might be the 38 character string Steve mentioned I still have space to spare...OK it might only be @ 3 spaces or so but at least nothing is truncated.

I might revisit this if I feel the need to squeeze something else in...humidity might be nice!

Thanks Beteljuice.

Kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Actually Steve forgot the 'out of range' forecast

"Exceptional weather, stormy much preciptation"

Turn again Dick Whittington

This option might not be to everyone's liking but ----
I process my twitter file through one of my other weather software programs with (forecast) tags not in cumulus (as far as I understand) then let Cumulus add the tags I want from it and complete the upload.
I am not tweeting that often as of yet and still playing with content.

(In a similar fashion, I have cumulus prepare some template pages for my other software and let that program complete the update and upload.)

GlynH wrote:Wouldn't it be cool if when you did hover over the icon it not only displayed its program name of Cumulus but in addition maybe the current outside temperature or something?

Don't tell anyone, but I snuck this into the latest beta:

http://nybbles.co.uk/downloads/beta188/CumulusSetup.exe

steve wrote:

GlynH wrote:Wouldn't it be cool if when you did hover over the icon it not only displayed its program name of Cumulus but in addition maybe the current outside temperature or something?

Don't tell anyone, but I snuck this into the latest beta:

http://nybbles.co.uk/downloads/beta188/CumulusSetup.exe

Don't worry Steve...your secret is safe with me.

I won't mention to anyone that in the latest Beta when you did hover the mouse pointer over the tooltray icon it not only displays the program name of Cumulus but in addition the current outside temperature or something.

Mum's the word.

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-