After long development work, we are proud to present the biggest Stationsweb update of all time. Under the working title Stationsweb 3.0, the complete redevelopment is now available at the familiar address https://stationsweb.awekas.at/
The most important changes:
- New frontend framework and design - more speed and better usability
- New homepage ("widgets")
- New forecast page
- Revised graphics & table
- New page: Agricultural weather (Grassland temperature sum, growing degree days, etc.) - especially for agriculture
- Integration of weather warnings from national weather services (ZAMG, DWD, etc.)
- New values: Heat index & wet bulb temperature
- New privacy settings: all pages + sensors can now be restricted as desired (public, visible only with login, hidden)
- Access pin for page protection
- Multi-station support
- Availability as a mobile app in the Apple App Store and Google Playstore (not yet available - process ongoing)
- Stationsweb license purchase availability outside EU+CH as in-app purchase on iOS & Android
- Subscription management: display of the term for the station operator directly in Stationsweb
- Background image independent of light or dark design
- Weather effect background
- Climatological indicators: Desert days
- Easy configuration directly on the website and in the app
The long version:
From Progressive Web App (PWA) to an app
We are switching from Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) to regular apps. While AWEKAS Stationsweb can still be used on mobile devices as a PWA (in the browser), we recommend switching to the Android or iOS app, which will be available in the Google Playstore and Apple App Store. The Android and iOS app are currently not publicly available. There are no changes to the availability of the web version.
New framework
AWEKAS Stationsweb has been switched to a new framework. This is most noticeable in the revised design. Style 1/2 are history. Now there is a light and dark mode, as known from other sites or apps. Many devices support automatic switching between light and dark mode depending on the time of day at the operating system level, which AWEKAS Stationsweb also follows. In the settings, the light or dark mode can also be selected manually (fixed). The adaptive background known from Style 2 in the "old" Stationsweb has been completely renewed, is now animated, supports more weather conditions, looks better and is also available in light mode. It prioritizes in ascending order according to the weather situation (forecast hour 0), measured values (rain rate >0 overwrites e.g. weather situation "cloudy" with "rain") and weather report from the station operator. By default, the background is now monochrome or has a slight color gradient depending on the weather situation and light design. The custom backgrounds known from Style 1 are still available (also in light mode).
Other innovations in this category concern the header, which is now fixed at the top edge of the window, and the menu, which is now arranged on the left because it can be displayed more clearly there and there is also more space available. On desktop devices, the sidebar can be fixed via the settings.
A by-product of this change is the improved speed and responsiveness of the site. All pages have new addresses, but the old ones still work.
New homepage ("widgets")
The new homepage is widget-based. Each widget corresponds to a sensor. The sorting is dynamic, i.e. relevant sensors are ranked higher. Example: Rain rate appears further up if it is currently raining, precipitation if it rained on the current day, etc. The sensors are also visually highlighted when limits are exceeded. At the top are also the warnings of national weather agencies (Geosphere Austria, DWD...), if available. The "old" homepage is still available under the menu item Home - tabular or the address stationsweb.awekas.at/index-tab. To which page the former homepage address (index.php) links can be selected in the settings.
Agricultural weather page
This page offers numerous measured and calculated values for agriculture. At the top of the page, various values are displayed as widgets. Depending on data completeness and available sensors: Precipitation (precipitation in the last 24 h, precipitation in the last 7 days, precipitation in the last 30 days, time since last precipitation), growing degree days (last value for the selected reference period with selected base temperature), grassland temperature sum (last value for the selected reference period), wet bulb temperature (current, daily minimum and maximum), leaf moisture (current, daily minimum and maximum), soil moisture (current, daily minimum and maximum). This is followed by graphs showing the grassland temperature sum (selected reference period and mean over all valid periods), enlarged grassland temperature sum with selected shaded limit value, growing degree days (selected reference period and mean over all valid periods with set base temperature) and enlarged growing degree days. The availability of the described values depends on the following requirements: Precipitation: Precipitation values, growing degree days and grassland temperature sum: Availability of more than 90% of the possible temperature hours per year (in previous years over the whole year and in the current year up to the current date), wet bulb temperature: current temperature and humidity values, leaf moisture: leaf moisture values (leaf moisture sensor), soil moisture: soil moisture values (soil moisture sensor).
Multi-station support
With PWAs, you could add multiple Stationsweb stations "as app." Switching between stations now takes place in the app. In the settings, additional stations can be added, rearranged and removed at will in addition to the station specified during onboarding. The switch then occurs either via the menu, which is extended by a station switcher on the PC/tablet, or the "Switch Station" window, which is also found in the menu.
Important: If AWEKAS Stationsweb is called directly in the URL with an ID (e.g.: stationsweb.awekas.at?id=2), all options for switching stations are hidden.
Settings and privacy
The settings have been consolidated on a single page and can be found in the menu. At the top are the set stations. New stations can be added, rearranged and removed. This is followed by the app settings that apply per device. In addition to the well-known language, units and wind units, the weather effect background on/off switch, color scheme (auto/light/dark), graphic smoothing on/off and cookie settings can now also be found here.
Below is the login for the station operator. Once logged in, all station operator settings (affecting all calls to this Stationsweb ID) are visible here. In addition to the currently available settings, you can now switch between the old (tabular) and new (widget-based) homepages, set the background image, and configure access to pages and sensors more precisely. For all pages and sensors, access in Stationsweb can now be adjusted to "public", "login required" and "hidden". Additionally, there is the option of using an access PIN. The intended use case is to not run your Stationsweb completely publicly, but to grant individual access without sharing the operator login. With public sensors/pages and a set PIN, this is possible. When calling up the page, the PIN is requested (can be saved) – only then is access to Stationsweb granted. For the station ID for which you are logged in as the operator, a PIN is never requested (login is "stronger" than the PIN).
Subscription Management
New is also the possibility to subscribe to AWEKAS Stationsweb as an in-app purchase. The station operator can also see the remaining active period directly in Stationsweb. The Stationsweb subscription can be renewed or booked in the app, in addition to the AWEKAS Shop. The Apple App Store and Google Play Store are supported. Monthly and yearly subscriptions are available. Unlike the Stationsweb licenses available in the AWEKAS Shop, these are automatically recurring and managed in the Play Store or App Store. The AWEKAS Shop remains available for those who do not want to use it. In-app purchases are only available in the app due to technical limitations and not on the web. The purchase of Stationsweb in the app is also possible outside the European Union. Thus, it is now possible to obtain Stationsweb worldwide.
The app is currently under review by Google and Apple and is therefore not yet publicly available.
Embedding
Was mentioned above, the addresses of the pages change – the old ones still redirect to the new ones. Additionally, some settings can be fixed for embedding. For example, if a station operator uses stationsweb.awekas.at/home?id=2&bg=false&color=dark for embedding, the dark design is always used and the weather effect background is disabled – these settings cannot be changed in the embedded frame in the settings. There is an "embedding help" in the station operator settings that allows you to easily create the URL to be used.