Thread: Add a weather gadget to firefox or vista

Vista users should skip straight to Step 12, but Firefox users should stay here. For Firefox users you need to download an add-on called Forecastfox. Forecastfox gets weather forecasts from Accu Weather. com, aria displays it in the Firefox statusbar. We're assuming you already have Firefox installed.

Depending on how firefox is set up, a Software Installation warning dialogue box may appear. We know this is a trusted source of software - and then wait a moment before clicking the 'Install Now' button. Firefox will then download the weather gadget and install it as an add-on (or extension, as such things used to be called in Firefox). In order for the web browser to access the new gadget, it needs to be restarted, so once the download is complete,just click the 'Restart Firefox' button.

When firefox restarts, nothing seems to have changed. However, there's a new icon at the bottom right-hand comer of the browser window in the green and yellow livery of the Forecastfox. Click this once with the left mouse button and the weather gadget will open. By default, it occupies the left-hand column, where Firefox usually puts its History information. Before exploring the gadget, it's best to set it up so that it can deliver infonnation specific to a particular geographical area or location. To begin, right click on any of the icon and choose 'options' .

This opens the gadget's options dialogue box. Before going any further, make sure
that metric option button buttons is selected in the 'Units of measure' section. It will convert all the temperatures in centigrade. Choose the position where you want to place inside the browser. The 'always last' button is by default selected. Now in the 'Forecast Location' find the button 'Find Code' and click on it.

In the forecastfox location search dialog box you will find a text box enter the city name you want e.g. 'Mumbai', 'Kolkata', 'Delhi'. Click on the search button. You may get multiple options to choose from the list box just below it. You have to be wise enough to choose the correct one by viewing the correct combination of 'City' and' State (Region)'. Click Ok to finish.

To close the dilouge box, click the little a. 'x' at the top right-hand comer. And here's the Accu Weather weather gadget in place, supplying live, regularly updated information about the chosen region and/or town and surroundings. If you need to have much detailed information on your local \Yeather then just click on any of the icon e.g. the icon next to the green one (Radar). A pop-up will appear with a brief detail of your choosed location.

If you need the detailed report with satellite positioning just click on it. This opens a new tab in Firefox and automatically loads the detailed information into the main window so that it's easier to see exactly what's going on. Unlike many weather add-ons, this gadget presents a comprehensive set ofinfonnation about temperature, wind speed, visibility, air pressure and so on, as well as highlighting any severe weather warnings that may have been issued for the area.



Clicking on any of the picture link below the 'Featured graphics' section in the left of the page will reveal more details about various weather conditions or change the view entireiy to a satellite photo, an infrared view and so on. Alternatively, for those who crave a bit of multimedia, try selecting the' Animated' tab above the larger satellite picture. Cooler temperatures show as lighter tones while wallner ones come out dark. Infrared images can be recorded day and night, which makes them invaluable for the serious amateur weather enthusiast.

For even more detail, try clicking the on the city name. This produces a neat hour-by-hour summary map, which is colour-coded to indicate when conditions are likely to change from bad to really bad and text links that cover the detailed weather information of that particular time period. You can also get weather prediction upto next 15 days. For that you have to choose among the given options under the' Accu WeatheLcom Quick Look' section. You'll get a detail day-by-day temperature changes through a line graph just below this section.

It is possible to monitor weathers for more than one place. But for that you need to create more than one profile from 'Options' dialog box and then you need to repeat step 4-6 to complete the settings. After successfully creating several profiles just right click on the weather icon and hover the mouse on 'Switch to profile', the profiles you've created will come up as option and you just have to choose the needed one. Similarly you can change the entire button set of the Weather Bar.

Before we exmine the Vista version of this gadget, it's worth looking briefly how we can use our weather profile intelligently. If you use multiple computer or browser you don't need to create the profiles again and again. Just create your needed profiles somewhere and export the profile and import the profile wherever needed. For that you need to right click on weather gadget and click on 'Options' then select the 'Profiles' from the list box and then click on 'Export' button and save the settings file in needed location. For importing the profiles you need to do the vice-versa.

To get the vista Sidebar version, go back to the Forecastfox site scroll down the page and click on 'Download Center' link or direct go to the link. In the ''I'm looking for" box select 'Windows Vista' and click ok.

On the new tab there would be three options 'Expanded/ Undocked', 'Undocked' and 'Expnaded'. We choosed the 'Undocked 'version. When you see the file download screen, choose "Open" or "Run.". Remember you may also need to download Windows installer in order to install the Accu Weather.com Desktop application. It you are trying to install Accu Weather.com Desktop from your work, you may not have "administrator" access. If you do not have "Administrator" privileges or if you are not sure, please contact your systems administrator.

By default, the gadget displays the current location, temperature and an icon indicating weather conditions. However, if we click the button that doesn't look like a button - Extras - after a moment (remember it's fetching the information live from the Accu Weather website), the gadget displays one of a series of maps; in this screenshot, it's the latest radar image. Move between different weather views by clicking the arrows at the bottom ofthe newly opened window.