Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have something to say about YoWindow?
Please register on our forum - it is easy.
Your questions, suggestions and reports are welcome!
Usually we answer within 24 hours.
Having a problem with the weather or time display in YoWindow?
You will find the answer in the Troubleshooting section.
Weather
- Please, add more weather providers!
- Where YoWindow takes the CURRENT weather from?
- Where YoWindow takes the weather FORECAST from?
- Can I change the current weather station for my place?
- How do I find the closest current weather stations to my place?
- What is Season-Map?
- How does YoWindow choose the season?
Android
- What is the difference between free and paid versions?
- Why YoWindow Live Wallpaper disappears after I reboot my Android?
- How can I remove the message displayed over the YoWindow Wallpaper?
Mac
- 'Plugin Blocked' message instead of beautiful YoWindow landscape. How do I fix this?
Landscapes
- Where may I find YoWindow Landscapes?
- How to install YoWindow Landscape?
- Can I create YoWindow landscape from my picture?
- Where can I find FREE images for YoWindow Landscape?
Widget
- How can I add YoWindow widget to Blogger?
- Give me the list of the widget parameters!
- How to load my landscape inside the widget?
- blogspot.com Why my weather widget does not reflect settings (language or temperature units, etc)?
Personal Weather Station (PWS)
- How can I connect YoWindow to my PWS?
- How can I connect YoWindow-widget to my PWS?
- My station model is not supported, what should I do?
Troubleshooting
- YoWindow does not work
- "Weather expired". Why? How to get rid of this message?
- When I'm trying to choose my location I see "Network error..."
- YoWindow logo is too big. How can I make it smaller?
- Why the landscape is covered with snow? Why there are no snow on the ground?
- I don't see temperature in the system tray (beside the clock).
- Norton Internet Security displays a warning for YoWindow and then deletes it
- The time is displayed wrong for my place.
- When I click on a button or the menu it does not respond. Why?
Weather
Please, add more weather providers!
We want to add as many weather sources to YoWindow as we can.
But, there is a problem.
Most weather services sell weather data to appliation developers.
Usually, the weather data are not free.
As an example, Weather Undeground charges $200 per month for 100,000 weather requests per day.
At this moment, YoWindow users request current weather more than 5,000,000 times per day. We just cannot afford to pay that much.
We are open to partnership with weather providers.
We will be happy to integrate your weather to YoWindow!
Contact us
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Where YoWindow takes the CURRENT weather from?
YoWindow takes the current weather from METAR stations network. There are around 4380 active METAR stations scattered around the world. Most of them are located in airports.
YoWindow picks the closest METAR station to the location you choose. Then the current weather is loaded from this station.
You can find METAR stations near your place on this site.
In mobile editions of YoWindow you can also choose the following current weather providers.
- Weather Underground
- Open Weather Map
If you know a FREE weather service, let us know. Contact us
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Where YoWindow takes the weather FORECAST from?
Weather forecast data are provided by one of the following organizations, depending on selected location and program settings
- yr.no, the forecast is delivered by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the NRK
- NWS - National Weather Service
- Open Weather Map
We want to express our unlimited gratitude to yr.no team for giving us the opportunity to use the top quality weather forecasts.
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Can I change the current weather station (METAR station) for my place?
Yes.
Go to main-menu/Location/Location Properties
Enter ICAO code of the station in METAR/Code
Click OK, enjoy!
But how do I find the closest METAR stations to my place?
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How does YoWindow choose the season?
YoWindow does not know when the seasons change at your place.
But, it is trying hard to guess the correct picture.
There are 5 seasonal pictures in YoWindow - winter, spring, summer, naked and autumn.
YoWindow picks the picture according to the season-map for the place.
However, there are some rules that override the season-map choice.
- When the temperature less or equal to -5°C (23°F), winter season displayed.
- When the temperature is more or equal to +5°C (41°F), YoWindow thinks that all the snow has melted and displays naked season instead of winter.
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What is Season-Map?
Season-Map is a string describing the dates when the seasons change for a place on Earth.
This is the season-map for New York:
02.25:naked/04.02:spring/05.02:summer/10.17:autumn/11.22:naked/12.17:winter
The format is simple - a sequence of [date:season] pairs, each pair shows when the season starts in average.
YoWindow picture is changing according to season-map, however there are some exceptions. How does YoWindow choose the season?
We have composed a collection of season-maps for many points on Earth.
A season-map for selected location is taken from the closest point.
To view the season map inside YoWindow go to main-menu/Location/Location Properties...
The season-maps are composed from historical weather reports and the feedback from YoWindow friends around the world.
If you think the season-map for your place is completely wrong, you can correct it by submitting your season-map to our YoWindow season-map forum.
Please submit the season-map ONLY if the difference between your and YoWindow season-maps is significant.
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How do I find the closest METAR stations to my place?
Probably the best way to browse METAR stations is Google Earth.
1. Open Google Earth METAR layer right inside your browser.
NOTE: You will be requested to install Google Earth plugin. Confirm the request.
Just find your location and you will see the METAR stations scattered around.
Click the one you like to find the ICAO code.
2. Open METAR layer inside your Google Earth:
metarLink.kmz
3. If Google Earth does not work for you, try this simple METAR map solution
When you find a weather station of your choice, click it to find the 4 letter ICAO code, like "KBKV"
You need to enter ICAO code inside YoWindow to start updating the current weather from the station.
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Android
What is the difference between free and paid versions?
The advertising. There are no ads inside the paid version.
Why YoWindow Live Wallpaper disappears after I reboot my Android?
Looks like you have installed YoWindow Weather onto external (SD) card.
You need to move YoWindow to the main memory of the device.
Android Live Wallpapers do not work properly if they are installed on external card.
How can I remove the message displayed over the YoWindow Wallpaper?
There are 2 options.
1. Tap on the message - the "close" button will appear at the top right corner of the message. Tap the button and the message will be gone forever.
2. Add YoWindow widget to the desktop. The message will go away forever. You can remove the widget unless you want to keep it.
Mac
'Plugin Blocked' message instead of beautiful YoWindow landscape. How do I fix this?
Usually upgrading Flash Player helps.
If it doesn't help, remove Flash Player and then install it again.
Landscapes
Where may I find YoWindow Landscapes?
Short answer: in our Landscape Collection
However, it depends on a kind of landscape you are looking for.
There are three types of YoWindow landscapes.
1. Animated landscape - YoLandscape.
This is the most impressive kind of a landscape.
The landscape changes along with the weather, season and sunlight.
There are many living objects like smoke, grass, trees, animals and so on.
There are 4 YoLandscapes available - Village, Seaside, Airport and Oriental.
The work on new YoLandscapes is in progress.
2. YoWindow landscape made from a regular picture.
A regular picture looks amazing when the sky is replaced with YoWindow living sky.
This is a picture of Rome Colosseum we have found on Flickr.
Now have a look at the same picture inside YoWindow.
Scroll the time to experience different light and weather conditions.
You know what?
You can create a landscape like this yourself.
From your own picture, taken with your camera.
Follow our tutorial explaining how to turn a regular picture into YoWindow landscape.
There are many live-sky landscapes created for YoWindow by our friendly community.
The landscapes are made from real photos taken around the world.
Browse through our Landscape Collection.
We wish you to find the landscape of your dreams :)
3. A picture.
You can open any picture or photo inside YoWindow.
YoWindow will take care of the weather and sunlight.
The picture will be covered by rain, snow or mist depending on the weather.
It will fade-out in the night and fade-in on the sunrise.
Make sure you have picked the right picture.
YoWindow expects the picture to be taken on a sunny day.
If you pick a night scene, it will look dark in the day and very dark in the night.
Try to pick a picture taken when the Sun is shining.
Picture width or height must not exceed 2880 pixels, otherwise YoWindow will not be able to display it.
Try it yourself!
- Run YoWindow desktop edition
- Go to main-menu/Landscape/Add...
- Click "Browse" button to locate a picture on your system.
- Select a picture
- Click OK to select the picture as the landscape
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How to install YoWindow Landscape?
Installing a landscape is easy.
Let me explain with an example.
This is one of many posts in our Landscape Collection featuring Colosseum.
Rome, Colosseum post
1. Find a link to colosseum.zip file at the bottom of the post.
2. Download colosseum.zip
3. Unpack colosseum.zip
4. Add colosseum.ywl to YoWindow
- Run YoWindow (desktop edition)
- Go to main-menu/Landscape/Add...
- Click "Browse..." button and then find colosseum.ywl at the place where you have unzipped colosseum.zip
- Click "OK"
That's it, you should see Colosseum inside YoWindow.
Browse our Landscape Collection for more landscapes.
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Can I create YoWindow landscape from my picture?
Yes, it's easy!
Follow our tutorial and turn a photo into your own YoWindow landscape.
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Where can I find FREE images? I want to contribute a Landscape to YoWindow Collection.
The original picture for YoWindow Landscape must be licensed as FREE for commercial use and MODIFICATIONS or PUBLIC DOMAIN. Otherwise we can NOT include the Landscape in YoWindow.
We respect the law.
Where to find the copyright free images on the internet?
We have found these sites for you: top websites with public domain images.
And, of course, you may use your own pictures.
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YoWindow weather widget
How can I add YoWindow widget to Blogger?
It's easy!
Follow our Blogger Weather widget tutorial.
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Give me the list of the widget parameters!
You have it!
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How to load my landscape inside the widget?
Follow our tutorial.
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blogspot.com Why my weather widget does not reflect settings (language or temperature units, etc)?
Most likely a part of HTML code is garbled after the widget gets added to the blogspot.com.
By some reason "amp;" text is getting added twice in flashvars parameter value.
This is how the problem usually looks, the redundant characters are highlighted in red:
<param name="flashvars" value="location_id=gn:3430863&amp;time_format=24;amp;
unit_system=metric&amp;lang=es&amp;background=#FFFFFF"/>
Remove amp; manually to resolve the problem.
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Personal Weather Station (PWS)
How can I connect YoWindow to my weather station?
1. Setup your weather station to export yowindow.xml - a file with current weather in a special YoWindow format.
Choose your station model or weather software below and follow the step by step tutorial.
- Weather Display
- Cumulus
- Davis Weather Link
- Ws-Win
- La Crosse
- WUHU
If your station is not listed, see this question.
As soon as you have propertly setup your weather station to export yowindow.xml, follow these steps.
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How can I connect YoWindow-widget to my PWS?
Follow our tutorial.
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My station model is not supported, what should I do?
Join our forum and learn how to create YoWindow XML file for your station or ask our friendly community for help.
Forum: Personnal Weather Station support
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Troubleshooting
YoWindow does not work
Please Download the latest YoWindow and install it.
YoWindow builds prior to 494 will not work with Flash Player 10.3.183.5 and later.
We are sorry to disturb you with an extra download
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"Weather expired". Why? How to get rid of this message?
YoWindow takes the weather from the Internet service, which in turn takes the weather from weather stations around the world.
Usually, the weather is delivered to YoWindow in 10 - 40 minutes after the moment it was observed at the station. In a case when the delay exceeds 2 hours, the "Weather expired" warning is displayed. This is a signal that the weather in YoWindow may have nothing to do with the actual weather outside. If there's something wrong with the weather, YoWindow lets you know.
There are several causes that may lead to "Weather expired" warning.
1. Weather station (METAR station) is not reliable.
YoWindow takes the current weather from airport (METAR) weather stations. The most closest weather station to the location is picked. However, the weather station may not be a reliable one. For example, it may not provide the weather in the night or on the weekends. Or it may provide the weather in a very long intervals like 4 hours. We are constantly working on exclusion of the unreliable weather stations, but this still maybe the case.
If the weather station is not reliable, please report it, we will exclude it from YoWindow.Contact us
Alternatively, you may change the METAR weather station manually by entering ICAO airport code in Location Properties dialog.
You may check if the weather station is reliable.
- Go to main-menu/Location/Location Properties
There you will notice "METAR" section along with "Code:" line. There is a "www" link. - Click "www" link and the page of the weather station will open.
- Find "Current weather observation" section.
In the table, in the first line the age of the weather data displayed.
Like "The report was made 29 minutes ago, at 04:50 UTC".
If the age is greater than 2 hours, the weather station is not reliable.
2. Networking problems.
As you may know Internet is not 100% reliable. Sometimes a site does not open because of network problems for a certain period of time.
YoWindow loads the weather over the Internet.
And if the Internet does not work, YoWindow cannot load the weather.
Wait a couple of hours, if the problem still exists, most likely this is not a networking problem.
3. YoWindow version on your system is too old.
Make sure you have the latest YoWindow version installed.
An old version may not load weather automatically on certain systems.
Uninstall YoWindow and then download the latest version from this page:
To find the version and the build number of YoWindow, go main-menu/Help/About
4. Make sure the time on your computer is right
YoWindow goes crazy if the computer time is different from the actual time by 15 minutes or more.
Do not trust the time you see on the Windows clock. It may show you the right time, but if the time-zone is set wrong, the time is wrong!
Follow these steps to make sure the computer time is set right.
5. Something else
If you still keep getting "Weather Expired" warning, this must be a very special case on your system.
Please Contact us
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When I'm trying to choose my location I see "Network error..."
That means YoWindow cannot connect to our server or the Internet.
This may be a temporary problem due to network issues on our side.
However, if you see this error all the time, most likely YoWindow is blocked by a Firewall software (usually Windows Firewall).
Follow these steps to troubleshoot the problem.
1. Exit YoWindow. DO IT RIGHT: through main-menu/Program/Exit.
Otherwise YoWindow may just close the window, but not to exit.
2. Turn your Firewall software temporary OFF.
3. Run YoWindow again.
Check if you can choose a location this time.
If YoWindow works properly - you can select the location - you need to grant an Internet access to YoWindow in your firewall software.
Otherwise YoWindow will not be able to update the weather.
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YoWindow logo is too big. How can I make it smaller?
No problem!
1. Go to Options/Advanced
2. Check "Show small YoWindow logo" mark.
3. Click OK
Why the landscape is covered with snow? Why there are no snow on the ground?
There are no snow cover level information in the current weather (METAR) reports YoWindow receives.
YoWindow it trying to guess if there is snow on the ground.
A simple snow detection algorithm is used for this purpose.
Unfortunately the algorithm does not work under some conditions.
We hope to improve the snow coverage detection algorithm by the next winter.
For the moment it is the way it is.
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