Dan Robinson
This is more of an open request to anyone involved in maintaining weather data and information web sites (NOAA, NWS, model data, obs, radar, satellite, etc).
If at all possible, please keep the URLs the same when a product is updated. I've noticed many products get an update, but get moved to a different folder on the same server. This causes all of your users to have to update their bookmarks and data links. For example, the 4KM WRF has moved twice in the past few months on the same domain, and NOAA satellite imagery links have been changed.
When multiple agencies do this (as is the case now), the result is bookmarked links continuously ceasing to work for your primary end users, the result is having to go searching for the new link and manually update the bookmark. Since a good weather bookmark list can be extensive, maintaining this list is daunting when it is so dynamic.
From a web usability standpoint, new products should be beta-tested in a new folder or directory, then when it is ready for introduction, moved into the location of the current product. Even server moves can be kept 'transparent' with DNS and folder aliasing. The "this page has moved" redirect is considered an outdated and web-unfriendly tactic to be avoided.
For government agencies, I would have this request added as a line item to your web contracts so that this gets some attention during implementation. Your end users will be forever grateful!
If at all possible, please keep the URLs the same when a product is updated. I've noticed many products get an update, but get moved to a different folder on the same server. This causes all of your users to have to update their bookmarks and data links. For example, the 4KM WRF has moved twice in the past few months on the same domain, and NOAA satellite imagery links have been changed.
When multiple agencies do this (as is the case now), the result is bookmarked links continuously ceasing to work for your primary end users, the result is having to go searching for the new link and manually update the bookmark. Since a good weather bookmark list can be extensive, maintaining this list is daunting when it is so dynamic.
From a web usability standpoint, new products should be beta-tested in a new folder or directory, then when it is ready for introduction, moved into the location of the current product. Even server moves can be kept 'transparent' with DNS and folder aliasing. The "this page has moved" redirect is considered an outdated and web-unfriendly tactic to be avoided.
For government agencies, I would have this request added as a line item to your web contracts so that this gets some attention during implementation. Your end users will be forever grateful!
