We are sorry, but windy-plugins are no longer mainatainable
-
As of Jan 2024 we have decided to give plugines one more trying and we are working on new plugin system
~~We highly appreciate all the developers, that developed some of the windy-plugin.
But unfortunately, we can not use external plugins on mobile devices (due to user's privacy reasons) and the current plugins (available for desktop only) are developed and maintained only by few developers and used by tens of users.
Another reason is pretty serious, and it is security and privacy concern, since external plugins is de facto uncontrolled 3rd party code, running in users browser.
We are planning big technological change on Windy, which is use of so called ES Modules, so startup of Windy should be faster, and this change will definitely break our plugins API.
If you really want to keep your plugin live, and you have your case, please shout out NOW and we try to integrate your external plugin, as internal Windy plugin.
If you are a windy plugin developer, please reach us, we will send you Windy mug, shirt, towel or other swag.
We are sorry for this announcement, but we can not maintain external plugins in this form any more.~~
-
I ivo pinned this topic on
-
I ivo unpinned this topic on
-
I ivo pinned this topic on
-
Hi Windy-Team - this is a disaster for balloon pilots. We absolutely need the superp functionalities of Windy Traj and Windy Soundings - these lugin applications have become essential for long-distance balloon flights, not only from a performance point of view, but also as a safety and planning instrument in our comand centers. The traj functions of MeteoBlu are far less useful, feature-rich and precise. In the name of the entire ballooning community I beg you to maintain these functionalities as an essential part of Windy. This would be a huge set-back and huge disappointment. I am sure that most serious long-distance balloon pilots would even be ready to pay something for these functionalities. Thank you! Balthasar Wicki
-
This are very bad news for all Balloonpilots.
We used the trajektories every flight to be save.
Especial in our Region near the controlzone of Vienna. We use it also when we cross the alps, when we fligh in the mountains it makes our flight save. I am sure you will find a Solution, otherwise we have to change to other Systems.
Kind regards
Team Bilek
Doris, Inge and Richard Mayerhofer -
Dear Windy team,
I'm a meteorologist, forecaster and balloon pilot.
I work a lot with windy-trajectory for long distance balloon flights and tactical parachuting activities.
We also use the trajectory for the purpose of planning the Gordon Bennett race, i.e. the gas balloon world championship.
There is no comparable tool available even on the professional forecast software systems (like NinJo).
It would be a mess for me, if the trajectories wouldn't work anymore.
So please transfer at least that plug-in to the frontend. -
Dear Windy Team
I would like to emphasize the importance of the outstanding features of Windy Traj and Windy Soundings for balloon pilots. These applications have proven to be indispensable, both for our performance and as a critical safety and planning tool in our flight preparations. In comparison, MeteoBlu's trajectory functions seem less useful, feature-rich and accurate.
It is of utmost importance that these functionalities remain an integral part of Windy. In particular (I repeat for the sake of importance) when preparing balloon flights, whether for competitions or commercial flights, the use of your site as one of the first ports of call for weather information is of enormous safety relevance.
On behalf of the entire ballooning community, I appeal to your understanding of the essential role that Windy Traj and Windy Soundings play in our ballooning community. These applications are not just performance features, but play a significant role in making our flights safer and easier to plan. It would be extremely disappointing for all of us if these features were not to remain available.Kind regards,
L. Stehli -
I ask you to reconsider your decision. The Windy plug-in for trajectories is an essential part for a preparation of a safe balloon flight. This plug-in is used, not only by hobby pilots for their regular flight, but also used for the worlds, oldest aviation competition, the Gordon Bennett race your pilots fly for Three or four days across countries, mountains, lakes, even oceans, I reliable prediction of the feasibility of the flight is essentially.
-
Dear Windy Team,
I am unhappy to read that windy-plugins are not longer maintainable.
We use them for our flight preparation and we would be unhappy to use again the Meteoblue trajectories because they are less precise.
So we would be happy if you could find a solution in our sense.
Best regards
Franziska Hann, REWE-Ballon Team -
Dear Windy Team,
it is very sad to hear that wind-plugins are not longer maintainable. We use the feature for our flight preparation, it is an important feature for us and it would be a missing link in our preparation.
Be so kind and reveise you decision to stop the maintenance of this plug inKing regards
Manfred Lösch
-
Hello - the windy-trajectory function is very important for the safe planning of balloon-rides - therefore please reconsider your decision or better integrate the windy-trajectory function in the standard functionality of windy - Best regards
-
Hello Ivo,
I can only agree with the previous users. We use Windy almost daily for weather analysis and plan world championships and world records with the plugins for trajectories and soundings. It would be really fatal if these excellent functions were to disappear. Then we would only have the option of returning to NOAA and Meteoblue. With the plugin, Windy offers a very uncomplicated way to create trajectories with different models. The plugins are almost self-explanatory, even for less experienced users and newcomers.
So I hope that the plugins will either continue to work like this or be integrated by you into windy itself.
Besides, windy would not be the only site with 3rd party code in the browser. Every plugin that the user installs in the browser can be integrated into the site. Perhaps a corresponding disclaimer would be a possibility? Or real browser plugins that the user has to actively install? In any case, the api should be maintained accordingly.
Windy has found many supporters in the balloon community in recent years. It would be a real shame if this function were to be removed.
-
Dear Windy team, not only for long distances in the balloon flight, but also for short planning, the function of the trajectors is helpful and contributes to safety. In training, it also supports learners and teachers in checking their own calculations and thus contributes to more security. A change to a less precise offer would be very unfavourable. Please think again about taking over the function, it is very important and valuable to us in the balloon flight!
Kind regards,
Jacqueline Honkomp -
Dear Windy team
Since your Windy plugins have been around, I have always enjoyed using them for planning and carrying out hot air balloon flights and have come to really appreciate them. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the idea and implementation. This tool has really become a "must have" and I would hate to do without it. It contributes greatly to increasing safety in the field of ballooning and aviation as a whole. A compromise that is not really justifiable for me would be to switch back to "Meteoblue", which I would be reluctant to do.
I therefore hope that you will reconsider the idea of no longer offering your plugins and continue as before.All the best Manuel
-
Dear Windy Team,
I am a Hail defensive pilot - the head of the cloud seeding project in Slovenia and a balloon pilot.
I work with wind trajectories for long distance balloon flights and tactical planning for cloud sitting activities.
In other forecasting software systems, there is no comparable tool available or it is very unreliable.
It would be a shame if the trajectories no longer worked, as this would mean a lot of problems for us when planning our activities.
So please keep at least this plugin on the front end. -
Hey Guys,
as a Balloonpilot, i am strongly relying on the windy trajectories PlugIn every week.
Not only in daily flying the tool is perfect to safely compare weathermodels and forecasts for our planned flight, but also in Competition flying our command centers use the tool more then heavily and actually rely on this.
If the PlugIn will not be available anymore, we have to move back to Meteoblue and NOAA Trajectories, since without the PlugIn we can not use Windy anymore. Stepping back to the "old" ways (Meteoblue and NOAA) but push us back in time and safety standards that have evolved around the PlugIn in the last years.
I really hope, all this kind messages that reach you will maybe turn your decisions and thoughts on this.
Maybe integrating the Trajectories PlugIn (including the Airspace PlugIn) can be integrated into windy as a full function. I bet most of the balloonist would be willing to pay contribution to implement this into windy.Kind regards
BeMu
I -
@ivo
from a technical perspective I actually agree with your decision to deprecate plugins in their current form.Sometimes technical developments invalidate past decisions, and that seems to be one of those cases.
Let me also remark that the 'tens of users' numbers you cited seem deceiving, as can be seen by the reaction in this forum. There is a rather simple explanation for this in the trajectory case:
Trajectories mostly are run, downloaded as GPX, and made into a shareable link with https://gpsvisualizer.com to bring this into presentable and permanent form. That link is then shared by Whatsapp, mail, social media and whatnot like so: https://static.mah.priv.at/cors/example.html . Those links routinely get dozens of clicks, sometimes in the hundreds at a large event. I know because I host those links.
That said, plugins are API's, and API's are promises - something users and developers rely on to be upheld. If you are about to break that promise, then I would suggest in the minimum a migration path be offered to not leave users without functionality they relied on - of course assuming you want to retain those users.
I do not see much of a migration path being offered in your post.
Let me therefore outline options, first from a Windy perspective.
(1) you go ahead and drop plugins wholesale, without replacement option as you announced.
(2) you take the minimum required functionality of the trajectory plugin, transplant it to your backend and add that as a standard layer in the frontend.
(3) you drop trajectories altogether, but you make the Point Forecast API to support all weather models - the current functional set is unsuitable.The minimum required functionality IMO is:
- a set of forecast models
- a set of altitudes
- duration of flight
- forward/backward option
- path download option.
Everything else which is not essential, not important to be configurable, low usage to start with or can be had differently can go or replaced by fixed parameters: Airspaces, interval times, ascent/descent simulation etc.
While I hesitate to call this effort 'trivial', it is not particularly complicated either.
Now, speaking for my community, I envisage the following outcomes:
as for (1), you will likely see a mass defection to Meteoblue, and I am certainly prepared to get in touch with Meteoblue and communicate our needs more clearly.
If this were the outcome, I would pursue - in parallel - a homegrown solution the same way the radiosonde effort started fairly soon, and there is existing work to give us a headstart.
While more work for us it would also enable us to be more fit for our purpose, for instance finer altitude resolution. Since I am aware of, and in touch with a part of the European Defense community (paratroopers)
I envisage a possible cooperation and maybe even ongoing funding option for such an effort.(2) would IMO be the best option for Windy: it gives you a free hand to develop the frontend, it is functionally a superset as to what Meteoblue and others offers and you both gain a competitive feature while lowering your maintenance load.
(2) would also be best for the ballooning community, as we get a stable function and on mobiles.
(3) would be tedious for us as we need to build a replacement service based on an improved Point Forecast API, and we would still have to trust that this API promise not to be broken again - which, as things stand - I am uneasy with.
However, it would enable you to pursue business opportunities as mentioned which seem to be off the radar as of now. Those opportunities exist - see DarkSky, but pursuing them needs a significant effort on your part on the API front.
My recommendation is option (2).
Your call.
Michael Haberler
-
Oh no! A lot of pilots in our club are using windy's trajectories function at almost every flight, with 2 flights/pilot/per week we need that around 1000times per year.
So we really hope that you reconsider this desicion. -
@Doris-Hofbauer looks like meteoblue is the future tool to use
-
Seems like users really want to keep trajectories
So be it
We will implement it as core Windy feature
-
Dear windy-team,
A lot of hot-air balloners really got used to work with trajectories for planning our flights - so if anyhow possible please rethink your decion and keep on with this really great service. Thanks a lot!! -
S Suty referenced this topic on
-
Dear Windy team, as everyone else has already written, Windy is extremely important for a balloon pilot's flight preparation. So, please reconsider the plan and do not stop providing support. Countless pilots will thank you!
-
S Suty referenced this topic on
-
S Suty referenced this topic on
