Fav Icon

Just updated the little icon that appears next to the website URL in the address bar and also in the Favourites (if http://www.wsr.org.uk/ has been added). It's not much to report but it was fun doing it.

Panoramic views

Thanks entirely to the work of Rodney Greenway who has been out and about with camera, I have added some panoramic views of the station pages for Watchet, Doniford, Williton, Stogumber, Crowcombe Heathfield and Bishops Lydeard. Thanks also due to Martin Krolik at http://www.krolik.net/index.jsp for the hard work in scripting the code behind the viewer. I hope these 360 degree views help website visitors to see more of the stations and perhaps turn the virtual visit into a real one :-)

No more click-thru ads

A recent problem for some visitors to the website was the unexpected appearance of pop-up advertising undesirable subjects.

Taking the advice of the website hosts, Freeola, I removed all Javascript code that loaded content from third parties directly into the www.wsr.org.uk pages, and that included the Google Ads code.

Now I don't think it the content of my website that was causing the problems. Opening a www.wsr.org.uk page might have simply triggered a "nastie" already lurking on the visitor's machine from process not connected with www.wsr.org.uk , which then forced the pop-ups to appear.

A good clean-up and updating of security software would seem to be the medicine to advise visitors who are asking what to do.

But then, what do I know? It's all a bit beyond me. But Google Ads will not be re-appearing for a while, so Google can keep the $15 they owe me :-)

A chain of webcams, perhaps?

Recently, the webcam pages carried a request for website visitors to send in their thoughts on the webcams. Scores replied. The results suggest the webcams serve a very useful purpose in creating interest in the West Somerset Railway. Some people went further and said they would now visit the Railway to experience it for real. There were many requests for more webcams - mostly at Minehead.

The problem with installing more on railway premises is the non-availability of good, secure locations which have nearby access to a broadband-connected PC.

So what's the title of this posting all about? Well, there are several accommodation premises along the Railway which enjoy a view of passing trains, and if the owners could be persuaded to install and run a webcam and feed the images via http://www.wsr.org.uk/ along with details and pictures of their establishment, they might benefit from bookings from website visitors. What I need to do now is to find someone who can "sell" the idea to these folks...

Google Maps

Just had some fun with Google Maps and especially playing with the various existing KML files which can be simply brought in. The route of the railway - captured using a reliable map base - doesn't always fit the Google satellite background and the Google Maps cartographic layer is pretty aweful when zoomed in. However, it's fun software to play with, for me and other users so it'll stay for the foreseeable future. The URL is http://www.wsr.org.uk/gmap.htm

Another fun thing is to visit http://maps.google.co.uk and enter http://www.wsr.org.uk/kml/wsr2.kml into the Google Maps Search Box. Other kml files to try include http://www.wsr.org.uk/kml/pix.kml for a vast number of photographic locations along the line.

I'm sure more can be done with this technology.

Click through ads...

Well it had to happen. The costs of running the website are beginning to hurt the pocket so a very minor relent to the "no ads" policy has seen the introduction of a "click thru" ad service by a well known internet company. The ads are limited to the "Where to stay" page which seems the most appropriate page, having content that the ads can easily complement, perhaps even be useful to the visitor, who in many cases, might be looking for external information. I will monitor the sucess or otherwise whilst considering which other pages might be suitable.