The South African Weather Service has reverted back to its original Web site, after the revamped site was pulled last week due to technical problems.
The new-look site at www.weathersa.co.za went live on Thursday, but was replaced with the original site within days.
While there was positive feedback about the new-look site, Web developer Robert Graham says the main problem was the time it took to navigate the site. "We tested it internally, and there were no problems. But once we launched it, we were getting feedback that it was just too slow. So we have reverted to the old site until we can rectify the problem"
Graham says the service hopes to have the new site up and running by the end of the month.
The update, which was designed to bring it in line with the weather service's new corporate image, will require users to register before they can view long-term weather forecasts. Graham says the reason behind this is to get people used to the idea of having to pay for weather forecasts in the future, as stipulated by government.
"Basically, the new legislation states that a forecast for two days is free, but anything more than that people will have to pay for."
Graham says this is not an ideal situation, as it will force the public to pay for the site's most popular pages.
"The seven-day forecast is the most popular on the site. We have heard a number of complaints about this, but we just can't keep it open due to the legislation."
The costs to be charged for accessing long-term forecasts have yet to be determined, adds Graham.
The South African Weather Service site receives around one million hits a month.
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