Mitch-Seasonal Effects Hub 2.15.0 Beta

Seasonal Effects Hub — Version 2.15.0 Beta

Massive Update: Live Weather Effects + Stability Improvements

This release is one of the biggest updates yet, expanding the addon beyond holidays and into dynamic, real-time environmental effects. Your forum can now automatically display rain, snow, fog, sunshine, and cloud animations based on each visitor’s actual location and weather conditions.



🌦 New Feature: Live Weather Overlay System

When no seasonal holiday is active, the addon can now fall back to a beautiful animated weather system powered by OpenWeather.


Based on the visitor’s current conditions, your forum will now display:


🌧 Rain effects
Snowfall
🌫 Fog/mist haze layers
Drifting clouds
Sunbeam/clear skies effect

This includes:


Dynamic intensity scaling (uses the existing effects intensity setting)
Animated environment layers
Smart condition detection (rain, snow, fog, clouds, clear)
Real-time location-based weather fetching
A small weather label tag (temperature + location + condition)

Example label:


61° · San Jose · Clear Sky

To enable this:
ACP → Options → Seasonal Effects Hub → Live Weather Overlay


You must add your OpenWeather API Key (free and paid plans supported).


Visual Quality Improvements

This update also includes numerous refinements:


Better layering and blending for cloud and fog effects
Improved performance on mobile devices
Cleaned and optimized CSS animations
More stable rendering in Safari and Firefox
Updated snowflake + fog visuals for realism


Core Addon Enhancements

Added extra safety checks for geolocation permissions
Improved fallback handling when API keys are invalid
Added helpful on-screen error states (e.g., Weather: API key missing, Weather: location denied, Weather: fetch error)
Optimized script timing to prevent layout shifts
Improved responsiveness on high-refresh displays
Reduced CPU footprint during background animations


🛠 Bug Fixes

Fixed template behavior when no holiday is selected
Fixed label sometimes not showing under dark themes
Resolved several small JavaScript errors during weather fetch
Fixed edge-case where addon may activate too early on slow devices


Upgrade Notes

After uploading this new version:


Upgrade via ACP or CLI
Verify your Weather API Key is entered
Ensure geolocation is allowed (browser prompts the visitor)

Zip file is included as usual through XenForo’s release builder.



Thank You!

This addon continues to grow into a full dynamic visual experience for XenForo communities — holidays, seasons, and now real-world environment effects.


More upgrades are coming, including:


Animated sunrise/sunset cycles
Wind-based particle simulation
Full 7-day forecast themes
Storm effects

Stay tuned — and enjoy the new update!

All image files moved into the addon structure

Seasonal Effects Hub — Update Changelog


Version 2.12.0


This update is the biggest upgrade yet — bringing full automation, international holiday support, customizable effects, and a brand-new intensity system.


New Features


Automatic Holiday Detection


The add-on can now automatically enable the correct holiday effect based on the current date — no manual switching required.


Added International Holidays


New holiday themes with unique animations & overlays:


Lunar New Year

Diwali

Eid (Eid Mubarak)

Pride Month

Canada Day


Each includes:

3 themed floating icons

Custom animations

Holiday text overlay

Unique themed overlay backgrounds


Added Veterans Day


A respectful animated theme dedicated to honoring veterans.


Custom Holiday System (NEW!)


Admins can now create their own holiday theme directly from the ACP.


Includes:


Custom display name

3 user-defined icons

Custom CSS injection

Automatic integration into the main effect template


Perfect for regional holidays, community events, or branding effects.


Global Intensity Control

A brand-new setting that dynamically scales every effect:

Low

Medium (Default)

High

Adjusts:

Number of icons

Spawn rate

Animation duration

Speed multipliers



Works with all holiday themes, including custom ones.

Winter Effects Improvements

All 3 winter snow styles were updated to support:

Intensity scaling

Better animation randomness

More natural falling patterns


Code Quality & Fixes


Fixed template issues preventing holiday switching

Improved consistency across animation timing & sizes

Added separate overlays for each holiday for better atmosphere

Ensured all effects run on DOMContentLoaded for reliability

Cleaned up CSS opacity, blending modes, and glow effects

ACP enhancements to prevent save buttons from disappearing

Added missing option definitions & fixed database syncing issues

Improved error handling in auto-selector listener





Developer Notes


New listener added: templater_setup for automatic holiday switching

New option set added under Seasonal Effects group

JSON files updated & synced for XF 2.3.7 compatibility

Entire add-on tested against XenForo 2.3.7 with no template conflicts

Fixed missing template file

Winter / Christmas
Valentine’s Day
Thanksgiving
Halloween
New Year
Easter
St Patrick's Day
4th of July
Day of the Dead

This is all the Holidays you can now pick from via your ACP settings. Enjoy!

Click to expand...

Seasonal Effects Hub – Animated Holiday Themes for Your XenForo Community​

Bring your forum to life with beautiful seasonal animations!


Looking to add some holiday flair to your XenForo forum?
Seasonal Effects Hub is a lightweight, customizable add-on that adds animated effects for multiple holidays throughout the year — all selectable from the Admin Control Panel.


Perfect for creating atmosphere, running events, or adding a festive touch during special times of the year.

---

Choose from three different snow styles:

• Light gentle snow
• Heavy drifting snow
• Magical sparkly winter overlay

Add a romantic vibe with floating heart animations, now using customizable heart images.

Celebrate the fall season with drifting autumn leaves using real leaf images.

Spookify your forum with animated flying bats and a subtle Halloween glow overlay.

More holidays coming soon!

---

Choose the current holiday effect via:
ACP → Setup → Options → Seasonal Effects Hub

Available choices:

• None (Disabled)
• Winter / Christmas
• Valentine’s Day
• Thanksgiving
• Halloween

Some holidays have multiple variations (like the 3 winter modes).
You can choose the effect style under the same option group.


The add-on overlays effects without modifying any templates.

• Pure CSS/JS
• No dependencies
• Performs well on modern devices
• Non-intrusive overlay design

---

1. Upload the contents of the ZIP to your XenForo root.
2. Go to ACP → Add-ons → Install from archive
3. Choose the ZIP and click Install
4. Go to Setup → Options → Seasonal Effects Hub
5. Select your holiday effect and enjoy!

---

You can easily swap out the default images:

• Winter snowflakes (optional)
• Valentine’s hearts (heart1.png, heart2.png, etc.)
• Thanksgiving leaves (leaf1.png, leaf2.png, etc.)
• Halloween bats (bat1.png, bat2.png, etc.)

Just upload your images into:

<span><span>styles/mitchseasonal/<br></span></span>

The add-on will automatically rotate through them.

---

• Complete holiday effects system
• Admin option group + effect selectors
• Seasonal overlays
• Image-based animations
• Modular code designed for easy expansion

---

• New holidays (Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July, New Year’s)
• Date-based auto switching
• Per-user toggles (allow users to disable effects)
• ACP preview system
• Intensity / performance controls

---

Developed by Mitch McLean
Created with love for the XenForo community.