Monday, September 05, 2005
Just Leaving For Vacation
Just thought I'd let you know I'm taking a vacation in Tuscany, Italy, starting right now and for about 10 to 14 days.
Naturally, I won't be responding my e-mail during this time and won't be posting to the blog, but if there's anything urgent you might need from me feel free to call me at +386 41 560 468.
Enjoy! more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/5/2005 6:37:47 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/just_leaving_for_vacation.php
Naturally, I won't be responding my e-mail during this time and won't be posting to the blog, but if there's anything urgent you might need from me feel free to call me at +386 41 560 468.
Enjoy! more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/5/2005 6:37:47 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/just_leaving_for_vacation.php
Friday, September 02, 2005
ClickZ Doesn't Get RSS Metrics - How We Really Can Measure RSS
Even after all that's been written and explained, even reputable online marketing publications such as ClickZ.com still don't get RSS metrics.
In an otherwise good RSS marketing article, Add RSS to Your Marketing Mix, Heidi Cohen has this to say about RSS metrics:
"From a marketing perspective, RSS's measurability is still evolving and therefore limited. You can't tell who has received your feeds as you can with e-mail."
Yes, RSS's measurability is still evolving and probably will evolve beyond e-mail metrics. In some ways it already has ...
And it's also true that you can't tell who has received your feeds ... if you're using the most established RSS approaches and just the basic technologies.
However, once you connect your feeds with your existing user databases, you can in fact go beyond what e-mail metrics offer.
Here are some possibilities ...
a] Use the "unique feed URL" approach, where each subscriber receives a feed with a unique identifier, based on which you can track precisely what feeds are being requested ... namely what annonymous user is requesting what feed.
b] If you'd like to integrate annonymous feed subscriber data with named (registered) user data, you can easily provide feeds only upon registration or only to logged-in users, and actually connect each unique feed URL with a named user. Especially if you provide feed customization this won't be a problem at all. Once you've integrated this data you can measure every and any iteraction your user has with your feed.
c] If you don't want to force your visitors to register in order to subscribe to your feed, you can still use the unique feed URL approach, which you connect with a user session, cookie or other identifiable information. Once your RSS feed subscriber registers you can integrate the data you already collected based on existing feed interaction and website interaction with his new user account.
d] The other approach you can use is user authentication, where you limit access to your feeds with a username/password combination. If each unique users receives a unique combination, you can track everything based on this information.
There are other possibilities as well, and the actual implementation of those above is somewhat more complicated than it seems at first sight. It does for example also require a more complex internet marketing strategy. It does require using more complex tools than the simplest RSS publishing solutions available on the market. It does require integration with your user database and internet platform.
But the point is that it's not only theoretically possible, but also in praxis. And in fact simple for companies with their own advanced internet platforms.
Just a quick disclaimer ...
a] If your feed gets widely syndicated you can in fact lose view of who's receiving your feed, even if you're using unique feed URLs (you can of course measure this as well, by analyzing user agent data). Using the user authentication model solves this problem as well.
b] Even if your feed does get widely syndicated, that's still comparable to your e-mail messages being passed around by users. And if we take in to account that measuring open-rates is getting increasingly difficult due to users blocking images, e-mail metrics don't look that shiny anymore.
If you'd like to find out more about RSS metrics, simply start by reading our articles in the RSS Metrics section.
I'm also hoping that there'll soon come a time when responses like this will no longer be needed, because marketers will finally understand the power of RSS metrics. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/2/2005 1:18:29 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/clickz_doesnt_get_rss_metrics_how_we_really_can_measure_rss.php
In an otherwise good RSS marketing article, Add RSS to Your Marketing Mix, Heidi Cohen has this to say about RSS metrics:
"From a marketing perspective, RSS's measurability is still evolving and therefore limited. You can't tell who has received your feeds as you can with e-mail."
Yes, RSS's measurability is still evolving and probably will evolve beyond e-mail metrics. In some ways it already has ...
And it's also true that you can't tell who has received your feeds ... if you're using the most established RSS approaches and just the basic technologies.
However, once you connect your feeds with your existing user databases, you can in fact go beyond what e-mail metrics offer.
Here are some possibilities ...
a] Use the "unique feed URL" approach, where each subscriber receives a feed with a unique identifier, based on which you can track precisely what feeds are being requested ... namely what annonymous user is requesting what feed.
b] If you'd like to integrate annonymous feed subscriber data with named (registered) user data, you can easily provide feeds only upon registration or only to logged-in users, and actually connect each unique feed URL with a named user. Especially if you provide feed customization this won't be a problem at all. Once you've integrated this data you can measure every and any iteraction your user has with your feed.
c] If you don't want to force your visitors to register in order to subscribe to your feed, you can still use the unique feed URL approach, which you connect with a user session, cookie or other identifiable information. Once your RSS feed subscriber registers you can integrate the data you already collected based on existing feed interaction and website interaction with his new user account.
d] The other approach you can use is user authentication, where you limit access to your feeds with a username/password combination. If each unique users receives a unique combination, you can track everything based on this information.
There are other possibilities as well, and the actual implementation of those above is somewhat more complicated than it seems at first sight. It does for example also require a more complex internet marketing strategy. It does require using more complex tools than the simplest RSS publishing solutions available on the market. It does require integration with your user database and internet platform.
But the point is that it's not only theoretically possible, but also in praxis. And in fact simple for companies with their own advanced internet platforms.
Just a quick disclaimer ...
a] If your feed gets widely syndicated you can in fact lose view of who's receiving your feed, even if you're using unique feed URLs (you can of course measure this as well, by analyzing user agent data). Using the user authentication model solves this problem as well.
b] Even if your feed does get widely syndicated, that's still comparable to your e-mail messages being passed around by users. And if we take in to account that measuring open-rates is getting increasingly difficult due to users blocking images, e-mail metrics don't look that shiny anymore.
If you'd like to find out more about RSS metrics, simply start by reading our articles in the RSS Metrics section.
I'm also hoping that there'll soon come a time when responses like this will no longer be needed, because marketers will finally understand the power of RSS metrics. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/2/2005 1:18:29 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/clickz_doesnt_get_rss_metrics_how_we_really_can_measure_rss.php
FeedDigest: An Excellent RSS Radar or NewMastering Tool
I spent some more time with FeedDigest, the tool that helps you display syndicated content on your sites and mix multiple feeds together, and discovered it actually offers much more under the hood than I first anticipated.
The problem the first time was simple: they hide the best features under some very difficult to spot links. But once you really start paying attention you discover that FeedDigest really is a powerful RSS radar creation tool.
a] You start creating your RSS radar by entering the first feed URL in to the new digest form.
b] You're immediately taken to a page with advanced settings:
Basic information, such as digest name.
Item ordering settings and the max number of items to show.
Filtering capabilities, hidden behind a link (you can filter the multiple feeds you're mixing with a search string).
International settings, if you'll be mixing feeds in languages other than English.
Template selection, to define in what HTML template you want the content from the feeds to be displayed in. The best feature is that you can actually create your own templates.
Your account information.
c] After creating your account you get immediate access to all the outputs, which include HTML and JavaScript (to display on your site), and RSS and Atom. They also give you access to a simple piece of PHP code to use to display the digest on your site, instead of JavaScript, which really doesn't do you any good for the search engines.
All in all, a great RSS radar tool. Do we have a market leader in this category here? more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/2/2005 12:10:28 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/feeddigest_an_excellent_rss_radar_or_newmastering_tool.php
The problem the first time was simple: they hide the best features under some very difficult to spot links. But once you really start paying attention you discover that FeedDigest really is a powerful RSS radar creation tool.
a] You start creating your RSS radar by entering the first feed URL in to the new digest form.
b] You're immediately taken to a page with advanced settings:
Basic information, such as digest name.
Item ordering settings and the max number of items to show.
Filtering capabilities, hidden behind a link (you can filter the multiple feeds you're mixing with a search string).
International settings, if you'll be mixing feeds in languages other than English.
Template selection, to define in what HTML template you want the content from the feeds to be displayed in. The best feature is that you can actually create your own templates.
Your account information.
c] After creating your account you get immediate access to all the outputs, which include HTML and JavaScript (to display on your site), and RSS and Atom. They also give you access to a simple piece of PHP code to use to display the digest on your site, instead of JavaScript, which really doesn't do you any good for the search engines.
All in all, a great RSS radar tool. Do we have a market leader in this category here? more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/2/2005 12:10:28 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/feeddigest_an_excellent_rss_radar_or_newmastering_tool.php
Thursday, September 01, 2005
How to Buy RSS Advertising: Setting the Stage
Bill Flitter of Pheedo is starting a series of articles on how to buy RSS advertising, beginning with some basic background information on RSS for marketers.
Unfortunatelly nothing on buying RSS advertising yet, but it's a good intro to RSS marketing.
Especially two interesting points:
"RSS is the new email newsletter
RSS is poised to become an important content delivery mechanism in mainstream media. It will soon represent a permanent and fundamental change in the way information will be shared, viewed and acted upon online. It will reshape the way people interact with the web for several reasons."
"Many publishers catering to the early adopter and tech markets are seeing 40% month-over-month growth rate in their RSS traffic. Some are seeing 50% of their traffic come from their RSS feed, with a corresponding decline in email subscriptions." more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 5:33:34 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/how_to_buy_rss_advertising_setting_the_stage.php
Unfortunatelly nothing on buying RSS advertising yet, but it's a good intro to RSS marketing.
Especially two interesting points:
"RSS is the new email newsletter
RSS is poised to become an important content delivery mechanism in mainstream media. It will soon represent a permanent and fundamental change in the way information will be shared, viewed and acted upon online. It will reshape the way people interact with the web for several reasons."
"Many publishers catering to the early adopter and tech markets are seeing 40% month-over-month growth rate in their RSS traffic. Some are seeing 50% of their traffic come from their RSS feed, with a corresponding decline in email subscriptions." more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 5:33:34 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/how_to_buy_rss_advertising_setting_the_stage.php
Interested in RSS Publishing and Marketing Solutions? Looking for a co-author ...
Some time ago we started looking for associate authors for various RSS report projects and the response was overwhelming. Actually, we're currently preparing 5 different reports on various RSS marketing.
However, due to a some very positive developements in his life, our partner for the RSS Marketing & Publishing Solutions report had to say farewell.
If you're interested in RSS and most specifically in RSS marketing and publishing solutions, drop me a note at rok.hrastnik@marketingstudies.net
Just might work out:) more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 5:10:33 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/interested_in_rss_publishing_and_marketing_solutions_looking_for_a_coa.php
However, due to a some very positive developements in his life, our partner for the RSS Marketing & Publishing Solutions report had to say farewell.
If you're interested in RSS and most specifically in RSS marketing and publishing solutions, drop me a note at rok.hrastnik@marketingstudies.net
Just might work out:) more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 5:10:33 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/interested_in_rss_publishing_and_marketing_solutions_looking_for_a_coa.php
Google News via RSS
It finally happened. Google now provides RSS feeds for all news.google.com searches, bringing you latest Google News content straight to your RSS reader.
Perhaps more important is that Google allows webmasters to display syndicated Google News content on their sites, albeit under a noncommercial use policy.
"Google News section feeds: You can get a feed for any Google News section. For instance, if you select a feed link while you're on the Business page, you'll get a feed of business news.
Google News search results feeds: You can also get a feed for any search you do on Google News. First do any search on Google News, then simply use the Atom or RSS link on the left-hand side of your search results page to generate the feed.
Customized news feeds: You can create a feed of a customized news page (note: for now, this applies only to English language sections), simply by creating a customized news page, and then using the Atom or RSS link on the left-hand side of the page to generate the feed." more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 4:19:31 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/google_news_via_rss.php
Perhaps more important is that Google allows webmasters to display syndicated Google News content on their sites, albeit under a noncommercial use policy.
"Google News section feeds: You can get a feed for any Google News section. For instance, if you select a feed link while you're on the Business page, you'll get a feed of business news.
Google News search results feeds: You can also get a feed for any search you do on Google News. First do any search on Google News, then simply use the Atom or RSS link on the left-hand side of your search results page to generate the feed.
Customized news feeds: You can create a feed of a customized news page (note: for now, this applies only to English language sections), simply by creating a customized news page, and then using the Atom or RSS link on the left-hand side of the page to generate the feed." more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 4:19:31 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/google_news_via_rss.php
How to Make RSS Feeds Work in IE7 and Windows Vista?
The Longorn RSS team just started a work-in-progress, which will become a Windows RSS Publisher's Guide.
They start by providing instructions for RSS Autodiscovery, not exactly something new, but also provide some interesting best practices for this feature.
a] Choose good tiels for your feeds, because IE 7 will display the title as you write it in your autodiscovery tags.
b] Microsoft recommends you select an RSS format and then stick to it, instead of listing the same feeds in different formats, since that will only confuser the user.
c] While you can list as many feeds as you like, you need to make sure that the first one listed is the one most relevant to the page itself.
d] And of course, this one goes without saying, even though you've taken care of RSS Autodiscovery, continue providing links to your feeds in the actual page. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 2:31:29 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/how_to_make_rss_feeds_work_in_ie7_and_windows_vista.php
They start by providing instructions for RSS Autodiscovery, not exactly something new, but also provide some interesting best practices for this feature.
a] Choose good tiels for your feeds, because IE 7 will display the title as you write it in your autodiscovery tags.
b] Microsoft recommends you select an RSS format and then stick to it, instead of listing the same feeds in different formats, since that will only confuser the user.
c] While you can list as many feeds as you like, you need to make sure that the first one listed is the one most relevant to the page itself.
d] And of course, this one goes without saying, even though you've taken care of RSS Autodiscovery, continue providing links to your feeds in the actual page. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 2:31:29 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/how_to_make_rss_feeds_work_in_ie7_and_windows_vista.php
Easily Publish Syndicated Content or Syndicate Your Own
Robin Good spends another weekend searching for interesting new tools and finds Feed Digest, a tools that allows you to:
a] Display RSS feed content on your site
b] Syndicate your own RSS content to other sites
c] Mix multiple feeds in to a single feed
While the tool doesn't provide any advanced features, it is easy to use and worth checking out. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 2:16:29 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/easily_publish_syndicated_content_or_syndicate_your_own.php
a] Display RSS feed content on your site
b] Syndicate your own RSS content to other sites
c] Mix multiple feeds in to a single feed
While the tool doesn't provide any advanced features, it is easy to use and worth checking out. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 2:16:29 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/easily_publish_syndicated_content_or_syndicate_your_own.php
User Driven E-commerce RSS Feeds
I've been browsing the MSN Sandbox the other day and the MSN Shopping Beta announcement immediately captured my attention with a simple sentence: "User driven RSS feeds, a first for shopping portals."
User driven RSS feeds?
Sounds like something that certainly needs to be taken a look at.
MSN Shopping certainly goes quite far with RSS, giving you access to dynamically customizable RSS feeds directly below each product list.
For example, you're browsing one of the books categories and directly below each specific category you'll find an RSS feed that exactly matches the product list on the screen.
"MSN Shopping will send you up-to-date news whenever a new product is added in the categories you selected. It's simple, it's fast, and it's free!"
Furthermore, by using certain selection criteria to display products on the site, such as Most popular, Highest user rating, Lowest price and so on, the provided RSS feed at the bottom of the screen changes as well, giving you permanent access to the content determined by your criteria.
User friendly? Certainly. A much better way than pushing your customers through several settings screens to set-up their customized RSS feeds.
This way the customer rather "creates his selection" by using the site, seeing his results on the screen and then having the option to directly subscribing to "those" results via RSS. This also works for their search results.
However, MSN could do better promoting the RSS feeds at the bottom, by saying something more compelling and acurate than simply "Add MSN Shopping content to other sites". Yeah, you certainly convinced me with this one ... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 2:01:28 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/user_driven_ecommerce_rss_feeds.php
User driven RSS feeds?
Sounds like something that certainly needs to be taken a look at.
MSN Shopping certainly goes quite far with RSS, giving you access to dynamically customizable RSS feeds directly below each product list.
For example, you're browsing one of the books categories and directly below each specific category you'll find an RSS feed that exactly matches the product list on the screen.
"MSN Shopping will send you up-to-date news whenever a new product is added in the categories you selected. It's simple, it's fast, and it's free!"
Furthermore, by using certain selection criteria to display products on the site, such as Most popular, Highest user rating, Lowest price and so on, the provided RSS feed at the bottom of the screen changes as well, giving you permanent access to the content determined by your criteria.
User friendly? Certainly. A much better way than pushing your customers through several settings screens to set-up their customized RSS feeds.
This way the customer rather "creates his selection" by using the site, seeing his results on the screen and then having the option to directly subscribing to "those" results via RSS. This also works for their search results.
However, MSN could do better promoting the RSS feeds at the bottom, by saying something more compelling and acurate than simply "Add MSN Shopping content to other sites". Yeah, you certainly convinced me with this one ... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 2:01:28 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/user_driven_ecommerce_rss_feeds.php
RSS E-book Blows the Competition Out of the Water
As always, just love receiving feedback about the Unleash the Marketing and Publishing Power of RSS e-book:)
"Hello Rok -
Just a note to say I love your material on RSS. (You have new fan here!) IMO, you do a wonderful job of explaining exactly how RSS can help grow a business. One of your articles several weeks ago prompted me to have a look at your site.
I bought both your "Unleash the Marketing and Publishing Power of RSS" and the [competitive print book title removed from the letter] book. From a marketing-relevant standpoint, your book blows the other out of the water.
Anyway, saw another of your articles come through today and thought I'd drop you a line.
Regards,
Bobette Kyle
http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
Marketing Plan and Web Promotion Information"
more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 1:10:27 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/rss_ebook_blows_the_competition_out_of_the_water.php
"Hello Rok -
Just a note to say I love your material on RSS. (You have new fan here!) IMO, you do a wonderful job of explaining exactly how RSS can help grow a business. One of your articles several weeks ago prompted me to have a look at your site.
I bought both your "Unleash the Marketing and Publishing Power of RSS" and the [competitive print book title removed from the letter] book. From a marketing-relevant standpoint, your book blows the other out of the water.
Anyway, saw another of your articles come through today and thought I'd drop you a line.
Regards,
Bobette Kyle
http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
Marketing Plan and Web Promotion Information"
more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 1:10:27 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/rss_ebook_blows_the_competition_out_of_the_water.php
What is RSS?
As a marketer I tend to give descriptions of things from the marketing point-of-view, and that goes for RSS as well. So I thought it would be interesting to have an explanation of RSS from someone who hasn't been professionally deformed by marketing (yet).
Douglas Clifton allowed my to post his "What is RSS?" article here in full. The original version is available on his site.
What is RSS?
If you're new to RSS and need an introduction to help you get started, then this tutorial is a good place to learn some basics. You will also learn how to subscribe to the feeds on loadaverageZero so you can find out what's new around here without having to keep coming back to the site until you want to. That, in a nutshell, is what RSS feeds are all about: Let the information come to you instead of actively searching for it.
Contents
What is RSS?
What are those strange little orange buttons?
What is a News Reader?
What is a News Aggregator Site?
Can I access RSS feeds from my Browser?
What is Auto Discovery?
What is Atom?
RSS Feeds on loadaverageZero
Conclusion and Additional Resources
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, and like a magazine or newspaper, it's a way to supply you with a list of current news items in a brief format so you can scan headlines and choose the items that interest you most. All without visiting the Web sites that publish them. That is, until you want to read the entire article. To do this you just click on the headline like any normal link on a Web site. Since news headlines come to you instead of the other way around, RSS is referred to as content distribution or syndication.
What are those strange little orange buttons?
You will often see that a site has RSS content, or a feed (sometimes called a channel), when you notice a small button (usually an orange color) with the acronym XML or RSS on it. Like this: . The reason you see these XML buttons is because that is the file format that RSS is delivered in, much like Web pages are written in HTML. The orange buttons (or chicklets) are becoming less common however, often times RSS feeds appear as an option on a menu, and some browsers will have a special way of indicating that the site you are visiting has RSS feeds.
However, many browsers are not equipped to handle RSS feeds in this raw XML format. You may have already run across this if you ever clicked on an RSS link and were surprised by a bunch of computer source code instead of a Web page. Or the browser might even have asked you to download the page because it didn't know what else to do with it. What you really need is a way of rendering that code into a readable form.
What is a News Reader?
There are many ways to read news feeds. There are dedicated programs called News Readers, many of them free, that are designed to do this. Have a look at these Reviews if you'd like to learn more about downloading and installing one. Note that many people use the terms news Reader and news Aggregator interchangeably. To avoid any confusion, in my view a reader is a program that runs on your computer (sometimes called desktop software), and an aggregator is an online service. The results are pretty much the same—once you've subscribed to some feeds, you can browse a list of the latest stories and select the ones you like. Notice I said latest? Items in a feed are always displayed with the most recent ones listed first.
What is a News Aggregator Site?
Another approach is to use an online service, called an News Aggregator, which are also free for the most part. This list of Online Aggregators will help you get started. If you are a member of Yahoo! or MSN, you can also subscribe to and access RSS feeds right from your personal page. More information about popular aggregator services can be found further down on this page.
Can I access RSS feeds from my Browser?
Some browsers, such as Firefox, have plugin programs that allow you to read RSS feeds from right inside the browser. Sage is one such extension, and it is so simple to install and use, that if you're just getting started with RSS consider giving it a try. This screenshot will show you what Sage looks like running inside Firefox. Another handy extension for Firefox is Feedview, which allows you to preview almost any RSS feed without having to subscribe to it first. All you have to do is click on one of those RSS links. Other browsers, such as Safari for Mac, and Opera (which runs on many platforms), have support for reading news feeds already built in, so there's no need to install anything.
What is Auto Discovery?
Many sites, including this one, contain special links to news feeds embedded in the source code of the Web site. This is how a browser is able to determine that a site has feeds, and will usually indicate this through an icon appearing on the browser when you visit such a page. Firefox, for instance, displays a a special icon on the status bar located at the very bottom of the browser:
Note: It is quite possible that the icon will not look exactly like this with your browser, depending on what operating system you are using, any theme (or skin) you may have installed, the browser version, and so forth. The easiest way to find out what these things do is to simply hover your mouse cursor over them.
Many news readers and aggregators can also take advantage of auto-discovery. If you want to subscribe to a feed for a particular site and don't know the address to the feed resource itself, often you can simply enter the address of the Web page and the program will automatically find the feed (or feeds) for you. Just copy the address of the site and paste it into the reader's input box.
What is Atom?
You may have heard about something called Atom and wondered what it is and how it relates to RSS. Atom is just a newer feed format, one that is becoming more popular. As a subscriber this isn't something you need to worry about. Most modern software can cope with the different versions of RSS as well as Atom. The results are basically the same.
Conclusion
There are many other RSS feed aggregator sites. The ones I created links to are popular, and also well designed and easy to use. In fact, I have accounts on all of them. I did this in order to make sure they provide quality services.
I understand that when you first get started using RSS, it may seem to be a bit of a mystery. Or, you may be thinking “How will using RSS improve my overall Web experience?” I think that once you get over the hurdle of using RSS feeds this will become readily apparent. If you still have questions about the RSS feeds on loadaverageZero (and in general), feel free to Contact Me. You can also visit the loadaverageZero Discussion Forums where there are 3 Comments on this article.
Additional Resources
For further details on RSS and related topics, Wikipedia is an excellent source of information. For more advanced users, developers and programmers, drx contains a large list of RSS Resources.
Aggregator
Atom
OPML
RSS
XML
Enjoy reading your RSS News feeds!
--- Douglas Clifton more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 11:12:25 AMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/what_is_rss.php
Douglas Clifton allowed my to post his "What is RSS?" article here in full. The original version is available on his site.
What is RSS?
If you're new to RSS and need an introduction to help you get started, then this tutorial is a good place to learn some basics. You will also learn how to subscribe to the feeds on loadaverageZero so you can find out what's new around here without having to keep coming back to the site until you want to. That, in a nutshell, is what RSS feeds are all about: Let the information come to you instead of actively searching for it.
Contents
What is RSS?
What are those strange little orange buttons?
What is a News Reader?
What is a News Aggregator Site?
Can I access RSS feeds from my Browser?
What is Auto Discovery?
What is Atom?
RSS Feeds on loadaverageZero
Conclusion and Additional Resources
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, and like a magazine or newspaper, it's a way to supply you with a list of current news items in a brief format so you can scan headlines and choose the items that interest you most. All without visiting the Web sites that publish them. That is, until you want to read the entire article. To do this you just click on the headline like any normal link on a Web site. Since news headlines come to you instead of the other way around, RSS is referred to as content distribution or syndication.
What are those strange little orange buttons?
You will often see that a site has RSS content, or a feed (sometimes called a channel), when you notice a small button (usually an orange color) with the acronym XML or RSS on it. Like this: . The reason you see these XML buttons is because that is the file format that RSS is delivered in, much like Web pages are written in HTML. The orange buttons (or chicklets) are becoming less common however, often times RSS feeds appear as an option on a menu, and some browsers will have a special way of indicating that the site you are visiting has RSS feeds.
However, many browsers are not equipped to handle RSS feeds in this raw XML format. You may have already run across this if you ever clicked on an RSS link and were surprised by a bunch of computer source code instead of a Web page. Or the browser might even have asked you to download the page because it didn't know what else to do with it. What you really need is a way of rendering that code into a readable form.
What is a News Reader?
There are many ways to read news feeds. There are dedicated programs called News Readers, many of them free, that are designed to do this. Have a look at these Reviews if you'd like to learn more about downloading and installing one. Note that many people use the terms news Reader and news Aggregator interchangeably. To avoid any confusion, in my view a reader is a program that runs on your computer (sometimes called desktop software), and an aggregator is an online service. The results are pretty much the same—once you've subscribed to some feeds, you can browse a list of the latest stories and select the ones you like. Notice I said latest? Items in a feed are always displayed with the most recent ones listed first.
What is a News Aggregator Site?
Another approach is to use an online service, called an News Aggregator, which are also free for the most part. This list of Online Aggregators will help you get started. If you are a member of Yahoo! or MSN, you can also subscribe to and access RSS feeds right from your personal page. More information about popular aggregator services can be found further down on this page.
Can I access RSS feeds from my Browser?
Some browsers, such as Firefox, have plugin programs that allow you to read RSS feeds from right inside the browser. Sage is one such extension, and it is so simple to install and use, that if you're just getting started with RSS consider giving it a try. This screenshot will show you what Sage looks like running inside Firefox. Another handy extension for Firefox is Feedview, which allows you to preview almost any RSS feed without having to subscribe to it first. All you have to do is click on one of those RSS links. Other browsers, such as Safari for Mac, and Opera (which runs on many platforms), have support for reading news feeds already built in, so there's no need to install anything.
What is Auto Discovery?
Many sites, including this one, contain special links to news feeds embedded in the source code of the Web site. This is how a browser is able to determine that a site has feeds, and will usually indicate this through an icon appearing on the browser when you visit such a page. Firefox, for instance, displays a a special icon on the status bar located at the very bottom of the browser:
Note: It is quite possible that the icon will not look exactly like this with your browser, depending on what operating system you are using, any theme (or skin) you may have installed, the browser version, and so forth. The easiest way to find out what these things do is to simply hover your mouse cursor over them.
Many news readers and aggregators can also take advantage of auto-discovery. If you want to subscribe to a feed for a particular site and don't know the address to the feed resource itself, often you can simply enter the address of the Web page and the program will automatically find the feed (or feeds) for you. Just copy the address of the site and paste it into the reader's input box.
What is Atom?
You may have heard about something called Atom and wondered what it is and how it relates to RSS. Atom is just a newer feed format, one that is becoming more popular. As a subscriber this isn't something you need to worry about. Most modern software can cope with the different versions of RSS as well as Atom. The results are basically the same.
Conclusion
There are many other RSS feed aggregator sites. The ones I created links to are popular, and also well designed and easy to use. In fact, I have accounts on all of them. I did this in order to make sure they provide quality services.
I understand that when you first get started using RSS, it may seem to be a bit of a mystery. Or, you may be thinking “How will using RSS improve my overall Web experience?” I think that once you get over the hurdle of using RSS feeds this will become readily apparent. If you still have questions about the RSS feeds on loadaverageZero (and in general), feel free to Contact Me. You can also visit the loadaverageZero Discussion Forums where there are 3 Comments on this article.
Additional Resources
For further details on RSS and related topics, Wikipedia is an excellent source of information. For more advanced users, developers and programmers, drx contains a large list of RSS Resources.
Aggregator
Atom
OPML
RSS
XML
Enjoy reading your RSS News feeds!
--- Douglas Clifton more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 9/1/2005 11:12:25 AMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/what_is_rss.php
Friday, August 26, 2005
Very Cool: Vista detects personal Routers
I'm sorry if this has already been blogged the heck out of but this feature way cool: when connecting Windows Vista to a new network behind a personal firewall router (DLink or Linksys) - Vista automatically detects this device!
Double click on that new little network icon and up comes the Network window showing you the Network device which in my case is my personal DLink router.
I hope DLink and other network device companies take advantage of this new feature in Windows. They could write little Control Panel programs that tap directly into this feature and allow you to configure the router (or any other device) within the network properties in Windows. Maybe by adding a new tab or something? Maybe if they wanted to be REALLY cool, they could take advantage of the new UAP features and sync up the administrator's password on the Windows PC with the Router itself permitting ONLY the administrator of the main home PC to make any changes to the Router. Maybe I'm just plain crazy. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/26/2005 9:35:47 AMContent source: http://www.longhornblogs.com/bleblanc/archive/2005/08/01/14333.aspx
Double click on that new little network icon and up comes the Network window showing you the Network device which in my case is my personal DLink router.
I hope DLink and other network device companies take advantage of this new feature in Windows. They could write little Control Panel programs that tap directly into this feature and allow you to configure the router (or any other device) within the network properties in Windows. Maybe by adding a new tab or something? Maybe if they wanted to be REALLY cool, they could take advantage of the new UAP features and sync up the administrator's password on the Windows PC with the Router itself permitting ONLY the administrator of the main home PC to make any changes to the Router. Maybe I'm just plain crazy. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/26/2005 9:35:47 AMContent source: http://www.longhornblogs.com/bleblanc/archive/2005/08/01/14333.aspx
Update: File Permission Issue in Windows Vista
In the past two days, I've been able to successfully run Windows Vista very well on my desktop. I am able to run all my normal day-to-day programs, check email, create websites and more. I was able to get all the correct drivers to load and currently have no outstanding hardware issues.
I do have two major problems right now though I am struggling to find answers for.
First off, I copied all my files onto CD and DVD. I then copied them back onto my Windows Vista installation so I can use these files, such as music and photos. Whenever I want to access these files, it tells me I have insufficient rights - yet I am logged in as Administrator and don't have the file protection UAP turned on.
I am currently still trying to figure that one out. I took ownership of the files and everything.
My second outstanding issues right now is for some odd reason my CD/DVD Burner driver does not work. It will read a CD for a split second, enough to tell me what CD or DVD it is, but after that - it just spins and tries to read but does nothing. I get these CDROM errors in the event viewer. I am thinking I need to reload the drivers for CD/DVD Burner but unfortunately it did not come with any.
Other than these two issues, I've been running Vista for two days without any problems or crashes.
UPDATE: I've been told that the file permissions problem has been known to exist in Windows XP as well. I'm waiting to hear back from a nice person who is going to help me figure the file permissions issue out. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/26/2005 8:09:46 AMContent source: http://www.longhornblogs.com/bleblanc/archive/2005/08/01/14325.aspx
I do have two major problems right now though I am struggling to find answers for.
First off, I copied all my files onto CD and DVD. I then copied them back onto my Windows Vista installation so I can use these files, such as music and photos. Whenever I want to access these files, it tells me I have insufficient rights - yet I am logged in as Administrator and don't have the file protection UAP turned on.
I am currently still trying to figure that one out. I took ownership of the files and everything.
My second outstanding issues right now is for some odd reason my CD/DVD Burner driver does not work. It will read a CD for a split second, enough to tell me what CD or DVD it is, but after that - it just spins and tries to read but does nothing. I get these CDROM errors in the event viewer. I am thinking I need to reload the drivers for CD/DVD Burner but unfortunately it did not come with any.
Other than these two issues, I've been running Vista for two days without any problems or crashes.
UPDATE: I've been told that the file permissions problem has been known to exist in Windows XP as well. I'm waiting to hear back from a nice person who is going to help me figure the file permissions issue out. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/26/2005 8:09:46 AMContent source: http://www.longhornblogs.com/bleblanc/archive/2005/08/01/14325.aspx
Thursday, August 25, 2005
New RSS Marketing Video
While we're still working on the 2nd edition of Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS, we just added a new video presentation (PowerPoint video + audio + demos) to the package.
Length: 1 hour and 20 minutes
1. Why RSS?
2. Is the E-mail Problem Really so Bad?
3. What RSS Will Do For You?
4. The Unique Power of RSS
5. But Does it Really Work?
6. What is RSS?
7. How it Works?
8. The Business Case for RSS
9. Content Delivery Opportunities
10. Discover New Content & Business Opportunities
11. Improve Your Existing Content Delivery Efforts
12. RSS For Direct Marketers
13. The 7-Step RSS Marketing Plan
14. Step 1: Start Using RSS as an End-User
15. Step 2: Plan Your RSS Feeds
16. Step 3: Create a List of Your RSS Marketing/Publishing Requirements
17. Step 4: Choose an RSS Publishing Tool and Create Your First Feed
18. Step 5: Promote Your RSS Feeds Through Your Own Channels
19. Step 6: Promote Your RSS Feeds Through External Channels
20. Step 7: Other Key RSS Activities
The video is available to all new and existing Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS customers. Get it here!
[existing customers will get the download info ASAP] more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 1:27:23 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/new_rss_marketing_video.php
Length: 1 hour and 20 minutes
1. Why RSS?
2. Is the E-mail Problem Really so Bad?
3. What RSS Will Do For You?
4. The Unique Power of RSS
5. But Does it Really Work?
6. What is RSS?
7. How it Works?
8. The Business Case for RSS
9. Content Delivery Opportunities
10. Discover New Content & Business Opportunities
11. Improve Your Existing Content Delivery Efforts
12. RSS For Direct Marketers
13. The 7-Step RSS Marketing Plan
14. Step 1: Start Using RSS as an End-User
15. Step 2: Plan Your RSS Feeds
16. Step 3: Create a List of Your RSS Marketing/Publishing Requirements
17. Step 4: Choose an RSS Publishing Tool and Create Your First Feed
18. Step 5: Promote Your RSS Feeds Through Your Own Channels
19. Step 6: Promote Your RSS Feeds Through External Channels
20. Step 7: Other Key RSS Activities
The video is available to all new and existing Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS customers. Get it here!
[existing customers will get the download info ASAP] more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 1:27:23 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/new_rss_marketing_video.php
More Enterprise RSS Examples
InformationWeek has an article with some new and interesting enterprise RSS examples, which especially show that RSS will find its place behind the firewall in the corporate world.
a] Disney ABC Cable Networks Group
Disney, using NewsGator software, which integrates with Microsoft Outlook e-mail clients, uses RSS to avoid the overload of "occupational spam" and to provide employees with live information with links to the original internal reports. In simpler terms, they're using RSS to partially deliver internal information instead of using e-mail.
b] ING Group N.V. (insurance and financial-services company)
ING Group N.V. recently implemented Inc.'s Enterprise Syndication Server to deliver work-related information via RSS. They're basically taking information from their company portals and delivering the latest "headlines" to their employees, without the employees having to actually visit the portals to find out what's new. They're also doing some specialized content deliver to individual specialists from their internal business applications. A good example of this is an RSS channel for the finance department called 30-days-past-due receivables.
c] The Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute
The institute is blogging (and also delivering this information via RSS) to keep committee members up to date on recent developments.
d] New College of California
"New College of California, a small liberal-arts college in San Francisco, has been using KnowNow's LiveServer to coordinate and integrate business-critical reports, some generated manually and some by older computer systems. With RSS, the management and distribution of reports is easier. "These legacy systems depended on having applications installed on your computer," says Mark Gould, a developer in information services at New College. It "helps immensely" that reports can now be read using a browser, he says."
Although these RSS implementations are still quite simple, they greatly aid companies in either reducing contraproductive "e-mail time" or getting content delivered to employees without them having to visit certain portals to find out what's new. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 12:45:21 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/more_enterprise_rss_examples.php
a] Disney ABC Cable Networks Group
Disney, using NewsGator software, which integrates with Microsoft Outlook e-mail clients, uses RSS to avoid the overload of "occupational spam" and to provide employees with live information with links to the original internal reports. In simpler terms, they're using RSS to partially deliver internal information instead of using e-mail.
b] ING Group N.V. (insurance and financial-services company)
ING Group N.V. recently implemented Inc.'s Enterprise Syndication Server to deliver work-related information via RSS. They're basically taking information from their company portals and delivering the latest "headlines" to their employees, without the employees having to actually visit the portals to find out what's new. They're also doing some specialized content deliver to individual specialists from their internal business applications. A good example of this is an RSS channel for the finance department called 30-days-past-due receivables.
c] The Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute
The institute is blogging (and also delivering this information via RSS) to keep committee members up to date on recent developments.
d] New College of California
"New College of California, a small liberal-arts college in San Francisco, has been using KnowNow's LiveServer to coordinate and integrate business-critical reports, some generated manually and some by older computer systems. With RSS, the management and distribution of reports is easier. "These legacy systems depended on having applications installed on your computer," says Mark Gould, a developer in information services at New College. It "helps immensely" that reports can now be read using a browser, he says."
Although these RSS implementations are still quite simple, they greatly aid companies in either reducing contraproductive "e-mail time" or getting content delivered to employees without them having to visit certain portals to find out what's new. more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 12:45:21 PMContent source: http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/more_enterprise_rss_examples.php
Guess-the-Google
I placed this under the "Viral Marketing" category, but like the "Numa Numa" video, these guys don't really seem to be marketing anything... their homepage even has a "new website coming soon" notice. Are they nuts?!! Found this on Scott... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 10:40:19 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/guessthegoogle.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 10:40:19 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/guessthegoogle.shtml
Start Your Own Affiliate Program With Paypal Or Stormpay - FREE
Here's a new FREE marketplace to sell ANY product you want... your own stuff, or become an affiliate for any item in the marketplace. You can even start your own affiliate program for FREE! Sorta like ClickBank, only you're able... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 9:07:18 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/start_your_own_affiliate_program_with_paypal_or_stormpay_free.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 9:07:18 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/start_your_own_affiliate_program_with_paypal_or_stormpay_free.shtml
10 Steps to Successful Website Checklist
I was looking through my archives of old homepages and was amazed at just how much my design has morphed since 1996... it seems like just yesterday when I got online for the first time and designed my very first... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 8:24:17 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/10_steps_to_successful_website_checklist.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/25/2005 8:24:17 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/10_steps_to_successful_website_checklist.shtml
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
PDC Keynote Speakers Announced
Bill Gates will be opening this year's PDC 2005 in Los Angeles on September 13th. I will be attending PDC this year. This is my first ever PDC and I'm beyond excited for this. I've wanted to go to one of these conventions for the longest time. I can't wait! more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 9:45:35 PMContent source: http://www.longhornblogs.com/bleblanc/archive/2005/08/01/14323.aspx
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 9:45:35 PMContent source: http://www.longhornblogs.com/bleblanc/archive/2005/08/01/14323.aspx
The Most Accurate Search Result...
Just checked my server logs and noticed a couple of visits from Google via search term "my kid is cutest"... Now that I've got a screenshot of our #1 position on Google, this is no longer just a mother's opinion...... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 4:16:51 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/the_most_accurate_search_result.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 4:16:51 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/the_most_accurate_search_result.shtml
Free Blog Traffic
Got a blog? Want more eyeballs on your posts? Here are some FREE blog/RSS directories & traffic exchanges to get you on the road to blogger fame: Targeted blog exchange programs These programs allow you to earn credits (1 credit... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 2:12:41 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/free_blog_traffic.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 2:12:41 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/free_blog_traffic.shtml
Free Google Sitemap Generators
I just finished creating my first (test) Google Sitemap. It's interesting that although Google released their sitemaps on June 2nd, I've already found a variety of free scripts and software to generate these files. Wait! What's a Google Sitemap? With... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 12:19:39 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/free_google_sitemap_generators.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 12:19:39 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/free_google_sitemap_generators.shtml
Eliminating Trackback Ping Spam
I've noticed I haven't received ANY trackback spam notices in the past week! All thanks to Brad Choate & Tobias Hoellrich's FREE SpamLookup plugin... quick & easy install, and most importantly, this bad boy works!... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 10:59:37 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/eliminating_trackback_ping_spam.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/24/2005 10:59:37 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/eliminating_trackback_ping_spam.shtml
Monday, August 22, 2005
Google AdSense In My Feed!
YAY ME! The "Google AdSense for Feeds" code in the Marketing Chick Diary feed is finally showing up... lookie: I checked it out using FeedDemon, NewsGator, and Bloglines -- all seem a-ok! The ads are not intrusive at all, and... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 4:03:13 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/google_adsense_in_my_feed.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 4:03:13 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/google_adsense_in_my_feed.shtml
Inserting AdSense After First MT Blog Entry
A-ha! I've visited a few blogs with AdSense appearing after the first post only, and have been meaning to find out how this was done! Thanks to Jason of GoldBlogger.com, I now join the ranks of the way cool AdSense-After-My-First-Post... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 2:17:05 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/inserting_adsense_after_first_mt_blog_entry.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 2:17:05 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/inserting_adsense_after_first_mt_blog_entry.shtml
It Ain't All About The *Words* In Your Headline
Marketing Genius, Dan Kennedy, very briefly mentioned in one installment of his "No B.S. Marketing Letter" that one small omission in the headline increased comprehension by 10%! Check out the following headlines and tell me which one you think proved... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 12:18:04 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/it_aint_all_about_the_words_in_your_headline.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 12:18:04 PMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/it_aint_all_about_the_words_in_your_headline.shtml
4th Year In The Wild Side
Happy 4th Birthday, Little Munchkin Monster! I remember going ABSOLUTELY NUTS when you first flashed that gorgeous smile at me - and only me... farted and cheered about it... rolled to your side... and off the bed... licked my... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 11:44:03 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/4th_year_in_the_wild_side.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 11:44:03 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/4th_year_in_the_wild_side.shtml
Goodbye Corey...
Corey Nicholas Rudl 1970- 2005 Rest In Peace... We'll Miss You Dearly. Condolences to his new bride, family, and friends. NBC 4 News: Two Killed In Crash At California Speedway... more...
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 10:26:02 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/goodbye_corey.shtml
http://www.sebura.com
Originally Posted on 8/22/2005 10:26:02 AMContent source: http://blog.marketingchick.com/goodbye_corey.shtml
