Suggestions for Blogs, RSS
Walter Nelson (
RSS: the “I don’t get it” factor
- very few customers understand RSS
- You have to meet your customers where they are…
- …Not where you want them to be
Simplifying RSS
- Embed RSS into web pages
- People “get” web pages
- Use RSS without downloading
- Still have it as a feed for “power users”
The Tools
- Blog: Moveable Type
- RSS Parser: Feed2JS
- There are others on the market but I won’t be talking about them
Moveable Type – Set Up
- Installation is the hard part, but you only have to do it once
- Installed on your server (not hosted)
- Use “canned formats” or skilled web person can customize it (HTML & CSS)
- Can be formatted to look like your website
- It can be formatted to BE your website
Movable Type – Features
- Once installed, it is very easy to use
- Administrators approve authors
- Authors add content with web interface – no special software or skills required
- Generates static, text based HTML pages (good for search engines)
- Automatically generates RSS feed
Think Outside the Blog!
- The Blog is a technology with many useful features
- It is a database publishing tool which sorts chronologically and by catelgory
- You don’t have to use a Blog for “Blogging”
- Corporate announcements, event calendar, image database, online newspaper etc. etc. etc
Feed2JS
- the second piece of the puzzle
- Freeware from
- You can use their sites or install it on your server
- Generates JavaScript which you can paste into your web page
- Displays RSS feed as a bulleted list of links on a web page
Hosted vs. Installed
- You can use the Feed2JS sites at no charge and without any special preparation
- It’s REALLY easy to do
- Pitfall: your page will only load as fast as the distant server delivers content
- Moral: Install Feed2JS on your server if at all possible
Use for:
Newsletters
Announcements
Link Lists
No comments:
Post a Comment