Comments on: Another Goodie: Latest Recommended Links http://www.contentious.com/2005/03/30/another-goodie-latest-recommended-links/ Amy Gahran's news and musings on how we communicate in the online age. Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:28:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Alan Levine http://www.contentious.com/2005/03/30/another-goodie-latest-recommended-links/comment-page-1/#comment-15474 Alan Levine Thu, 31 Mar 2005 03:59:13 +0000 #comment-15474 <shamless plug%gt; There are more than a handful of wasy to incorporate RSS feeds into web content- I rolled one out 2 years ago now known as <a href="http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/">Feed2JS</a> for the very reason that Amy cites- mere mortal humans do not have the programming skills to create code that can parse and display XML. Feed2JS is open source, uses the open source Magpie RSS library, and we provide it as a <a href="http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/index.php?s=download">package</a> you can run on your own server (if it supports PHP), and we have <a href="http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/index.php?s=php">a PHP include file</a> that allows you to easily use the same code library to add feeds via a simple include, avoiding the JavaScript. Ours is one of the few that provides a NOSCRIPT alternative that provides the feed as a link for the JavaScript-less users. Magpie provides caching of feeds so you can be sure you are not pounding the source sites, and FeedJS provides an option for UTF-8 encoding for wider language supports. Our output is fully set in CSS classes so site owners can <a href="http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/index.php?s=style">customize the display</a> by declaring their own styles (and we have a cheap knock-off of the CSS Zen Garden where folks send us new style sheets). But at the simplest level, we have 24,000+ visits a day bouncing off the script on our site, where displaying feeds becomes a matter of cut and paste. </shamless plug%gt; <shamless plug%gt;
There are more than a handful of wasy to incorporate RSS feeds into web content- I rolled one out 2 years ago now known as Feed2JS for the very reason that Amy cites- mere mortal humans do not have the programming skills to create code that can parse and display XML.

Feed2JS is open source, uses the open source Magpie RSS library, and we provide it as a package you can run on your own server (if it supports PHP), and we have a PHP include file that allows you to easily use the same code library to add feeds via a simple include, avoiding the JavaScript. Ours is one of the few that provides a NOSCRIPT alternative that provides the feed as a link for the JavaScript-less users. Magpie provides caching of feeds so you can be sure you are not pounding the source sites, and FeedJS provides an option for UTF-8 encoding for wider language supports.

Our output is fully set in CSS classes so site owners can customize the display by declaring their own styles (and we have a cheap knock-off of the CSS Zen Garden where folks send us new style sheets).

But at the simplest level, we have 24,000+ visits a day bouncing off the script on our site, where displaying feeds becomes a matter of cut and paste.
</shamless plug%gt;

]]> By: Amy Gahran http://www.contentious.com/2005/03/30/another-goodie-latest-recommended-links/comment-page-1/#comment-15472 Amy Gahran Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:32:03 +0000 #comment-15472 Well, I definitely learn something new every day. The non-Javascript methods Antone and Roger mentioned do appear interesting and functional. Still, for people like me who have limited programming skills, web-based tools like the one I used are simply more user-friendly. User-friendly counts for a lot. People tend to do what's easiest, unless the drawbacks to the easy solution are so significant that they outweigh the benefits (as is the case with Internet Explorer). - Amy Gahran Editor, CONTENTIOUS Well, I definitely learn something new every day.

The non-Javascript methods Antone and Roger mentioned do appear interesting and functional.

Still, for people like me who have limited programming skills, web-based tools like the one I used are simply more user-friendly.

User-friendly counts for a lot. People tend to do what’s easiest, unless the drawbacks to the easy solution are so significant that they outweigh the benefits (as is the case with Internet Explorer).

- Amy Gahran
Editor, CONTENTIOUS

]]> By: Roger Benningfield http://www.contentious.com/2005/03/30/another-goodie-latest-recommended-links/comment-page-1/#comment-15471 Roger Benningfield Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:13:35 +0000 #comment-15471 "However, if you wish to display the content of a feed on your site or blog, Javascript is apparently necessary." Amy: Not at all... in fact, if you're using a blogging tool more sophisticated than Blogger, there's really no reason to use Javascript at all. It's generally pretty easy, too. Here's all it takes to add a feed to a JournURL-powered blog template: [weblog:include url="http://del.icio.us/rss/yourusername" name="delicious" type="rss"] [ul] [weblog:includeitems name="delicious"] [li][a href="[weblog:includeitem name="link" filter="xml"]"][weblog:includeitem name="title"][/a][/li] [/weblog:includeitems] [/ul] (See my blog's sidebar for a whole series of RSS feeds that are displayed in this fashion.) Doing the same thing with WordPress, MT, etc. isn't significantly more complicated. Although in some cases you may need to install a plugin or something. And in the end, you get absolute control over the feed's display, and you're not reliant on an external service to translate the feed for you. “However, if you wish to display the content of a feed on your site or blog, Javascript is apparently necessary.”

Amy: Not at all… in fact, if you’re using a blogging tool more sophisticated than Blogger, there’s really no reason to use Javascript at all.

It’s generally pretty easy, too. Here’s all it takes to add a feed to a JournURL-powered blog template:

[weblog:include url="http://del.icio.us/rss/yourusername" name="delicious" type="rss"]
[ul]
[weblog:includeitems name="delicious"]
[li][a href="[weblog:includeitem name="link" filter="xml"]“][weblog:includeitem name="title"][/a][/li]
[/weblog:includeitems]
[/ul]

(See my blog’s sidebar for a whole series of RSS feeds that are displayed in this fashion.)

Doing the same thing with WordPress, MT, etc. isn’t significantly more complicated. Although in some cases you may need to install a plugin or something.

And in the end, you get absolute control over the feed’s display, and you’re not reliant on an external service to translate the feed for you.

]]> By: Antone Roundy http://www.contentious.com/2005/03/30/another-goodie-latest-recommended-links/comment-page-1/#comment-15470 Antone Roundy Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:14:12 +0000 #comment-15470 JavaScript is the easiest way to display feeds on a website, but it's certainly not the only way. If your site supports PHP (and in the case of a blog, if you can put PHP code into your template and have it executed), then solutions like <a href="http://www.geckotribe.com/rss/carp/">CaRP</a> can do it without requiring JavaScript. Such solutions are generally faster than JavaScript, and make the contents of the feed visible to search engines, in case that is important to you. JavaScript is the easiest way to display feeds on a website, but it’s certainly not the only way. If your site supports PHP (and in the case of a blog, if you can put PHP code into your template and have it executed), then solutions like CaRP can do it without requiring JavaScript. Such solutions are generally faster than JavaScript, and make the contents of the feed visible to search engines, in case that is important to you.

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