Comments on: The Blogs Have It http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/ Operating systems. Broadband. Issues. Reviews ... tech info you can use. Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:14:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Flick http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-178 Flick Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:57:18 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-178 Regarding the full vs abbreviated text feeds, why not set up both? Full feeds would contain ads, partial would just be the summary with a link to the full post online. Satisfies both people... Regarding the full vs abbreviated text feeds, why not set up both? Full feeds would contain ads, partial would just be the summary with a link to the full post online. Satisfies both people…

]]> By: synjun http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-174 synjun Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:40:21 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-174 Scott congrat's on the promo!! I've read your new's letter and followed your article's from the beginning. WoW!! Will you run for President!! Scott congrat’s on the promo!! I’ve read your new’s letter and followed your article’s from the beginning. WoW!! Will you run for President!!

]]> By: Scot http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-150 Scot Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:38:02 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-150 To be honest, the overwhelming response from people about RSS feeds is that they want the full text of the stories in the feed. Given how long my posts tend to go and also the fact that I am always connected to the Internet, I too would probably prefer that the posts were abbreviated. But it appears that this is a strong religious issues with many SFNL readers. One thing I will say is that from a business perspective -- and you'll recall that in my day job, my expertise is online and print publishing -- RSS is either going to need to large ads in the feeds or it's going to have to drive traffic to the sites it serves. It's going to be one or the other. Don't expect the in between of full-text in the feed without ads to be a long sustaining thing. There really isn't any such thing as a free lunch. Scot's Newsletter is free, yes. But one day I'll probably decide to sign up with Feedburner and then there'll be ads in my feeds. It's the way of things. -- Scot To be honest, the overwhelming response from people about RSS feeds is that they want the full text of the stories in the feed. Given how long my posts tend to go and also the fact that I am always connected to the Internet, I too would probably prefer that the posts were abbreviated. But it appears that this is a strong religious issues with many SFNL readers.

One thing I will say is that from a business perspective — and you’ll recall that in my day job, my expertise is online and print publishing — RSS is either going to need to large ads in the feeds or it’s going to have to drive traffic to the sites it serves. It’s going to be one or the other. Don’t expect the in between of full-text in the feed without ads to be a long sustaining thing. There really isn’t any such thing as a free lunch.

Scot’s Newsletter is free, yes. But one day I’ll probably decide to sign up with Feedburner and then there’ll be ads in my feeds. It’s the way of things.

– Scot

]]> By: Miniature Giant Space Hamster http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-121 Miniature Giant Space Hamster Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:11:33 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-121 Since you asked...my preference is to have the Feed show only abbreviated text. Reason is I use my RSS Reader (Sage) mostly just for scanning the articles. Those that look interesting enough for a full read I prefer to do so on the web page, where the text is usually nicer and more readable and where I can also view the comments thread. The current setting requires much more scrolling through what would otherwise be a quick scan down the page, middle-clicking the interesting ones along the way. Since you asked…my preference is to have the Feed show only abbreviated text. Reason is I use my RSS Reader (Sage) mostly just for scanning the articles. Those that look interesting enough for a full read I prefer to do so on the web page, where the text is usually nicer and more readable and where I can also view the comments thread. The current setting requires much more scrolling through what would otherwise be a quick scan down the page, middle-clicking the interesting ones along the way.

]]> By: ncboxer http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-111 ncboxer Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:35:03 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-111 Thanks Scot. Been reading for years since WinMag. I get almost all my news nowadays from blogs and RSS feeds (I prefer netvibes.com) so this is a great progression. Doesn't matter to me whether they are full posts or not on the RSS feed- when a new post is made, my reader shows it to me in bold and I just come to the site anyway. I also like reading the interactions between posts and comments. Thanks again! Thanks Scot. Been reading for years since WinMag. I get almost all my news nowadays from blogs and RSS feeds (I prefer netvibes.com) so this is a great progression. Doesn’t matter to me whether they are full posts or not on the RSS feed- when a new post is made, my reader shows it to me in bold and I just come to the site anyway. I also like reading the interactions between posts and comments.

Thanks again!

]]> By: Scot http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-99 Scot Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:11:15 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-99 Yup, thanks Mike. I actually found this about two weeks ago. Silly place to put it, IMO. But right you are. Yup, thanks Mike. I actually found this about two weeks ago. Silly place to put it, IMO. But right you are.

]]> By: mtaylor924 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-95 mtaylor924 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:55:35 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-95 Hi Scot, You said above you prefer the raw editor mode instead of WYSIWYG - there is a way to change that in Wordpress. In your administration panel, go to Users > Your Profile, and uncheck "Use the visual editor when writing". This should provide the raw mode as default editing mode on posts and pages. I'm not a Wordpress expert by any means, but I've dabbled enough to potentially be useful. Let me know if you want any help with design or layout. Mike Hi Scot,

You said above you prefer the raw editor mode instead of WYSIWYG - there is a way to change that in Wordpress. In your administration panel, go to Users > Your Profile, and uncheck “Use the visual editor when writing”. This should provide the raw mode as default editing mode on posts and pages.

I’m not a Wordpress expert by any means, but I’ve dabbled enough to potentially be useful. Let me know if you want any help with design or layout.

Mike

]]> By: Scot http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-68 Scot Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:12:29 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-68 Thanks for the recommendation. I've heard good things about Live Writer too from several people, in fact. Unfortunately, it requires Windows, and while I certainly have that at my fingertips, I prefer multi-platform products. Most of the time I am on the Mac, truth be told. -- Scot Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve heard good things about Live Writer too from several people, in fact. Unfortunately, it requires Windows, and while I certainly have that at my fingertips, I prefer multi-platform products. Most of the time I am on the Mac, truth be told.

– Scot

]]> By: Referman http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-54 Referman Thu, 01 Nov 2007 02:39:42 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-54 Scott you may want to try Live Writer from MS I've been using for awhile and it works pretty good and has lots of options. http://get.live.com/betas/writer_betas. Scott you may want to try Live Writer from MS I’ve been using for awhile and it works pretty good and has lots of options. http://get.live.com/betas/writer_betas.

]]> By: gwt http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-53 gwt Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:11:00 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-53 As one of the few who preferred the HTML newsletter, I'll just have to live with the change. I know I sound hypocritical for saying this, but I generally don't like blogs because all the feedback banter back & forth between opinionated people, can get to be a real drag at times. I've seen it happen where it detracts away from the content of the newsletter itself, turning into a forum for arguments and bad feelings. I just hope it doesn't get carried away like some others. Thanks. As one of the few who preferred the HTML newsletter, I’ll just have to live with the change.

I know I sound hypocritical for saying this, but I generally don’t like blogs because all the feedback banter back & forth between opinionated people, can get to be a real drag at times. I’ve seen it happen where it detracts away from the content of the newsletter itself, turning into a forum for arguments and bad feelings.

I just hope it doesn’t get carried away like some others. Thanks.

]]> By: Scot http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-46 Scot Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:54:03 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-46 Thanks, Peter. I'm one of those guys who actually prefers the raw mode to WYSIWYG text editors. I agree that the basic TinyMCE editor isn't great. Even more, though, I dislike that it's the default editing mode (with no option to change the default) so I'm repeatedly forced to turn it off in some browsers. To each his own. Thanks, Peter. I’m one of those guys who actually prefers the raw mode to WYSIWYG text editors. I agree that the basic TinyMCE editor isn’t great. Even more, though, I dislike that it’s the default editing mode (with no option to change the default) so I’m repeatedly forced to turn it off in some browsers.

To each his own.

]]> By: pja http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-45 pja Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:22:30 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-45 Scott, First off, thanks for the effort you put into this site. I certainly find it very useful. Secondly, as a fellow WordPress user (see www.nsw.u3anet.org.au and related sites) I commend your move to a blog. Have you tried WysywygPro (http://www.wysiwygpro.com/) to edit your content, I find it very good, worth the purchase price over other free editors. Keep up the good work. Regards, Peter Scott,

First off, thanks for the effort you put into this site. I certainly find it very useful.

Secondly, as a fellow WordPress user (see http://www.nsw.u3anet.org.au and related sites) I commend your move to a blog. Have you tried WysywygPro (http://www.wysiwygpro.com/) to edit your content, I find it very good, worth the purchase price over other free editors.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,
Peter

]]> By: Scot http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-41 Scot Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:15:23 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-41 Hi, Eric. The blog software configures the RSS feed entirely, with no config options. I would have to put the date in the stories on the site to do what you ask. Since, on the site, they have the date, I don't think I'm going to do that. But I'll look into why there's no date in the RSS feed. I agree it should have that. Hi, Eric. The blog software configures the RSS feed entirely, with no config options. I would have to put the date in the stories on the site to do what you ask. Since, on the site, they have the date, I don’t think I’m going to do that. But I’ll look into why there’s no date in the RSS feed. I agree it should have that.

]]> By: eric.collins@shaw.ca http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-39 eric.collins@shaw.ca Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:14:34 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-39 I like the idea of RSS full text as RSS is how I keep up. Having older articles shortened is also good. The only nit I have is to post the date in the title so one can know when the latest article was posted. I like the idea of RSS full text as RSS is how I keep up. Having older articles shortened is also good. The only nit I have is to post the date in the title so one can know when the latest article was posted.

]]> By: Scot http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-38 Scot Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:23:33 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2007/10/07/the-blogs-have-it/#comment-38 About the RSS feed being full text: the feed hasn't been optimized at all and there may be changes to come. My thinking about this may surprise you a little. My intention is to leave each "issue" of the newsletter full text both in the feed and on the main blog page until the "next issue" arrives. At that time, the stories from last month will be shortened with a "read more..." and the new stories will be shown in full. I'd be interested in what people think of that. About the RSS feed being full text: the feed hasn’t been optimized at all and there may be changes to come.

My thinking about this may surprise you a little. My intention is to leave each “issue” of the newsletter full text both in the feed and on the main blog page until the “next issue” arrives. At that time, the stories from last month will be shortened with a “read more…” and the new stories will be shown in full.

I’d be interested in what people think of that.

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