| It's been a long day at work and you're in no mood to | | | | |
| cook dinner or go out. Time to count on the reliable | | | | Spam filters are preventing readers from getting |
| pizza delivery guy. The order is called in and he | | | | newsletters or they get lost in the spam pool. Offering |
| promptly arrives with smokin' hot pizza within 30 | | | | a feed for the newsletter is a compromise. Readers |
| minutes as promised. If it were only that easy with a | | | | can get the content, only instead of it coming to the |
| picky family where no one can agree on the same | | | | emailbox, it comes through the aggregator. It's a way |
| restaurant for dinner. One wants Mexican, another | | | | around spam. Like everything else, it has its |
| wants Chinese, and another wants a burger and | | | | advantages and disadvantages: |
| Mexican. Instead of running to three different places, | | | | |
| you call a delivery service that goes to all of them and | | | | Advantages: |
| brings it to you. What could be easier in getting a meal | | | | |
| without cooking it or fetching it? | | | | |
| | | | |
| RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom are the food delivery guy | | | | Filters can't stop the newsletter from reaching its |
| of the Internet. The content they deliver is mixed and | | | | destination. |
| cooked elsewhere on the Internet just like the meal | | | | |
| isn't made on your door step and the acronym fellows | | | | The recipient will get it - if the server is down, it'll |
| bring the content to you via software or an online | | | | download next time and email can get lost. |
| application. Instead of trying to remember all the places | | | | |
| where you like to go to get the latest news, it all | | | | The feed can be syndicated providing more exposure |
| comes to you once you order your food. | | | | for your content. |
| | | | |
| Click on any of those orange or blue RSS, XML, or | | | | |
| RDF buttons and you see unreadable text. Some of it | | | | |
| is readable, but reading between the is slow and | | | | Disadvantages: |
| difficult. In this case, you've got the raw ingredients of | | | | |
| the content known as a feed. To make it easily | | | | |
| readable, download a feed reader that can interpret | | | | |
| (aggregate) the ingredients or sign up for an online | | | | Rely on readers to open aggregators like they open |
| service that can do the same. | | | | email client, but some aggregators are built-in with an |
| | | | email client like NewsGator and there are online |
| When the software or application is ready to go, click | | | | aggregators like Bloglines, which can be your home |
| on the orange or blue button (or "Syndicate This Page," | | | | page. |
| or whatever is along these lines) and copy the resulting | | | | |
| URL from the address box. Paste it into the application | | | | Metrics won't be as complete, but it's still there through |
| to cook the ingredients where it's delivered to you | | | | the links. |
| ready for your enjoyment. | | | | |
| | | | Not as pretty as HTML-based newsletters. |
| Syndication is a not a new concept on the Internet, but | | | | |
| it's growing in popularity as more Web sites and | | | | |
| newsletters are churning content to turn it into | | | | |
| syndicated files, which are fed into an aggregator. | | | | If the feed is automatically created, what have you |
| Think of it as the content that's ready to travel | | | | got to lose? You're providing another way for your |
| anywhere it needs to go. Grab the feed and feed it to | | | | readers to get your content just like you can get pizza |
| the aggregator, another way of bookmarking (or | | | | in different ways: go to the restaurant, have it |
| creating a favorite) a site because you wish to come | | | | delivered, or make it at home. More applications are |
| back again another time. But how often did you go | | | | adding syndication capabilities, which make the process |
| back to the site through your bookmarks / favorites? | | | | effortless. Some have said they won't read something |
| | | | unless it has a feed. |
| Instead of schlepping from site to site in search of | | | | |
| information, I have it all in front of me via the | | | | Syndication works better than bookmarks. With |
| aggregator. The feeds are sorted in folders by topic | | | | bookmarks, you click on a site that might have the |
| for easy finding. If I'm writing about the latest virus or | | | | security information and arrive there to find it doesn't. |
| worm, then I open the security folder with the | | | | So, back to the bookmarks to click on another site. |
| security-related feeds and scan them. Scanning | | | | Lather, rinse, repeat. With aggregators, there is no |
| content through aggregators is easier than on a Web | | | | jumping from site to site. Scan the headlines right there |
| site because it's in one folder with headlines and | | | | until you find what you need. |
| maybe a short summary. On a Web site, you're only | | | | |
| getting the benefit of that site's news and no where | | | | There was a time when we didn't have the option to |
| else. The folder has news from over ten resources | | | | have pizza delivered to our doorstep. When we're too |
| including blogs, news sites, and newsletters. | | | | tired, we know we can rely on the delivery guy. In term |
| | | | of content, expect to see it show up at your doorstep |
| Any content can be syndicated. It's a matter of having | | | | more often than the pizza guy plus it's cheaper with |
| the backend process in place, which is dependent on | | | | the cost only coming from the software though there |
| the application used for managing the content. If a site | | | | are many free options available. Syndication is here to |
| doesn't have such resources, then there is software | | | | stay and should be added to a company's |
| for entering content to create a file with the feed for | | | | communication toolbox rather than as a replacement. |
| posting on the site. | | | | Witness it by watching for RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom |
| | | | out there. Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind |
| Most aggregators have exporting capabilities so the | | | | meryl.net who increases conversion rates by writing |
| feed can be shared with others interested in the same | | | | and editing content so organization can focus on their |
| topic. If you're interested in my security feeds, I can | | | | core business. She is the editor-in-chief of the |
| export them into, in most cases, an OPML file and you | | | | eNewsletter Journal and Shavlik's The Remediator |
| can import it into your aggregator. | | | | Security Digest. |