Sunday, August 31, 2003"Manila-Dev: RFC: Comment notification via email[Jake's Radio 'Blog]Radio-Dev: RFC: comment notification for Radio via email
If you're a Manila or Radio developer, please have a look, and post any comments or questions you have on the corresponding mail list.
Thanks!"
4:57:02 AM
comment [] trackback [] Using a graphic as a link in the Navigator Links
In Radio's discussion forum, Christopher Burton asks how to use a graphic as a link in the Navigator Links. Julie at Sexy Magick offered a Newbie Tip explaining how to add a link to a graphic, which can be used above or below the Navigator Links, but not within them. As far as I know, Radio...
[The Tweezer's Edge 2]
4:49:04 AM
comment [] trackback [] Update to Monthly Archive Macro
Thanks to a tip from Lisa ( distant, early morning ), the Monthly Archives Macro now respects the #renderedFileExtension directive in #prefs.txt. To get the update, download the new version of the macro and follow the directions to install the new version over your old one.
[The Tweezer's Edge 2]
4:47:38 AM
comment [] trackback [] Friday, August 29, 2003For an idea of what you can do with Location-aware weblogging.... for your consideration my geocoded Photo Album and map view.
[Brain Off]
12:32:29 AM
comment [] trackback [] Thursday, August 28, 2003Another excellent geographic hack from Mikel
"This tool enables geotagging of individual weblog postings. Below the post editing box, there are inputs for latitude and longitude. A good site to find lat/lon coords is maporama. The lat/lon coords should be entered in "decimal" form. In the weblog's RSS file, the item will list the latitude and longitude in the "geo" namespace..."
<item>You can add a link to a map of the location, in the #itemTemplate, by using this macro: <%locationlink(<%itemNum%>)>, resulting in
<description>Brighton, UK is a laid back town.</description>
<geo:lat>50.8351</geo:lat>
<geo:lon>-0.1322</geo:lon>
</item>
Download Location.root to your Radio Userland Tools directory, restart Radio, and geo-freak out!
(via Brain Off) [Roland Tanglao's Weblog]
2:01:42 AM comment [] trackback []
Wednesday, August 27, 2003an older post I missed...
Roland Tanglao's Weblog: Friday, May 30, 2003: "[HELP] Want to make Radio Express work with K-CollectorOk -- here's a version which uses the builtin website homepage posting form; which will recognize the necessary callbacks for K-collector, or liveTopics.Now that I have got K-Collector working, I'd like to enable it from RadioExpress. I imagine it's a one line fix or at most a few lines. I'm willing to code it if somebody tells me what line to insert in the RadioExpress file. Anybody?"
Download this. Install in www/system/pages/radioExpress.txt and configure here.
[Brain Off]
5:13:33 AM comment [] trackback []
RSSDistiller
This is one under recognized vital software. Quietly humming under the hood, I rely on it heavily for filling the HTML-XML gap. Working with screen scrapers is always an iffy maintenance proposition, though Paolo explains well the process for the non-initiated.
Engaging sites to create their own RSS feeds is ideal, but I want my RSS now. Would be nice to have a more community oriented, distributed effort, at scraping and maintaining "pre-RSS" feeds. I also heavily rely on the straining NewsIsFree syndicator. Here's the list of my RSSDistiller feeds. No guarantees these will update regularly.
- Burn It Blue Top electronic music site [html]
- this is Brighton & Hove News [html]
- Craigslist SF -- Internet Engineering jobs [html]
- Craigslist SF -- Software Engineering jobs [html]
- Duece of Clubs funny stories about phone booths [html]
- Edge big thinkers [html]
- Flipdog SF software search [html]
- The Memory Hole where did that news go? [html]
- Muxway Joshua Schachter's quick links [html]
- Norra Vasterbotten far North Sweden news [html]
- Rathergood viking kittens updates [html]
- San Francisco Bicycle Coalition [html]
- SF Station local events [html]
- Bruce Sterling [html]
- transportation for a livable city SF urban transport [html]
- Volunteermatch sf volunteer opportunities [html]
- William Gibson [html]
- x-entertainment 80s pop culture [html]
5:12:23 AM
comment [] trackback [] Modifying the aggregator
Steve Kirks asks: "If anyone has seen some previous Radio work with modifying the aggregator, specificially the layout, I'd appreciate hearing about it.
[house of warwick]
Well, how about Mike Maron's nifty MyRadio tool? It does a pretty good job at providing some additional features:
- Custom feed groups in separate page views
- Custom newsViews: i.e. Userland, MyYahoo or activeRenderer view
- ENT 1.0 topics filtering
- Scraping modules for quotes, ebay, weather, fedex & Newseum Today's Front Pages
While it is still in active development and could do with a bit of polish, MyRadio is a mature and effective extension of Radio's basic aggregator feature set. In short, good value!
(UPDATE: I had to repost this (completely - delete and repost) due to an upstreaming glitch - I think I've found a scenario that upsets Radio's upstreaming - first I need to reproduce it, though, before posting about it)
2:47:24 AM comment [] trackback []
Yahoo News RSS feeds
A page with XML coffee mug signup links to the new Yahoo News RSS feeds. If you have Radio UserLand running, just click a mug to subscribe to a feed.
By lawrence@userland.com (Lawrence Lee). [UserLand Product News]
1:35:48 AM comment [] trackback []
Tuesday, August 26, 2003Phil had a nice post tonight about RSSlets from Eightlinks. I remember the Amazon RSS feeds hitting the ether about a month ago. RSSlets by themselves provide point functionality. I disagree with the location of the intelligence -- on a server. RSSlets in a MoveableType world can only be server based. In a Radio world, RSSlets are desktop based. Once you move this type of functionality to the desktop, a whole new world opens up. What is needed is a supervisory engine in Radio that provides a plug-in architecture for RSSlets. The rough structure is there with Tools, but this structure needs to be extended to provide management for RSSlets, a simple interface for creating RSSlets, interfaces that feed the news aggregator, and an engine capable of learning your preferences based on RSS subscriptions, RSSlet return data, and specific user input.
[Dann Sheridan's Weblog]
7:14:14 PM
comment [] trackback [] Embedding RDF in HTML
Radio embeds RDF data in the HTML output of my blog. I recall reading about this in the past. What is the commonly accepted view on this (from the RDF folks)? Good or Bad?
Update: I found this article by Sean Palmer. The answer: It depends. But basically, OK.
[Blogdigger Development Blog]
2:03:31 AM comment [] trackback []
Monday, August 25, 2003More insights and tips from TweezerMan!
...Since I worked out the programming for my monthly archive links macro, I keep seeing little things everywhere that I used to think would never be fixed but now are "not too difficult" or even "easy". In my news aggregator, I am subscribed to my own XML feed so I can see what is going out on...
[The Tweezer's Edge 2]
Good value again!
3:26:54 AM comment [] trackback []
Tracking down Radio problems
Well documented Radio debugging help:
Good value!
3:19:28 AM comment [] trackback []
Sunday, August 24, 2003a rundown of the steps I took to get Radio running on a home server...
-- Remote posting via web browser from anywhere
-- Remote posting using my news aggregator
-- Remote pref/template management
Good value!
4:48:52 AM comment [] trackback []
PyCS RSS comment feed help
Just got a question from Rogers Cadenhead about the PyCS comment RSS feeds. You can get lots of different types of comment feeds. This information is taken from Georg's PyCS RSS comment feed announcement mailing-list post.
The URL for your comment feed looks like this:
http://www.pycs.net/system/comments.py?u=0000001&format=rss&full=1
That gives you a feed for user #1. Change the number after 'full=' to get various different types of data in your feed:
- full=1: a feed with shortened description elements (only the first 40 bytes)
- full=2: a feed with full description elements
- full=3: the same as full=2, but including all comments (the others only include the last 14 days of comments)
So if you want to download all your blog's comments at once, fetch with full=3. Subscribing to that might suck up a fair bit of bandwidth (I'd recommend full=2 for tracking comments in an aggregator), but if you need them all for some reason (changing comment servers?), use full=3.
Comment [Second p0st]
3:46:04 AM comment [] trackback []
Comment Monitor plus Trackback monitor!
Now here's something I've been wanting badly:
The Radio Comment Monitor can now be used to keep track of your trackbacks. Just put http://radiocomments.userland.com/comments$trackback as the comment server, and keep everything else the same, and you should see your trackbacks.
(For new readers, the Comment Monitor gives you an RSS feed of comments made on your Radio weblog. If you have difficulty keeping up with them, go to the Comment Monitor page and enter your comment server and usernum, then click the 'See your comments' button, and the 'Subscribe in Radio' button to subscribe to the new feed). Comment
[via Second p0st] [Dewayne Mikkelson and his Radio WebDog, Shadow]
Good value!
1:12:03 AM comment [] trackback []
Saturday, August 23, 2003Today we released a new feature for Radio, WYSIWYG editing for Mozilla.
The editor works in Mozilla 1.3b or later on all platforms.
By lawrence@userland.com (Lawrence Lee). [UserLand Product News]
4:26:30 AM
comment [] trackback [] Wednesday, August 20, 2003David Phillips has written a new Radio macro that creates links to Radio's monthly archive pages. You can see how the macro works on David's weblog.
By lawrence@userland.com (Lawrence Lee). [UserLand Product News]
10:58:45 PM
comment [] trackback [] How to build a rich, interactive Webtop for Web 2.0
The first step is to do everything that is possible with the existing browser (IE primarily) behind the scenes. What do I mean? A desktop CMS (content management system) with hooks to open Web 2.0 transport networks would provide the ability to recombine data and content custom ways within an existing browser. With that in place, the second step is to build a new presentation layer that goes beyond the constraints of a vanilla Internet Explorer (by putting the CMS in place first, it is easier to leverage the capabilities of the enhanced browser). Here are some ways to do this:
- Hire a development company like Social DynamX to build a custom interface that leverages Internet Explorer to provide a better user experience. See FM Radio for an example of an Web Services powered rich client interface built on IE.
- Build it yourself using a development tool like Zeepe. FYI, they also have an example built on UserLand Radio called Radio Case.
- Trash IE entirely and build a customized version of Mozilla.
- Build a Macromedia Flash MX application that runs inside the browser locally. Here's a server side example. Any local examples? Another method is to build a custom app using Macromedia Central and trash the browser entirely.
2:07:07 PM
comment [] trackback [] Sunday, August 17, 2003I have done it! [Insert trumpet flourish]
After reading this post about how Technorati works, it was suggested that you ping the Technorati RPC server so it knew that you were around. I wanted to this with every post and asked some questions on my weblog in this post.
Well, I spent some time inside Radio and have figured out a solution. I wanted the correct Technorati URL to automatically populate the "URLs to Ping:" box on the desktop website. Here's a short description of how it's done.
[this is all at your own risk. I'm a Radio novice and you probably shouldn't take my advice. Ask Jake first.]
Open the Radio application. Go to the Tools menu and choose Developers...>Jump... Type radio.macros in the dialog box and click OK. You are now looking at a list of Radio's built in macros. Scroll down to near the bottom of the list to find "weblogPostForm". This macro generates the weblog post form (duh!) found on the desktop website home page. Open the macro and look for some text that says "bundle //trackback URLs to Ping box" This is the "bundle" of code that takes the generates the "URLs to Ping:" text box and assigns the contents to a variable when the form is invoked.
Now that we are in the right place, here's where we make a change. Remember, if you screw this up and destroy your copy of Radio without a backup, it's your own fault.
Open the bundle (on a Mac double click the triangle). Open the subheading of the bundle. You should see the first line of code start with "add(". Look for the HTML tag "text area". It's inside this text area of the form box that we will add some text. This will allow it to autopopulate the form each time. Now, inside this tag, look for a formating part that looks like this:
wrap="soft">
Add the Technorati URL (http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping) to the right of the ">" symbol.
Close all of the Radio app windows. Restart Radio, if you like.
Reopen the desktop website home page. Now, when you post articles using the desktop website, the Technorati site will get a ping, along with the trackback URLs.
[house of warwick]
1:07:05 AM comment [] trackback []
Radio, firewalls, and simple solutions
I meant to post this a couple of days ago. Dann, I have felt this pain:
"Oh, The Horror!!. The evil triad: Radio, my old firewall, and my ISP. The past 72 hours have been quite unintentionally Radio free..." [Dann Sheridan's Weblog][house of warwick]
12:33:30 AM
comment [] trackback [] AddedValues Plugin for Manila - successor to the Metadata Plugin
What is the addedValues plugin?
"addedValues is a rewrite of the popular Metadata Plugin for Manila. The goal of the rewrite was to create a robust and extensible version of the Metadata Plugin, while removing some of the limits the architecture of the Metadata Plugin imposed." (via manila-dev list: Manila blogging and CMS system)
[Roland Tanglao's Weblog]
12:31:48 AM comment [] trackback []
Saturday, August 16, 2003Dann Sheridan asks Jake Savin here if a hacking Radio/Manila blog would be appropriate. I'd love to see one myself. [house of warwick]
7:15:31 PM
comment [] trackback [] Friday, August 15, 2003The publisher of the All That Jazz weblog called my attention to a problem with my Radio post index script: It only worked if weblog entries ended with html. I've updated the script to look for the #renderedFileExtension directive, using it to define the file extension when present, so PHP pages and other formats can be supported. [Workbench]
4:09:39 PM
comment [] trackback [] Thursday, August 14, 2003I did a clean install of Radio UserLand last night to correct some nagging database problems I couldn't resolve, such as nightly scheduled tasks that stopped running and flaky retrieval of news aggregator items.
It took about a half hour to update Radio.root completely, register my serial number again, and set my software preferences and theme back up. Afterward, I shut down Radio, copied my old weblogData.root file over the new one in the Data Files folder, then ran the application. Everything was where I expected it to be, but it took all night for Radio to republish several thousand weblog pages and other files.
While I was tinkering with the site, I turned on the trackback feature and wrote PHP scripts that route comment and trackback URLs to the correct URLs on Pycs.Net, the Radio Community Server clone I've been using as an alternative to UserLand's server.
The reason I needed the PHP scripts was because my Radio install has a new user number granted by UserLand, 128729, that replaces one granted by Pycs.Net, 0000001. Since some of Radio's features are organized by user number, such as the most-visited weblogs report, I wanted a user number more likely to be unique. I'm publishing my weblog with FTP to my own server, so I can change user numbers without changing my site's main URL.
The reinstall appears to have solved my problems (and I don't know yet if trackback worked), though I've undoubtedly created a few new ones. [Workbench]
12:50:04 PM comment [] trackback []
Radio UserLand Kick Start
Roger's Book. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, read this and follow the link to Amazon. It's great that we're going to get some help for Radio. I recently bought a copy of Frontier: A Definitive Guide from an Amazon vendor, mainly to have an easy reference. [house of warwick]
12:16:06 PM comment [] trackback []
Illustrated MT templates
Nice dissection of how templates in MT work. Need this for every blog system including Manila and Radio.
"Tackling Movable Type templates and CSS for the first time can be daunting. The MT default templates contain four kinds of code: CSS, HTML, MT tags, and Javascript.
I'm working on a little project to break it apart in an illustrated way. It's not exactly a Movable Type tutorial, but it does point out where divs are and what the tags look like in code and rendered in the browser.
If you click the images above, the first image shows where the div sections of the MT index template begin and end. The second one breaks apart the code for the blog entry and points to each section in a sample entry. The smaller images below show details for calendar, search and side menus"
(via mediatinker.com) [Roland Tanglao's Weblog]
12:07:13 PM comment [] trackback []
Radio UserLand Kick Start on backups
A new chapter of Radio UserLand Kick Start can be previewed on Workbench: Chapter 9, Backing Up Data.
Though the standard disclaimers apply -- this is a pre-publication draft -- I spent a lot of time trying out Radio's backup procedures, sometimes by necessity when an experiment went awry. At this point, I've destroyed and rebuilt my 850-entry, 1,100-page weblog around a dozen times.
[Workbench]
1:28:30 AM comment [] trackback []
Wednesday, August 13, 2003Thomas N. Burg points to info on PNG support in Radio.
[via the inimitable Schockwellenreiter]
3:26:25 PM
comment [] trackback [] Monday, August 11, 2003"If you would like to centralize your Radio CSS you can simple save your Style sheet as "#cascadingStyleSheet.txt" then place it in your "www" folder. Then simply add the <%cascadingStyleSheet%> macro to your template. Your CSS will be included where you included your macro."
This method will work even if you create a theme out of your design.
(via Bryanbell.com) [Dewayne Mikkelson and his Radio WebDog, Shadow]
2:28:48 PM
comment [] trackback [] Wizzy-Mozilla on the way for Radio
I've got WYSIWYG editing working in my copy of Radio running with Mozilla on MacOS X. It should work with Mozilla 1.3 or greater, on all platforms.
I'm using it right now to create this post. (Cool, heh?) Here's a screenshot.
In a lot of ways, it seems more powerful than the editor included with IE 5 and up (Windows only). For example, it's got multi-level Undo/Re-do, and it uses inline styles to do its formatting, instead of the rather ugly HTML that IE produces.
I'm planning on releasing a beta for Radio users later today. (Don't worry -- a Manila version will be close behind, since most of the code is shared.)
Happy. :-)
[Jake's Radio 'Blog]
2:07:09 PM
comment [] trackback [] Export your blog to txt
Andy Fragen contributed a new tool to the Radio -Community, thanks - as always... [thomas n. burg | randgänge]
1:39:23 PM
comment [] trackback [] Sunday, August 10, 2003Steve Kirks was wondering "...if, with the new implementation of Trackback in Radio, the code exists to ping Technorati, too. I started perusing Radio.root and I think I found the right place:
system.verbs.apps.weblogsCom
As for now, people who use the web interface of Radio, just add this:
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
to the "URLs to Ping:" box on the Radio home page..."
Over at the Technorati Developer Wiki there's a HowTo page for most blogging tools, albeit with no method for Radio yet.
But then there's also the problem to consider (as David Sifry sees it) of Radio's"... obnoxious habit of sending pings to www.weblogs.com for each weblog "category" if you use multiple categories on your blog. Same information, same author, just link spam, basically"
3:31:08 PM comment [] trackback []
Saturday, August 09, 2003myRadio "extends the Radio Userland aggregator from rss to any networked data (xml, html, soap, personalized services, etc), and any layout. It is exceedingly simple for developers to add functionality to the framework. The GUI (screenshot) is reminiscent of My Yahoo! and other server based personalization tools." [Lockergnome's RSS Resource]
1:24:55 PM
comment [] trackback [] It's The Outliner, Stupid
Alan Kleymeyer of Social Dynamx (who I am sure is not stupid) commented on my desire for a lite Version of Radio which can be used to manage Manila sites.
"SocialDynamX has cut their teeth on Radio with the release of FM Radio. Everything mentioned in this thread is a goal we have in our current project of bringing a "Manila lite" to market. Though initially we'll probably try to leverage the UI developed for FM Radio, we are open to suggestions and are at an early enough stage for everyone here to contribute to the direction of ManilaEdit (I like that name, crueuss, mind if I use it?). Another benefit of keeping the interfaces similar is that we can support the editing of multiple Radio blogs and Manila sites in one application. Tell us what minimum functionality you would like to see, keeping in mind it is a "lite" version intended to satisify the day-to-day update of a site." - Alan Kleymeyer
I'm concerned that Alan doesn't appreciate the Outliner which makes Radio so powerful. It would not be enough to simply have the ability to remotely manage templates, and stories like this.
Plus to have a Windows only piece of software would be extra disappointing.
I like Radio as is. Radio is already on multiple platforms. Radio's native editing metaphor is the outline. All I want is a version Radio with less menus and function. A simplified Radio purpose built to do only one thing, manage multiple Manila web sites.By me@bryanbell.com (Bryan Bell). [BryanBell.com]
12:40:16 PM
comment [] trackback [] Paolo Takes the Manila Editor to a new level
"...Creating a tool that allows you to edit on any image of your weblog simply by clicking it and having it opened with PhotoShop seconds later would be an easy task for Radio. Same thing for any piece of text (or, in perspective, audio or video).
So this could be my long term wish for UserLand: allow us to manage our weblogs on-line with Manila (doing it server side has some significant advantages), and use the full power of Radio to make integration with local applications a unique experience. I want to write with Word (or BBEdit, or anything different from the browser), edit my images with PhotoShop, organize my pictures with iPhoto, my appintments with iCal, but I don't want to spend my life uploading and downloading files.
PS: if this Radio/Manila integration could be done using some new or extended kind of open API which all developers could use, it could mean changing the world. Once more." [Paolo Valdemarin: Paolo's Weblog] By me@bryanbell.com (Bryan Bell). [BryanBell.com]3:06:40 AM
comment [] trackback [] newMessageCallback undefined fixed by clearing urls list in config.root
Blogging this to find it later should I need it.
I had a similar problem. (it is almost one year later) It first cropped up when attempting to create a New Story. Frontier reported that "newMessageCallback" was undefined. After rebooting we got the "membersRootFile" undefined, or sometimes a different but similar complaint.
It turned out that there was a corrupted list in config.root. It was the "urls" list. Frontier would get an out of memory error while attempting to unpack this list while running mainResponder.init.
I couldn't even double-click on the url list to expand it, I'd get the out of memory error. So I selected the url list, cleared it, & restarted. Frontier made a new url list & we were off & running again
;[Roland Tanglao's Weblog]
2:51:33 AM
comment [] trackback [] Possible reasons why a Frontier database may not open
f string: Frontier:Guest Databases:apps:mainResponder.root
openOnStartup boolean: true
runStartupScript boolean: true
supportsSubscribe boolean: false
Does the ["#startup"] exist in mainResponder.root?
[Roland Tanglao's Weblog]
2:50:07 AM
comment [] trackback [] Orlando Vacationer weblog launched
I'm using Radio UserLand's categories feature to publish a new weblog at a separate domain. Orlando Vacationer is a weblog devoted to "Disney discounts, park perks, and tourist tips" for the Mouse-infested city that I visit with my family around 8-10 times a year. The domain is new and may not have propagated to all parts of the Internet yet, so if it can't be reached, try its category address.I'm going to write an article on Workbench about using Radio to publish a category that looks like an entirely separate weblog. Right now, the biggest issues to resolve are two problems in the RSS file: the title element calls it "Rogers Cadenhead: Orlando Vacationer" and a link element that is using a Workbench URL instead of orlandovacationer.com. [Workbench]
2:34:50 AM
comment [] trackback [] Rendering PHP Files with Radio UserLand
A Workbench visitor asks: How can I use Radio to render .php files instead of .html files when upstreaming?
The file extension is determined by the #renderedFileExtension directive. By default, files are rendered with the .html extension. To set the extension to .php for an entire folder and its subfolders, edit the #prefs.txt file in that folder and add this line:
#renderedFileExtension "php"
Here's an example: the xmas.txt file and the xmas.php page it produces.
To set the extension only for a specific file, add the same line at the top of the file along with any other directives. Leave a blank line after the directives and before the content of the page, but don't put blank lines between each directive. [Workbench]2:32:40 AM
comment [] trackback [] Get rid of auto paragraphs and calendars in Manila Sites in {bodytext}
You can also put a calendar macro commented out in the home page template, which is what I'd recommend. The content will still be there, but it will be ignored.
As for the paragraph tags, the first thing to do is turn off auto paragraphs. [YourManilaSiteTable].#prefs.autoParagraphs = false. That will get most of them. You may also need to search for any place in manila that is adding its own paragraph tags. See above for the maintence issues that this can cause
(via Re: editing {bodytext} macro) [Roland Tanglao's Weblog]
2:15:59 AM
comment [] trackback [] Bryan Bell and Radio Lite
Bryan hit the nail on the head with his post about Radio Lite. I need a Radio that runs smaller and with less processor cycles. NetNewsWire is great for posts, but sometimes I want to tinker with the backend. If I run Radio on my native machine (a TiBook/550 with 768MB of RAM), the processor sits at 50% utilization. After 2 minutes or so, the fan kicks on low. After 5 minutes, it's hard to miss the fan on high speed and the lack of "snap" to the apps. What's going on with Radio versions? When will we have a faster Radio environment? [house of warwick]
In my experience, using Radio under W2K at work and OS X at home, the Windows version is significantly snappier and a whole lot more responsive. This is expecially bitter for us Mac users, since it's roots in Frontier run real deep on the Mac side - notwithstanding the fact that its integration with the system and other apps is more complete on the Mac (ok, a little less so under OS X than OS 9 - but still!)
1:45:36 AM
comment [] trackback [] Thursday, August 07, 2003In response to this post on Paolo's website, here's my list of wishes for Radio (in order of importance):
#1-- Like TypePad, add an easy way for me to list what I'm reading and what I'm listening to--all linked to my Amazon Associate ID--to allow visitors to buy something and I get a commission. If nothing else, the groovy book/album covers are great. See my TypePad test site.
#2--Easy remote hosting/domain hosting. FTP is fine, but I'd like the referrer rankings to work outside of Userland's servers. Include in this feature the ability to run Radio on a computer at home and post easily, just by checking a box. I'm doing it now, but I had to do this.
#3--Alternate servers for comments, chosen from a drop down list on the pref page. Apple provides three time servers for all of it's customers world wide. It would help during times when servers are overloaded.
#4--Auto-generation of aggregator "home page": What is this? Well, you set Radio to subscribe to sources. It generates a *publicly* accessible page on your site so you can view the content.
#5--Aggregator can import OMPL files (like from NNW) to allow easy additions of subscriptions
#6--Theme packs for sale
#7--Theme building functions
Update: Here's another short list. Cristian, I'm with you on HTML. I can do it, but I bought Radio to skip it. [house of warwick]
1:24:06 PM comment [] trackback []
WYSIWYG Editing in Mozilla Comes to Conversant
Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray!
I've been working for some time now on a groupware/collaboration site based on the Macrobyte Conversant platform. Today Macrobyte released their HTMLAREA3 capability.
This is very cool -- cross-platform WYSIWYG editing in Mozilla 1.4 and above. I've never used WYSIWYG because I had to use MSIE to make it work, and because the MSIE implementation was crude. But this is much better. Support for tables, background colors, HTML source toggle -- lots of available features.
I'm looking forward to using this. And my users are going to love it. [b.cognosco]
1:09:51 PM comment [] trackback []
Why I will not sign up for TypePad
TypePad is a wonderful idea whose time has finally come. UserLand started this with the right idea some time ago, but couldn't make a go of it. Now that the rest of the world is ready, Ben and Mena of Six Apart, developer of Movable Type, have rolled out TypePad.
I was ready to purchase the service, but I stopped to take an inventory of my blogging self. I have a server-based weblog product. It has multiple categories, scripting, automation, no recurring fees, supports multiple standards and is frequently updated and fixed.
I'm sticking with Radio, and I'm ready to evaluate Frontier and Manila. I want to create websites, give 'blog space to friends (through Manilla) and have a place to experiment and evangelize RSS and weblogs.
[house of warwick]I'll second that!
12:58:35 PM
comment [] trackback [] Wednesday, August 06, 2003Bryan Bell did it: he reminded the world that Radio can edit Manila sites.
IMHO this is actually much more interesting than editing CSS files in Radio's outliner.
I see Radio as the "web embassy to your desktop". It can talk to the web (via XML-RPC, SOAP, HTTP, FTP, POP, SMTP), but it can also talk to your local applications, because unlike all other web apps, it runs on your desktop.
To edit our own content management system templates we have developed a Radio tool which download the template, converts macros to placeholders and allows you to edit html using any html editor. Once you are done all you have to do is save, the template will be compiled and sent back to the server, along with all its attachment (images, CSS, etc.).
But it can get much more interesting than that: you could edit any kind of content of your weblog using local specialized applications.
Creating a tool that allows you to edit on any image of your weblog simply by clicking it and having it opened with PhotoShop seconds later would be an easy task for Radio. Same thing for any piece of text (or, in perspective, audio or video).
So this could be my long term wish for UserLand: allow us to manage our weblogs on-line with Manila (doing it server side has some significant advantages), and use the full power of Radio to make integration with local applications a unique experience. I want to write with Word (or BBEdit, or anything different from the browser), edit my images with PhotoShop, organize my pictures with iPhoto, my appintments with iCal, but I don't want to spend my life uploading and downloading files.
PS: if this Radio/Manila integration could be done using some new or extended kind of open API which all developers could use, it could mean changing the world. Once more. 
[Paolo Valdemarin: Paolo's Weblog]
11:05:04 AM comment [] trackback []
Writing UserTalk scripts without a handler
UserTalk programming tip (via Brent Simmons): If a script has no parameters, it doesn't need a handler method (a method defined with the on keyword that is executed when the script is called).
When a script lacks a handler, the top-level lines of the script will be executed when the script is called with no parameters. The following two versions of a workspace.displayTime script are functionally identical:
dialog.alert( clock.now() )
}
10:20:45 AM
comment [] trackback [] Tuesday, August 05, 2003(I am independent from UserLand but I use Radio as my publishing platform):
- Wiki publishing (Paolo agrees).
- Photo album creation and publishing.
- Modular templates. This would allow me to select a module from a list (a second blogroll, a subscription list, a photo of the day, IM contact info, etc.), configure its use, select the side of the weblog it will appear on (depending on the template), order the module among the selected modules, and publish it.
9:59:02 PM
comment [] trackback [] Okay, if you don't like to think about porn, avert your eyes...
There's going to be a big for-pay business around sex movies delivered via RSS, using enclosures and Adam Curry's brilliant idea for time-shifted downloads. The algorithm is implemented in Radio, and probably no other aggregator, at this time. Instead of grainy little postage-stamp-size Quicktimes that take forever to download, you'll get full-screen digital movies and no click-wait. There's real money to be made here. [Scripting News] 8:20:15 PM
comment [] trackback [] Trillian 2.0, webEdit & Jabber
I'm using the new Trillian 2.0 beta. So far it seems stable (just like 1.0), not too different - although I love the new tonal sound scheme. What I was really waiting for was the Jabber support. This works seamlessly (even though it's implemented as a plug-in) and has allowed me to develop a new application.
Frontier has a webservice based code editing environment. You can check objects out of the server, edit, then check them back in. Although there is no version control it is a convenient way to edit server code. However one of the issues is working out who is doing what. I thought about a web page, or an RSS feed, but it actually seemed like a nice IM application.
Since Dave, Jake, Lawrence, and Jeremy had already done the work this was as easy as adding a call-back to the Frontier webEdit code that said tcp.im.send( message ) and Voila! Instant notifications about who is working on what code.
[Curiouser and curiouser!]8:10:11 PM
comment [] trackback [] Paolo Valdemarin: What would I like to see next for Radio
.... Dave is asking in a comment. It's a tough question.
I must admit that feature-wise I'm a pretty happy Radio user, it's a good blogging tool and a good development platform, it does what I need and much more.
Anyway, from what I hear supporting my Radio users and from what I hear around, here's what I think that would be interesting to do for Radio.
- Better images support: adding images to posts is a pain, especially for Mac users. Some kind of image tool that would allow to make image posting and management easier or to create nice pictures pages would probably help a lot of users to make their blogs more colorful (everybody has a digital camera today, and Radio is good at managing files, see below).
- WYSIWYG for Mozilla: Mozilla has some rich text editing support, which works both on Macs and PCs. It should not be incredibly hard to implement. Mozilla users are a minority, but with this feature enabled the number might grow for Radio users. Some alternative rich text editor solution (Flash? Java?) could be an alternative. Anyway it would be good to make text editing better and available to a wider audience.
- FOAF Support: FOAF is not wildly supported yet but apparently is gaining ground. A tool to edit my FOAF file and to add contacts to my network with one click would definetly make it more popular. Right now is mostly done by editing horrible rdf files with text editors.
- Leverage on the client side: afaik Radio is the only blogging tool which works client side. This can be a problem for some users (for example if you want to edit your site on the go), but it's a big advantage in many situations, where the integration with the local environment is important. Managing files on a weblog with Radio is just a matter of moving icons in folders, much better than everything else. Any feature that would leverage on this would make sense (i.e. images or files management, as suggested by Cristian).
HTH [Paolo Valdemarin: Paolo's Weblog]
5:36:39 AM comment [] trackback []
Trackback for Radio
Jake reports that Trackback for Radio is now released. [Scripting News]
4:41:32 AM comment [] trackback []
Monday, August 04, 2003...Dave Winer added support for Echo to Radio Userland's aggregator. ... I did the same, but at the other end. My Radio Userland now emits an Echo feed. The RSS feed is now created by transforming the Echo feed, using this XSLT transformation. [Sjoerd Visscher's weblog]
2:33:32 AM
comment [] trackback [] You just have to know where to look
Note to self: If something bugs you in Radio Userland, it is usually very easy to fix. The shortcuts weren't expanded in the RSS feed, so I posted a message on de discussion board. Steve Hooker was a great help, and in the meantime I learnt to fix something else that had even annoyed me more the last few years: activeURLs and autoParagraphs. It turns out that it is enough to add this to #prefs.txt:
#activeURLs false #autoParagraphs false[Sjoerd Visscher's weblog]
2:27:42 AM
comment [] trackback [] Sunday, August 03, 2003"Sputnik" is a proof of concept DLL (which I call "Sputnik" because it is the first step to doing e-commerce transactions using E-xact's software) that allows Frontier applications such as Manila and Radio weblogs to perform e-commerce transactions using E-xact's technology.
Development seems to have stalled on this ... what a pity (like so many promising Frontier/RU projects over the years)
[found via an earlier post on Roland Tanglao's Weblog]12:31:43 AM
comment [] trackback [] Saturday, August 02, 2003After some help from Ben Trott, and some changes to the cloud-side of the TrackBack implementation for Radio, it looks like Lawrence was able to successfully ping my Radio site from his MovableType site, auto-discovery and all.
Check out the TrackBacks for this post. The 6th one is from Lawrence's MovableType test site. [Jake's Radio 'Blog]
5:10:12 AM comment [] trackback []
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