Hi folks.

One of the nice things about having written your own discussion community is that you can adapt it in whichever way. Which is to say that when a new and exciting bit of web-technology comes along, it is possible to adapt, rather than replace, the existing forum model.

Anyway, one of the latest web trends is the use of RSS feeds. If anyone doesn't know what these are, here's a little definition of my own:

RSS Feed: A special kind of information file which allows a new style of browsing. Suitable browsers/stand-alone applications then 'aggregate' any number of feeds to provide a custom 'news' update as those updates occur. This way, instead of having to pop in to a site on a regular basis to check for new posts, anything new is 'delivered' to your RSS Browser.

Is this a thing that you think you might be interested in? If there's enough interest, let me know and I'll get to work on it...

If you're still in the dark about RSS, try doing a web search on "RSS" and you should find better definitions than mine.

John

I'd certainly be interested in using them as it'd save me popping onto the website to check for new messages. I currently use RSS to check for news from a few websites.

However, from what I understand they're one way only (please correct me if I'm wrong). Therefore you'd still have to visit the website to reply.

Yes, Darryl, you're correct: feeds would be informational, rather than interactive, but at least would provide the necessary 'update' to let you know what's new on this site.

The difficulty (for me) is determining how we can aggregate a 'correct' feed of authorised topics - as we have different levels of forum access and hidden forums and all sorts going on.

So, once again, I may have to dust down the creative hat and don it and have a good think about how this might all fit together.

Cheers,

John

The obvious thing to do is create a feed for each forum, as that'll allow people to select which they'd like to recieve. It also allows each aggregator to show which topics are new by forum.

However, I assume that's a little more work for you?

John,
I think RSS feeds if enough subscribers want them would be great. I try to check everyday, but don't always succeed. I would welcome this, but would caution that you must get enough critical mass of subscribers or it is a bunch of work for little tangible return.

Colin