MiceAge RSS Feed

[Club 33]

I thought it would be a cool idea to have an RSS Feed for MiceAge. And so, I made one. Please keep in mind that this is updated manually by me, and therefore there will be a little lag time after an article is published before you get it in your aggregator. Otherwise, though, this should be cool. You can find it here:

http://www.carouselofmagic.com/miceage.rss

And in case you didn't know, MiceChat also has its own RSS feed:

The feeds are currently provided in two formats, RSS and RSS v2. The differences are as follows:

• RSS 0.91 - This feed is based on a standard written by netscape and provides a link and the title of the thread.
  http://www.micechat.com/external.php?type=rss
• RSS 2.0 - This feed contains title, author, date and the contents of the first post of the thread.
  http://www.micechat.com/external.php?type=rss2

To add this to MyYahoo click here.

The forums to which this applies can also be limited to specific guest viewable forums by adding another paramater to the URL containing the forumids as follows:
http://www.micechat.com/external.php?type=rss2&forumids=123

If you would like the content to be generated for multiple forums you can seperate the forumids by commas.

And in case you dont know what an RSS Feed is, here's an explanation:

RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication. It is what it claims to be: a quick and easy way to create and use "syndicated content" such as news headlines and announcements. Some websites (like this one) use RSS to deliver articles and article previews to readers who are simply too busy to browse to our site and dig up the content they are interested in. Other sites use RSS to alert customers of new products or upcoming events.

Step 1: Get a Reader!

The easiest way to experience RSS is through an RSS "newsreader" or "aggregator" for your desktop computer. This will fetch and organize recent content and provide simple ways to read it. Below is a list of free and recommended RSS clients for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux platforms. Choose and install the one that sounds like the best fit for you, and proceed to the next step.

• BlogExpress for Windows 98 or later.
  Newbies don't need to look any further than this. Providing a familiar, usable interface and high-usability; BlogExpress stands out as an invaluable tool for those getting started with RSS.
• SharpReader for Windows 98 or later.
  SharpReader is a clean and simple RSS reader for Windows. While it doesn't provide the myriad of features found in bigger, more expensive clients; it does the job and does it well.
• FeedReader for Windows 98 or later.
  Power-hungry techies will find this open source aggregator more to their liking. With more advanced features and options, it will keep geeks satisfied while giving more growth-room for newbies.
• NetNewsWire Lite for Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) or later.
  While not as powerful as its big brother, this is the cleanest and most elegant RSS reader for the Mac platform. A strong sense of usability and sophistication are sure to satisfy the most devoted Mac users.
• Lifera for Linux with Gnome 2.
  While not for the beginners, Lifera is so far the best (if not only) RSS reader on Linux with a usable interface and sophisticated aggregation features. Lifera is sure to please the Linux community with its simple, clean, and effective interface and features.
• BlogLines for anyone with a web browser.
  BlogLines is perfect for anyone who can't install one of the above clients or needs feeds on the go. A simple, clean web interface lets you manage and read feeds from any web-capable device. The perfect solution for computer-hoppers or those unable to install an aggregator for whatever reasons.

Step 2: Grab the feeds!

On the main page of this site you will see a two links to our RSS feeds. There are feeds for all the news articles on this site as well as feeds for all of our columns. Choose the one you'd like to use and copy and paste the link into the appropriate section of your RSS reader. On most browsers you can right-click the link and select "copy shortcut" or "copy target address" or something similar. And again, some RSS readers will "auto discover" the RSS feeds on sites you browse, so no cutting and pasting is necessary! Please consult the documentation for your RSS reader for more information.

FireFox and Thunderbird also have built in RSS readers.


Enjoy!

[Club 33]

Say BTW iis anybody actually using this? If so it's be nice to know, becuase its not worth my time if nobody is using it.

[figment1986]

I'm using it... not bad... say are you east cost or west cost.. need to know how fast it will be updated.. :lol: J/K

[Monorail Man]

FYI: There is a built in RSS feeder on the boards, and if you subscribe to the Al/Kevin/Ian/Sue parts of the board, then you'll get live updats of new articles.

[figment1986]

We know... he stated that in his first post.. check the quotes...

[Club 33]

FYI: There is a built in RSS feeder on the boards, and if you subscribe to the Al/Kevin/Ian/Sue parts of the board, then you'll get live updats of new articles.

Yeah, but that would be too easy. Besides, this way you can read the aricles straight from your agreggator.

Say, what's happening with that countdown thing anyway?

[Club 33]

I'm using it... not bad... say are you east cost or west cost.. need to know how fast it will be updated.. :lol: J/K

WC. It will be updated five minutes after you have to go to work.

[figment1986]

you sure... i goto schol at 8:00 a.m. est...

I do however view this on a linux computer at school around 11:00a.m.

[Club 33]

you sure... i goto schol at 8:00 a.m. est...

I do however view this on a linux computer at school around 11:00a.m.

Yes yes, well, I will try to get it updated as quickly as I can. Al usually posts the latest articles at around 7, which is usually when I wake up.

[Club 33]

That's PST, by the way. Essentially you'll get them as close to when they are posted as possible.

[Club 33]

Ok, Kevin Yee's new MiceAge article has been updated on the RSS feed. You should see it in your aggregators now.

[Club 33]

MiceAge RSS Feed Flashback

I had an idea for the RSS Feed, tell me what you think:

One a week, say Saturday perhaps, delivered to the RSS feed would be a flasback of an older article, one that is no longer available on MiceAge.


What do you think?

[BigDaddyKyle]

I think thats a good idea Club 33. I would really like to read some of the older articles from before I was Disney addicted!

[Club 33]

Alright, perhaps I'll do it this weekend then, and see how it works. I've been keeping an archive of MiceAge articles since last November, so I've got some good stuff.

[mamabot]

You do know that the columns on MiceAge are copyrighted? I believe it is the writers to decide on how what they have written is to be disseminated.

[Club 33]

Well yes, that is why I'm asking first. I had a feelling there might be something like that, so I figured if there were, someone would mention it. Yes, that's what I thought. Oh well.

[mamabot]

You need to get permission from Al Lutz and Kevin Yee, et al. before using the articles.

Also, I believe that Al and Kevin have a plan to release an article archive at some point. It is their choice to do so, not yours.

[Club 33]

Well, I'll work that out with him perhaps then. The RSS Feed however doesn't infringe, I'm not distributing or copying or moving the articles in anyway, the RSS feed just links directly to MiceAge. As soon as he removes them from the site, their gone. Al it really does is tell you when there's a new article and link to it.

[Club 33]

You need to get permission from Al Lutz and Kevin Yee, et al. before using the articles.

Also, I believe that Al and Kevin have a plan to release an article archive at some point. It is their choice to do so, not yours.

Yes yes, I agree. I cant wait to purchase such an archive. It's their articles, that I know.

[KevinYee]

First off, we're very flattered you like the content enough to go this extra distance. That said, however....

As far as I know, RSS feeds that are built without the explicit request or permission of the web site owner are legally in a gray area, as yet untested in courts. I suspect that cobbling together RSS feeds from a web site that does not explicity offer an RSS feed is a violation of some right or privacy, and will ultimately be deemed as such by the courts.

Indeed, MiceAge has looked at RSS feeds in the past. For the moment, we've elected not to include them. Until we change that policy, we ask that you respect the decisions we've made about how long content stays online and when it's available, or indeed how we present the content. The short answer is that MiceAge looks the way it does (and works the way it does) because we want it to look and work that way.