I've tried setting up RSS feeds many times and have never had any luc getting them to work right.

And do you mean on the reading side or the publishing side?

Both, I even tried setting it up on my BBS one time to allow an RSS feed of the message bases. For some reason the message bases kept getting scrambled. And before you ask, the RSS option was built into the BBS server.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
* Origin: Legends of Yesteryear (furmenservices.net:23322) (21:4/102)

Geri Atricks wrote to Adept <=-

Both, I even tried setting it up on my BBS one time to allow an RSS
feed of the message bases. For some reason the message bases kept
getting scrambled. And before you ask, the RSS option was built into
the BBS server.

At one point, Facebook allowed RSS feeds in their pages. I set up a BBS
page in Facebook and exported the system news message base to Facebook.
It worked well for a while, then Facebook turned the feature off.

Shame, it was a nice way to let people know if the BBS was going to be
down and keep information in sync on the BBS and off.



... Once the search has begun, something will be found
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

At one point, Facebook allowed RSS feeds in their pages. I set up a BBS page in Facebook and exported the system news message base to Facebook.
It worked well for a while, then Facebook turned the feature off.

I read a recent article (from Wired, I think) that talked about the normal progression of a website.

First, they build something users like
Second, they build something businesses like
Third, they build something that maximizes their profit
Fourth, they die.

General idea is the first stage is needed because without users, there is no site.

But once they're in the ecosystem, you can make them _just_ angry enough that there aren't better options that'd cause them to leave.

But you need buy-in from people who sell things / give you money for ads, etc.

So then they prioritize businesses, selling off data about the users, having paid placement, etc.

Once they're in, businesses have to sell through that place or else they won't sell, users have to go to those businesses there, because they're not selling at other places.

So then the company can make things _just_ good enough that people and companies don't leave, but since it's a captive market, they can make it pretty terrible, and extract as much money as possible.

Then eventually it collapses, because, yeah, it's awful.

But the idea works for Facebook, Google, Amazon, dating sites (though there the "prioritized businesses" are probably paying customers), and likely anything else that's gotten big enough.

Shame, it was a nice way to let people know if the BBS was going to be down and keep information in sync on the BBS and off.

...and, yeah, things like this just don't work for Facebook. They probably want you creating all your content in house for them, rather than having an easy way to create it somewhere else and repost to Facebook.

But when they were competing with other sites in that space, more reason to try out features that make life easier for businesses.

Still, nice if we could make RSS work on our own, without getting into those ecosystems. I imagine most of us who like being in the sysop role really would prefer to have full control over our data.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Hello Adept!

Shame, it was a nice way to let people know if the BBS
was going to be down and keep information in sync on the
BBS and off.

[...]

Still, nice if we could make RSS work on our own, without
getting into those ecosystems. I imagine most of us who
like being in the sysop role really would prefer to have
full control over our data.

It would be easy enough to build a BBS status-site using
Wordpress.

[1] WP can be configured to auto-post via email.
[2] Users can simply check the RSS feed for updates.



--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

It would be easy enough to build a BBS status-site using
Wordpress.

[1] WP can be configured to auto-post via email.
[2] Users can simply check the RSS feed for updates.

That seems like a solid idea.

Though seems to depend on people actually using RSS feed readers.

That said, that immediately made me think of the idea of having a website that aggregates BBSs that are posting these things, and creates a table of BBS statuses, that seems like it might be neat.

Though still not sure on actual use case, other than, "someone tries to call a BBS they'd expect to work. It doesn't, so they check the BBS status list."

Regardless, it does seem like there might be something there that doesn't take a _huge_ amount of work to get going.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Hello Adept!

** On Thursday 09.02.23 - 11:58, Adept wrote to Ogg:

It would be easy enough to build a BBS status-site using
Wordpress.

[1] WP can be configured to auto-post via email.
[2] Users can simply check the RSS feed for updates.

That seems like a solid idea.

Though seems to depend on people actually using RSS feed readers.

It's usually a simple solution to get there: <sitename>/rss or <sitename>/feed. Or.. a newer browser would probably need a
plugin like Feedbro or something. Anyway.. the rss result is
direct, fast, efficient and no ads.

That said, that immediately made me think of the idea of
having a website that aggregates BBSs that are posting
these things, and creates a table of BBS statuses, that
seems like it might be neat.

With an appropriate plugin, a site can be built that aggregates
the posts at other sites.

Or.. even a visual matrix of UP (green) or DOWN (red) bbses,
where a visitor can hover over the appropriate status symbol to
get a brief info-bubble. Even a S)earch for a particular bbs
right on that WP site could pull up the latest post.

Initially, I thought why can't FTN itself be used for the DOWN
status annoucements. But with a system down, there is no way to
post onto the network. Duh! So.. email seems to be the best
tool to send SOMETHING so that it posts on a website. It's fast
and simple.

Though still not sure on actual use case, other than,
"someone tries to call a BBS they'd expect to work. It
doesn't, so they check the BBS status list."

That's the very idea. If a sysop needs to announce their bbs
DOWN, one simple email to the WP site generates the post for
anyone interested.

Regardless, it does seem like there might be something
there that doesn't take a _huge_ amount of work to get
going.

The aggregate part might require constant fiddling as more
bbses climb onto the idea. But each BBS/sysop could have their
own minimalist WP site (no user registrations) and just email a
message to that site.




--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)