New RSS Feeds with Comments

Pre-script: if you don't know what RSS feeds are or what an aggregator is, you can skip this post or read here for more info about this cool blog-reading stuff)

Script: I am very excited (because it took me a while to figure it out, and it feels like an accomplishment for someone who's never studied or even read about html code) to announce that with the help of several people, I now offer RSS feeds that include comments. If you use an aggregator, please try them out if you like and let me know if there are any problems. They are located on the side bar below the calendar. I'll also post them here:

Full Feed with Comments: http://30seconds.blogs.com/archives/fullposts.rdf
Regular Feed, no Comments: http://30seconds.blogs.com/archives/index.rdf
Comments Only Feed: http://30seconds.blogs.com/archives/comments.rdf

Julie installed a comment feed on May 20th. I said hello to mine June 23rd. Thanks for paving the way, Julie!

Enoch helped spark my interest when he asked quite a while ago in a comment on Julie's blog where there was code to have an RSS feed that incorporated the post and comments. The answer, in case you hadn't found it yet, Enoch! So thank you very much to Michael Hanscom for generously sharing his code with otherwise clueless, html-impaired people! However, I think the post + comment feed will only show comments that have been added before you first receive each post in the feed. Comments added later will probably only show up in the comments-only feed? So I'm not sure how useful it will be. It might work better to use the posts-only and the comments-only feeds in tandem if you don't want to miss any comments. I'm still "working" (read "wondering and wandering wildly without wisdom or wit") on getting the comments-only feed to appear with the most recent one at the top. Details, details!

Post-script: On no basis whatsoever, I really agreed with Michael on his statement:

On the Mac, the only aggregator that should even be considered is Brent Simmons' NetNewsWire. If you're a heavy weblog reader and aren't using it, go download a copy now.

On the PC, I haven't got a clue what software to recommend. Instead, I'd recommend that you switch to a Mac and use NetNewsWire. ;)

I guess the reason I liked what he said is that I've always used Macs and love them, I like to fight for the underdog, and NetNewsWire is the aggregator my fabulous husband picked out for me and installed (with a free 30-day trial, I believe) and I have had no problems with it. Love at first sight. Must be because I see it and think of the one who set it up for me.

Comments

[enoch choi]

thanks Katherine! I've been looking for a template that works... the one i've been using won't include the posts. BTW, whenever a new comment is written, it's added to the full feed with comments xml file, at least it is on movable type.

[Katherine]

test comment

[Katherine]

Hey Enoch, you're right! Cool! I guess I was wrong on that - sometimes it's so nice to be wrong. :-) Thanks for letting me know.

[Julie]

Congrats, Katherine, this is great!

Strange though, I am not getting anything updated in the post + comments feed when comments are added. Perhaps, in light of Michael's blogging and research (and bias?!), it is a problem with my PC and aggregator. I can see these three comments in my comment feed, but not in the post + comment feed. I have Michael's post + comment feed on my blog but I didn't publicize it because I didn't think it worked...I did leave the link up though, and I've noticed that someone out there is using it...maybe it does work after all?

[Ted Leung]

If you like NetNewsWire now, wait till you see 2.0 (in beta and a free upgrade)

[Caitlin]

I love what you said about the Macs.

"Instead, I'd recommend that you switch to a Mac"... haha.

I'm always fighting for Macs, it's crazy. And I always point them out in movies and shows because they are always used.

[Katherine]

Caitlin, thanks for stopping by - yes, we always enjoy seeing macs in movies too :-) And I am very biased towards them. User-friendly, good-looking, work well...fun and efficient. The first computer of my own I had (in college) was a Mac SE, back in 1989. My grandfather set me up with it. And the rest is history.