Judy of the Woods
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Page created
22 December 2007
Comment Widget and RSS for Non-Blogs
December 22nd, 2007
If you have a plain html website which is periodically updated, you don't have to miss out on some of the great features of blog engine
run proper blogs. Comments and RSS are two of the most obvious and useful features of blogs. At a glance, my site may appear
to be a proper blog, but it is a very simple, hand crafted website, with a few third party widgets (check out the page source). The new
comment feature is cut and past java script, which is very easy to install, and is run on the supplier's server. The basic code is just two
very short lines, one being the link. It is quite basic, but does allow some customization, and above all, it allows communication with
your readers. And, if that wasn't enough, it is free. So go and grab yourself the script at JS-Kit.
You can try it out at the end of this post. Just say test, if you like, and no need to delete tests - leave them for others to see how it works. When
there is a bunch of them, I will delete them eventually. They have a few other widgets, like rating and polls. If you are worried that JS-Kit may vanish
one day, along with all your hard-earned comments, you could copy and paste the comments permanently into your pages, after allowing
a set period when visitors can go back to delete their comments if they wish. That is what I intend to do here, after, say, at least a month.
If like me, you have relied on email communication, you may find more visitors responding with comments, as many don't like giving out their
email address. With this widget there is no need to register. Oh, and you can even show your face, if you like. Now is that neat, or is it neat?
The other valuable feature of a blog is RSS, and even that can be done via a third party. It is not complicated, you just fill in an on-line form with a few lines
and the text you want to appear as a feed. The robot then converts it to xml which you can paste into your xml page which you ftp to your server. Then you
'ping' the feed, i.e. you alert the feed burner that you have new content. I believe it does pick up the feed automatically, but pinging is quicker. This
is where you create your xml scripthere and then
validate it (the robot will check to see that it is accurate). This service is for UK channels only, but does
give a link where you can register non-UK channels. The Site also has a lot of useful information. Stephen Downes has a great tutorial
How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad, a Web Server, and a Beer
which gives you some RSS basics, and
shows you how to create your own xml. Even if you don't want to build the xml page yourself (you can use much of the tutorial for cut and paste, just fill in
your details instead), I would still recommend this article to get a better understanding of how it works. I chose to use the robot, but if that service ever ceased,
this tutorial could help you make your own. And finally, set up your feed with Feedburner and ping it there.
Whenever you have new content, you simply create a new page in the form with the new post, then ftp to server (replacing the last one), ping and that's it.
At times you may find the feed displaying strangely, especially when using images and special characters as xml is very strict. Personally, I don't try to waste a lot
of time trying to work out what is going on. I just try to keep the first part of the post which goes into the feed as simple as possible, i.e. I remove images, and any
offending characters like quotes and such like (usually after checking in the feed reader) and line brakes. Links can also be a problem. But there is always a
work-around, if you don't want to get too techy. Keep it simple and brief, and make the feed just an appetizer with the rest of the post with bells and whistles on its html page.
For all my luddite brothers and sisters, who want to have a little control over their blog(ish), but think life is too short to
learn php and other complicated scripts to build a proper blog, this is the way to go. And whilst you are testing, why not test the RSS feature? If you don't
have an agrigator (and what is your excuse, when bloglines.com is so easy to set up online) you can even
subscribe to the feed via email.
Edit:
On the note of the avatar, I would like to add, that being a remotely hosted piece of script, some new features will be automatically installed, like this avatar
feature, which appeared after I had installed the script. Features which allow you customization, may have to be added on your page, or alternatively, you
may try to do an external script, so you only change it in one location. Here is an
article which shows a very handy tiny java script which calls up a navigation menu, but the basic script/source code can be used to call up other java scripts which
are repeated on many pages.
I would like to point out here, that I have no java script knowledge, and even my html knowledge is very basic, but there are many
scripts available online to copy and past into your website, and the source usually gives plenty of step-by-step guidance on how to install and customize it. It is quite easy
to experiment with scripts. If it doesn't work, just try something else or go back to the original. Java script can be fickle, and may not work on all browsers, but when it
does, it is the icing on the cake. It can add a lot of interactive features from moving spotlights to slide shows to comment feature. But a word of warning; before you plaster
your website with falling snow flakes, flashing fairies and pop-ups, consider the visitor may not want to go to a fairground, and may (like I do in these instances) make a hasty retreat. Use it with discretion if you want to keep visitors. Here is a list of some websites offering loads of scripts, including PHP and others, most, if not all, free. Happy browsing.
