RSS Feed Too Brief

[bearmark]

Please enable your RSS feed to publish full articles so that the feed is useful and doesn't just act as a prompter to visit the site. The RSS feed should be another way to view the articles rather than just a teaser. ;)

Thanks for the new site and especially for the podcast! I'll get that subscription going immediately.

[Jeffrey Butler]

In my mind, that's the purpose of an rss feed - however, we're going to be working on getting a mobile feed setup so cell phones, etc. can read the full articles. I'm sure with that there will be a way to use a browser feed for full articles.

Could it be your feed reader? But CNN and lots of other news casters only use abbreviated feeds - at least as they appear to my reader.

[bearmark]

In my mind, that's the purpose of an rss feed - however, we're going to be working on getting a mobile feed setup so cell phones, etc. can read the full articles. I'm sure with that there will be a way to use a browser feed for full articles.

Could it be your feed reader? But CNN and lots of other news casters only use abbreviated feeds - at least as they appear to my reader.

A mobile (i.e. restricted bandwidth or screen size) feed might be useful but it should still provide enough text to make the experience worthwhile (e.g. not cut-off in mid-sentence). You should consider an RSS feed as just another way to view the articles. Either you receive an email or visit the site or view the feed, but why would you want to do more than one of these for the same article? For a full browser (i.e. desktop or laptop), the RSS feed should provide the same experience as visiting the site.

Some sites limit the article in order to force users to visit their site for various reasons (e.g. advertisements). Now that RSS feeds can include ads, there's no need for that. Another reason use to be hosting bandwidth limitations, but that shouldn't be an issue anymore. RSS is becoming mainstream because of programs like NetNewsWire, Safari 2.0, iTunes (for podcasts), etc. This is particularly true on the Mac, but the Windows platform is catching up... check out NewsGator, for instance.

In any case, thanks for the consideration and I hope that you opt for the full feed to serve your RSS subscribers effectively.

[Jeffrey Butler]

...For a full browser (i.e. desktop or laptop), the RSS feed should provide the same experience as visiting the site....In any case, thanks for the consideration and I hope that you opt for the full feed to serve your RSS subscribers effectively.

We'll look into it. I agree with your comments. I'm primarily a Safari user and very much enjoy a good feed :-) but I find that I primarily use it to determine if I need to read further.

Currently the RSS feed grabs what we define as the "abstract" for the articles. We can turn the abstract on/off for different pages. So right now, it's not so much enabling it as reworking it.

[DockHoilman]

I use RSS feeds all the time and love the quick availability of new articles. However, the two feeds on The American View are configured very strangely and woefully out of date.

The first, "Sidebar Headlines," has no date tag for most of the articles. (Not counting the two exceptions from Dec 31, 1969.) They are also listed in reverse order, with the newer articles listed last. (Assuming the ID number is the typical one-up count.) The newest article is #346 from July 30. I know there are newer sidebar articles not on the RSS feed.

The second feed, "Top Headlines and Articles," also has no dat tag, with minor 1969 exceptions, and is almost older to newer, with a few exceptions. However, the newest article listed is #349 from August 7.

Since I use the RSS feed to tell me when new information is out, I was really surprised when I ventured on to the site and found the number of articles I had missed. I appreciate the hard work it takes to make things run smoothly and wish all the best for the web staff as you work out the bugs. Thanks again for the good work . . . looking forward to continued growth.

By the way, an RSS feed for the forum would be awesome!

God Bless,

[Jeffrey Butler]

I use RSS feeds all the time and love the quick availability of new articles. However, the two feeds on The American View are configured very strangely and woefully out of date.

By the way, an RSS feed for the forum would be awesome!


It's there: http://www.theamericanview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43&highlight=feed

The RSS section will be updated soon. It's a function of our CMS. It is the next feature to be updated.