Yabfog

I've completed a major rewrite of my OPML browser, Optimal.

I didn't manage to document all of the changes, they were so numerous. Highlights are:

• Object-oriented reimplementation, making it more portable to other applications
• Same code may be used as a WordPress plugin -- replaces the OPML Renderer plugin for WordPress
• RSS items now include descriptions, so you can browse the feeds without subscribing or visiting the home page
• New widget generator to generate HTML to include Optimal on your web site

More... | Download

Del.icio.us rolled out a new API server. Eventually, the old server will shut down. This will effect MySQLicious.

If the old URL was:

http://del.icio.us/api/posts/get

the new URL will be:

https://api.del.icio.us/v1/posts/get

Note:

1. The use of https (for secure connections)
2. The new server name
3. The addition of a version number where the /api/ used to be

I'm still working on a significant rewrite of my OPML browser, Optimal, but I've decided to release the current working version in the meantime because it addresses a couple of significant usability comments I've had.

Specifically:

1. There are now links to expand/collapse all nodes, and
2. There is a new query string parameter, depth, which allows you to specify the initial expansion state.

• Changes

I've still got some work to do, so this is just a "hey, it works" sort of post.

John Tropea posted last week about an OPML hack for del.icio.us to which I responded with a more dynamic example and to which another reader asked, "Why bother?" Fair enough quesiton, and here's a better answer by way of example.

I’m using MySQLicious to mirror my del.icio.us bookmarks to a local database (for several good reasons). Now that I have a local copy of those bookmarks and all the del.icio.us tags and other del.icio.us metadata, I can remix it however I want.

The first thing I've done is create an OPML file on-the-fly, where every del.icio.us bookmark is rendered as an RSS feed item with the bookmark's URL as the feed htmlUrl and the xmlUrl is an RSS feed of a Feedster search on the bookmark's URL.

Here's the raw OPML file.

Here's how it looks in Optimal.

Notice that there is a query string parameter "addfeeds." Without this parameter, the OPML is simply rendered as a link list. An addfeeds value of "feedster" adds the search feeds. Eventually, I'll have some additional query values I could use here, such as Technorati.

Here's the source.

Relatively minor updates to Optimal.

• Changes

Thanks to Adam Green, who gave me loads of feedback, I've made quite a few enhancements to my OPML browser, Optimal.

• Changes
• Query String Parameters
• Use Cases/Examples

Minor bug-fix update to permit installation in a subdirectory of the web document root.

Earlier this week, I quietly released a revision to my ftpUpstream script for the OPML Editor.

Details are available and comments or questions should be posted here.

The main change was to add a prompt-based method for obtaining user settings instead of requiring the user to manually edit the OPML Editor database.

I've updated Yabfog Tools for the OPML Editor.

It's a minor update to turn off the automatic re-installation of the new conversions since this is no longer necessary with the new updating procedure in the OPML Editor.

As of this version, no changes are made to your OPML Editor setup after installation of Yabfog Tools until you enable them in via the "Tools -> Yabfog Tools" submenu.

I've released a significant revision to my OPML browser: Optimal.

If you hate the name, just be glad I'm not going to camel-case it.