http://www.enfeedia.com Latest news from Enfeedia about publishing and promoting your own RSS news feed. en-us 01 May 2012 11:36:59 PST enfeedia.com v1 ken@keligo.com (Ken Gorman) http://enfeedia.com/E-logo.gif http://www.enfeedia.com FeedBack ( 0) | One of the most important features of RSS technology is the ability to be notified by email when items are posted on a feed. Why? So that you don't have to incessantly search websites to find out what's new. With an RSS news feed, what's new is delivered to your in-basket if you are registered for email alerts for that feed.

Enfeedia has previously employed an internally developed "ping" email system whereby those email alerts are delivered to those registered for alerts. Today, Enfeedia is introducing a two-pronged alert system using industrial-strength "email notification systems" (ENS) offered by Google Feedburner (for premium memberships) and My Yahoo (for the free Communicator memberships).

At Enfeedia, we wish to remain focused on what we do best: offering an easy and well-featured system for publishing RSS feeds, for novices and experts alike. Just like we don't wish to be a video or photo sharing service, notwithstanding the importance of video and photos embedded in feeds, we likewise don't wish to divert our focus to support email notification system when fine solutions are available elsewhere. So, just as we support YouTube, Vimeo, and Flickr for video and photo sharing, we are now supporting the ENS of Google Feedburner and Yahoo.

We will phase out the existing Enfeedia email notification system around the beginning of June, 2012. Beginning today, anyone registering for alerts will be directed to either My Yahoo or Google Feedburner depending on the membership level of the feed publisher. Those already registered for alerts using the previous alert system will continue to receive those alerts until phase-out.

Enfeedia will issue an email to all those registered for alerts with the previous system to encourage them to re-register, including instructions on how to do so, so as not to lose alerts after phase-out.

We will continue to use the term "ping" to indicate email alerts, regardless of which system is used. "Set Up Pings" will direct the user to the appropriate service.

The registration process for Google Feedburner is similar to what we previously employed, amounting to nothing more than a simple email verification process. Give it a try: Register now!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 9559 01 May 2012 11:36:59 PST FeedBack ( 1) | Now you can take any of your feed items offline by simply adding *offline* in the title (including the asterisks). When you want to bring it back online, simply remove *offline* from the title, and the item will re-appear unmodified.

But why would you want to take an item offline? The inspiration came as an offspring of offering freelance items on your feed for advertisers. To grant an item to a freelancer/advertiser, the account owner first has to create a "place saver" item in order to specify a freelance password -- the password the advertiser uses to gain access to just that item. But it's not so cool to have the place saver item hanging out in your feed waiting for the advertiser to post something. The solution is to add *offline* to the place saver item title, and when the advertiser posts his/her item using the Re-Post function, their item will go online (unless they decide to include *offline* in the title).

When an item is offline, it will not be displayed either on a website when syndicated there using Enfeedia's shootOnSite script, nor will it appear in the NewsPage for that news feed. The item is preserved on the feed, and in fact will appear in the xml version of the feed (because others do not support an offline feature).

The offline feature is not limited to freelance items. It can be used for any kind of feed hosted by Enfeedia. For example, you may wish to be composing an item for publication but not yet have it appear on your website, or perhaps want to prepare a calendar item but want to defer its public appearance until the date draws near. Simply keep *offline* in the title until it's ready for prime time.

The offline feature is available now (or I would have included *offline* in its title) and is available at all membership levels.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 9325 11 Mar 2012 18:32:17 PST FeedBack ( 1) | In Part 2, I show how you can make money by "consigning" one or more items in your feed to advertisers -- anyone who is willing to pay you money to have their message commingle with your feed items, and to be able to update their message whenever they want, as often as they want. It's based on the unique Freelance feature of Enfeedia.

Here's how: Create a "place-saver" item (e.g., "coming soon...") item on your feed and assign to it a Freelance Password. Provide that password to the advertiser in return for whatever payment or consideration you want, and send them instructions on how to post their message (to replace the place-saver message). Your advertiser simply clicks the shootOnSite link associated with the feed, enters the freelance password you gave them, and then proceed to fill out the form, just like you do to post an news item, to post their message.

Freelancers, and therefore your advertiser, is denied some of the features of Enfeedia for security so you need not worry about what they can do when logged in to post their message.

Should the number of items in your feed be the limit for your membership level when you attempt to add another item, the auto-deletion feature (of the oldest item) excludes deletion of freelance items. So the advertisers' items don't fall of the end of the feed as your feed grows in terms of the number of items.

The Freelance feature is supported at the Publisher-Pro membership level.

Give it a try. Create an item in your feed, assign it a freelance password, and approach a party you think might be interested. The more pervasive your feed is on the internet, the more valuable that item is to an advertiser. If you are sufficiently active in posting items on your feed, it will appear in the Featured Member Feeds section on the Enfeedia home page -- how's that for exposure. And it also appears in your Hub, a recently announced feature. Syndicate your feed on your home page and add more value to your freelance items. (This example -- www.enfeedia.com/syndicate.php?AN=enfeedia&FN=tips -- provides instructions for syndicating the Enfeedia News feed. To get instructions for syndicating your feed, open the NewsPage for your feed and click the "Syndicate" link in the link strip at the top of the page. Or simply plug you account name and feed name in the above URL where "enfeedia" and" tips" are shown, respectively, after the = sign.)]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 9303 07 Mar 2012 09:26:03 PST FeedBack ( 1) | Now people who are not members of Enfeedia can post FeedBack comments on items (for feeds that the feed owner has enabled FeedBack). A simple email validation process is required to gain permission to post comments. The poster can include an alias that will appear with the comment or choose not to in which case the comment will be shown as posted by "anonymous".

Members, enable your feeds for FeedBack comments today to engage readers in conversations about your posted items. The more involved readers are with your feed, the more likely they are to check out your business or endeavor more closely. And just as the case for Enfeedia members posting comments, you can delete objectionable comments whether the poster includes an alias or posts anonymously.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 9243 20 Feb 2012 17:31:13 PST FeedBack ( 1) | Every member now enjoys the benefit of his/her individual Hub. The Hub is the member's central location for important connections on the internet.

Specifically, what's a Hub?

A Hub is a webpage dedicated to an account for a member that (1) lists all feeds in the account, (2) lists all Enfeedia-hosted feeds that the member is tracking using Ping email alerts, (3) lists all feed items for Enfeedia-hosted feeds for which this member has posted a FeedBack comment, and (4) displays the member's "directory" feed, also a new feature of Enfeedia. The listings also include some tools that are useful to visitors to the Hub for reading a feed, subscribing to a feed, setting up Ping email alerts, and syndicating a feed.

How is one's Hub found by others?

(1) If the member is sufficiently active in posting items on a feed, the feed and account name will appear in the Featured Feeds section on the home page of Enfeedia. And if not there, then possibly on the Top 100 RSS Feeds that one sees when the Top 100 link presented just below the Featured Feeds listing. Then, if one clicks the account name on the Top 100 listing, the Hub for that account is opened in a new tab/page. (Note that "link juice" gets passed from the high-ranking Enfeedia home page to Hubs.)

(2) If one posts a FeedBack comment on any feed hosted by Enfeedia that has FeedBack enabled, the comment is preceded by one's account name which is a link to the Hub for the commenter's account. What's cool about this is that others who are engaged in a discussion about an item will see those links associated with the comments and perhaps click over to a Hub to learn about a person posting a comment. And in your Hub, you will see a line for each item you posted a comment in, with a "Read" button that will display the item including all comments for that item.

(3) Effective today, every feed NewsPage now includes a link to the account Hub for that feed. The link is located just below the "See Also" link that some of you are using with effect. So you can see that the more you promote your feed, the more others will encounter that link and perhaps click over to your Hub.

(4) You can put a link on your website to your Hub. The address for your Hub is the same as the address for your feed but with the feed name excluded. For example, if your feed address is www.enfeedia.com/see/MY_ACCOUNT/MY_FEED.xml the address for your Hub is www.enfeedia.com/see/MY_ACCOUNT/ .

(5) You can promote your Hub in any of the feeds you publish.

(6) You can promote your Hub in your email signature with a live link to your Hub.

Why do you care if someone visits your Hub?

Two good reasons: First, the visitor will see your list of feeds in your Hub. The visitor may choose to explore your feeds and get involved with your endeavor.

Second, the visitor will see your "directory" feed which, being a standard feed, can be anything you want. You can post ads, links to various websites you may publish or websites of others that you like and for which you perhaps get some return favors, to online images and videos. Items in your directory feed can include images and videos if you are at least a Publisher premium member (which you can get at reduced rates, even free). Please note that the feed name "directory" is reserved for this purpose, for automatically displaying the in the Hub (i.e., syndicated in the Hub). So, create a "directory" feed as you would any other feed, and see it appear in your Hub.

Take a look at your Hub today to see how it is constructed. Here are a couple of examples from two of our members: www.enfeedia.com/see/carolmurrayrealestate/ and www.enfeedia.com/see/goldmountain/ . Check them out!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 9210 16 Feb 2012 12:35:31 PST FeedBack ( 1) | In Part 1, I show how to make money from your feed NewsPage by configuring your NewsPage to present Google ads with the Google AdSense program ... that pay to you! You must have at least an Enfeedia Publisher premium membership but check out how you can get a free Publisher account. Until today, you had to have an Enterprise membership to embed your Adsense ads.

Here's how to configure your NewsPage:

(1) Open an AdSense account with Google. Follow their process as if you intend to get the code for installing Google ads on you website. Don't concern yourself with the ad format or any other details, you just want to get your Adsense account code. That's all you need.

(2) Then, edit your feed (go to "Set Up Feeds"), and locate the place on the data entry form where you enter the Google Adsense account code; it will be in the NEWSPAGE SIDEBAR CONTENTS section towards the bottom of the form. Enter the account code in the place provided. You're done.

From that point on, Google ads will appear in the right sidebar of the NewsPage in which your feed appears. Google inserts ads that are generally consistent with your news feed topic, because Google knows that people interested in your content will also be interested in the ads having the same topic. That's good for you, too, because you get paid each time an ad is clicked by a visitor. (Caution: be aware that it is against Google terms of service to click your own ads! Be sure to read all about that, and other aspects of the AdSense program including statistics and payment reporting, on the Google website.)

Be sure to promote your feed to bring eyeballs to the ads. The more ad clicks, the more money you make. Three easy ways to promote your feed are:

(1) Include a text-link on your website to your feed NewsPage. Click here to get the text-link code for your feed.

(2) Include a text-link in your email signature so that every time you send email, you are also telling the recipient about your NewsPage. Use the same text-link code as for (1) above.

(3) Share your NewsPage on Facebook or other social networking site. Here's how: Open your NewsPage, then use any of the social network buttons across the top or associated with any in your feed. Include an interesting comment for your readers about what you are sharing, and submit it.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 9098 05 Feb 2012 12:47:22 PST FeedBack ( 4) | We are making preparations to introduce our Enfeedia Associates program. The concept is driven by the observation that people come to the Enfeedia website to investigate the application of RSS feeds to their online marketing program, to promote their ventures and endeavors. RSS feeds are indeed a powerful element of such marketing programs, but of course there are other elements that comprise an overall effective solution. We also recognize that our members may lack the full range of skills and knowledge necessary to maximize the effectiveness of their online presence.

Therefore we have decided to incorporate into the Enfeedia website articles from experts in a wide range of speciality areas pertaining to effective online publishing. Typically those articles will be tips and 'how-to' advice that Enfeedia members will find useful, and will also present our members with points of contact with those experts should they wish to directly engage them in their online communications endeavors.

The areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, website design, search engine optimization, video production and presentation, copy development and editing, social networking, press releases, graphic art design, and photo image processing.

Enfeedia Associates will be Enfeedia 'Freelance' writers who will each be provided a spot on one of several RSS feeds that will appear at strategic places on the Enfeedia website. As such, they will be able to publish articles whenever and as often as they want, taking advantage of all the features of Enfeedia-hosted RSS feeds.

We are now accepting requests to join the Enfeedia Associates program. If your organization provides services that facilitate and enhance online communications, then contact us so we may evaluate your organization for the program; please include your website URL. If you know of an organization -- perhaps one with whom you are already working -- that might benefit from becoming an Enfeedia Associate, please pass this message to them and/or refer them to us. I think they will appreciate your recommendation.

Your help in developing the Enfeedia Associates program to benefit all of our members as well as casual site visitors considering membership is appreciated. Your comments and suggestions are also appreciated, so feel free to leave FeedBack comments for this news item (click the FeedBack link). If you are not currently an Enfeedia member, why not take this opportunity to sign up (for FREE) and enjoy the benefits of RSS feed publishing. Visit our website!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/contact-us.html enfeedia.com 9058 19 Jan 2012 11:53:42 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Learn how to get a FREE Publisher membership by posting on your home page an RSS icon with text-link for the Enfeedia news feed.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/free-publisher-membership.php enfeedia.com 9027 11 Jan 2012 17:59:11 PST FeedBack ( 0) | To receive a substantial reduction on the cost of a monthly subscription memberships, consider these rates for annual memberships. "Publisher" membership rates shown below, compared to the $48/year price for a monthly subscription:

1 Year
$36/year (25% off monthly subscription)

2 Year
$32/year (33% off monthly subscription)

3 Year
$24/year (50% off monthly subscription)

Similar reductions in other premium membership rates also apply. This offer is for a limited time and may be withdrawn without notice, so act now!

Learn more!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/annual-memberships.php enfeedia.com 9008 03 Jan 2012 15:37:13 PST FeedBack ( 3) | With our new FeedBack feature, you can enable the posting of comments for feed items. A FeedBack Channel is dedicated to each item with the comments presentation one click away. Embedded at the beginning of each item description is a "FeedBack" link that opens a NewsPage showing just that specific item followed by a tool for posting comments and all previously posted comments.

For an example, check out the NewsPage for Enfeedia's "Tips" feed for which FeedBack has been enabled.

Now you can more thoroughly engage your viewers and keep them comin' back. There is widespread agreement that blogging is a very strong tool to bring your business to the attention of others whom you can convert into followers or customers with your call to action. When a person posts a FeedBack comment, (s)he is rewarded with a text-link posted with that comment that connects others to the comment posters Enfeedia feed directory where others can learn about him/her. Consider the viral benefits of posting FeedBack comments.

When you publish your RSS feed with Enfeedia, you are just a few steps away from integrating your blog into your website. Whether you use the previously announced BlogBlender tool to display recent postings or just install an RSS icon on your site that when clicked opens your blog in the browser or in your NewsPage, your blog can be front-and-center on your home page, or of course anywhere you want to install it on your site.

Consider posting FeedBack comments for your own items to update readers on what's transpired since your item was posted, and perhaps to stir up conversation that will motivate folks to stay engaged with your endeavor.

WIth the RSS feed being the engine that produces the blog, you can get all the benefits of RSS in spreading the word. People can subscribe to your blog using any of a myriad of feed readers including browsers, they can register for email alerts to be notified when you post new items, they can simply bookmark your Enfeedia-published NewsPage that contains your blog. Your blog can be syndicated anywhere for more exposure ... with the FeedBack comments always just one click away. By the way, your NewsPage is indexed by search engines such that it can appear in search engine results pages.

Have a facebook account? Use an app such as RSS Graffiti to automatically post items -- blog posts -- on your facebook Wall and/or on any of your Pages. Again, with the FeedBack Channels one click away to engage your facebook friends. When one posts a FeedBack comment, it immediately appears with all instantiations of the blog. So if, for example, one posts a comment on your item appearing on your Facebook Wall, it will also show on your website, in feed readers ... wherever your feed appears.

FeedBack requires a Publisher membership. Log into your Enfeedia account and upgrade today (at My Account) to leverage all the benefits of publishing RSS feeds.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8962 08 Dec 2011 17:19:53 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Why bury your blog in an interior page of your website, or worse, send your hard-earned site visitors off to some blog hosting site instead of keeping them on your site? Instead, immerse your site visitors into your story and captivate them when they land on your home page. Did you know search engines know how long a visitor stays on a webpage they found from an internet search and give your website more "search value" for the search term they used?

Why thumb through template after template for your blog trying to find one that coordinates with your website design? Instead, give your blog the exact look-and-feel of your website that you carefully designed, because it "inherits" that design.

Why ignore the SEO benefits to your website by failing to incorporate your blog onto your home page? Instead, blend your Enfeedia-hosted feed-driven blog onto your home page such that your blog contents are crawled and indexed by search engines. Did you know search engines love fresh content and RSS feeds? With Enfeedia, your RSS feed is the underlying driver of your blog. Whenever you post a new item on your blog feed, your webpage hosting the feed is automatically updated.

BlogBlender is simply an Enfeedia-supplied pre-defined code snippet you insert in your home page (or any page) that invokes the Enfeedia shootOnSite RSS Feed Reader script. Working together, they present your blog feed on your webpage just as if they were hard-coded there.

Two code snippets are provided, one that presents your blog items in the traditional vertical column format, the other presents those items in a horizontal row format. The horizontal format is especially convenient for website designs where it's difficult to carve out a vertical column of space.

These code snippets are NewsOnSite snippets that have pre-defined variables providing the best blending of your blog feed into your webpage. If you wish, you can customize them to achieve other effects. If so, go to "Stylize & Promote Feeds" at Enfeedia and make your option choices.

Once you have opened an Enfeedia account for any membership level and published your blog feed, you are only four steps away from presenting your blog on your website. (1) Go to "Stylize & Promote Feeds" to select your BlogBlender code snippet and (2) to download the shootOnSite script. (3) Insert the code snippet into your webpage. (4) Then simply upload your BlogBlended webpage and the shootOnSite script to your server. Detailed instructions are provided at "Stylize & Promote Feeds".]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8843 01 Nov 2011 10:31:17 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia announces new lower rates for the the Publisher and Publisher-Pro premium memberships effective today, October 26, 2011.

The Publisher membership rate has been reduced 60%, from $10 to just $3.99 per month. The Publisher-Pro membership monthly rate has been cut 55%, from $15 to $7.99. The Communicator membership remains intact and is an incredible bargain at the price of zero.

Key features of the Publisher membership include easy embedding of YouTube and Vimeo videos directly into your feed items, gallery link-back for Flickr-hosted images embedded in feed items, a random item-selection feature for SEO benefits, elimination of ads from your NewsPages, 'editor' and 'reporter' collaborative posting, 'calendar' and 'subchannel' feeds, three additional feeds for a total of five, raising the maximum number of items per feed from 20 to 50, and doubling the maximum length of item descriptions (the 'article') from 4,000 to 8,000 characters.

Key features for the Publisher-Pro include all the features of the Publisher membership plus 'freelance' posting with auto-logging for item allocation to others, a headline feed for a summary listing of items from other feeds in your account, a Google search tool for drawing viewers to your website, insertion of PayPal buy-now buttons directly in feed items, private (members-only) password protected feed items, doubling of the number of feeds and items per feed vis-a-vis the Publisher membership (10 and 100 respectively), and raising the length of descriptions another 50% over the Publisher membership (from 8,000 to 12,000 character).

For details regarding these and all features, see Features. For a convenient comparison of all features as a function of membership level, see Memberships.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8833 26 Oct 2011 15:51:49 PST FeedBack ( 0) | You can now embed your Vimeo video directly into your feed item. All you have to do is paste in the URL for the video (the URL that shows in the address bar of your browser when viewing the desired video in Vimeo) when entering your item information. It shares the same entry box with YouTube. Here's how it looks; video by Bran Dougherty-Johnson title "Happiness".


[No video above? View video] ]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8789 22 Sep 2011 13:51:25 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Here's a simple way to get a complete overview of the Enfeedia news feed publishing service: "All About Enfeedia", now playing on the Enfeedia home page. Whether you are just a beginner or wanting to brush up on features and benefits of the service, you'll find this short video very helpful.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8755 13 Sep 2011 07:31:12 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Want to see what a feed would look like on your site before registering an account at Enfeedia and publishing your own feed? Now you can do that using Enfeedia's news feed as an example. Your server must support "php", but most do. Here's how:

(1) Fetch the shootOnSite script from the Enfeedia server by going to enfeedia.com/promote-news.php and clicking the "Download File" button near the bottom of the page. Then upload the script to your server (place it in the same folder that holds the webpage file). Do not change the filename of the script.

(2) Insert a code snippet on your webpage at a place where you want the feed to appear, then upload your revised page to your server. Click here to get that code snippet. Copy all of it and paste it into your webpage code.

The number of items displayed, the length of the item descriptions, and some other parameters are set to default value for this demo. In practice, you have control over a variety of parameters affecting what's presented and the appearance of what's presented.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8514 24 Jun 2011 18:13:29 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Previously, you needed to use your Account Name to log into your Enfeedia account. It seems that generally, people easily remember their email address and password but some have difficulty remembering their Account Name. No matter, now you can use your email address in lieu of your Account Name to sign in.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8513 24 Jun 2011 18:00:59 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Have you ever wanted to write up a feed item for later publication because you have the information at hand now and want to do it while the idea is fresh? Have you wanted to recycle items for events that recur, even with differing details (seminars, product specials, etc)? Have you wished you could create a repository of feed items for various events or promotions and then release them, perhaps with revisions, when the time is right? Have you wanted to draft a complicated item and preview it without publishing until you get it exactly right? Then you will like this new RSS feed publishing feature from Enfeedia.

Effectively immediately, you can build your own respository for stashing feed items simply by naming the feed "library". That's all you have to do. A feed with that name is not published, but the contents are stored in the Enfeedia database. You can review, edit, add items just like any other feed. When you decide to use one of the saved items, simply edit the item in the library feed (even if no changes are to be made), and after you submit it, take advantage of the opportunity to copy the item to another feed in your account -- or even other accounts for which you were provided an "editor" password. Specify the desired feed, and it will be added to that feed, and the item instantly published on that feed.

In similar fashion, if you find that you previously posted an item that you would like to add to your library for re-use at a later time, simply edit that feed, making changes if you wish, and copy it to your library feed.

In effect, you can think of your library feed as a scratchpad or cache for feed items, organized as a feed. But not published. Organize your long term promotion programs, your various seminars, your investment advice newsletter, your product upgrade announcements, and so on, as a project. Then, as time passes, select the items from your library, update them if conditions warrant, and let 'em rip out to the public in one of your feeds.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8376 03 May 2011 17:48:53 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Previously, when you syndicated (embedded) a news feed on your website, although you are given a considerable number of parameters to control that display, you were not able to specify that the items should appear horizontally across the page in addition to their vertical layout. Now that’s changed. When you get your code snippet at Enfeedia (click "Stylize & Promote Feeds"), you will find you now can choose between vertical and horizontal layout of items on the page.

What’s the big deal? It turns out that Enfeedia members often find that it’s easier to add a horizontal space across their website than a vertical column without considerable rework of the page design. If nothing else, it’s a piece of cake to present the feed in a horizontal band across the bottom of the page. Better yet, find a break in the page more near the middle and insert it there for more eyeballs.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8374 02 May 2011 15:28:26 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Until today, the number of items present on the unique Enfeedia NewsPage was the complete feed -- all items -- unlike displaying a feed on a webpage where you select the number of items to present. With the update to the ShootOnSite scripts released today, you can now control how many items in a feed to display on any NewsPage. This feature is particularly useful for feeds with many items posted where one doesn't want to delete those "old" items but wishes to display only the more current items, if for no other reason, to save page loading time.

Also, you can specify whether the items displayed are selected based on chronology or selected at random from all items in the feed; this feature is like the random selection feature recently released for feeds displayed OnSite. We've heard from members who would like to create large galleries of items but present a subset of them randomly selected.

Note that the XML feed file includes all the item such that non-Enfeedia readers and aggregators will show all items. Of course, all items remain in the Enfeedia database and are available for editing, reposting, etc. One could decide to implement a plan where items not currently being shown are re-posted to gain the top positions and thereby appear on the NewsPage, pushing other items off the page, for the purpose of "rotating' items based on seasons, events, sales, etc.

To make your selections, go to Stylize & Promote Feeds and navigate to Stylize Your NewsPage; you will see two entries to control these features.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/promote-news.php enfeedia.com 8358 27 Apr 2011 17:18:56 PST FeedBack ( 0) | UPDATE: Now you can specify how many items you want selected at random, and can use this feature with either the Remote or Local version of the shootOnSite script. The previous announcement below has been edited to reflect this improvement.

========

Usually RSS feeds are used to announce news. Showing news items in chronological order makes sense, so that what the viewer sees is the most recently posted news. When feeds are used for news items, often only the most recently posted half dozen items are of interest, the older ones now being old news.

But there are important applications of feeds for items which need not be shown in chronological order by posting date and for which all items in the feed maintain their value because they are not time sensitive. Applications include using feeds for art or photo galleries, for publishing reports such as investment and health tips, for promoting music, and so on.

The question then arises of how to give all items "equal time" when syndicated on a webpage -- your's or other's. If many items are posted on the feed, showing all the items may not be practical because of space limitations on the webpage.

To address this issue, Enfeedia now offers a Random Item Selection feature wherein one or more items of the feed can be selected at random and displayed whenever the webpage syndicating the feed is opened. Space on the webpage is just that needed for one item. Viewers of the feed, if interested in what they see, can click on the round RSS button to open the feed in a NewsPage and view all items in the feed.

Here's how to implement this feature. Proceed to get the embedding code, as usual, by clicking the Stylize & Promote Feeds link. Follow the instructions to get code snippet for the Remote NewsOnSite version. In the list of options, you will now find one for Random Item Selection. Or if you have already installed the code snippet on your site, you can simply add, for example, &GUID=-1 (notice the minus sign after the equals sign!) to the code immediately ahead of the closing "); code. The example shows selecting one item at random; change the -1 to correspond to the number of items you want selected (e.g., for 5 items, use -5).

Insert the code snippet onto your website as usual. You're done.

One more thing. Those of you who are familiar with SEO techniques know that search engines favor websites that have fresh content. Because, with this feature, items are selected at random for presentation each time the page is opened, search engines are highly likely to see different item(s) each time they crawl the page, interpreting the new item(s) as fresh content. Your webpage in which the feed is syndicated will get the benefit of that fresh content.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 8299 14 Apr 2011 06:52:57 PST FeedBack ( 0) | WIth the addition of the Top 100 feed directory, search engines will now index the feeds and pass "page rank juice" to the feeds from Enfeedia. The inbound link from Enfeedia to the feed's NewsPage will help to move the NewsPage webpage higher in SERP (search engine results pages) which in turn will bring more traffic to the feed.

The Top 100 are determined by a number of parameters, but basically, it's a matter of frequency and recency of postings onto the feed. To ensure your feed stays on the list, be sure to post items on your feed from time to time ... but make sure they are quality items having relevancy to your feed topic and interest to your viewers.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/see/ enfeedia.com 8032 19 Feb 2011 20:18:49 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Join the new "RSS-Centric Marketing" group on LinkedIn either to participate or just listen in. You can learn new ideas about RSS and surprise yourself by teaching others about what you already know. Two discussions have been started. Or start your own discussion.]]> http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3771944 enfeedia.com 7989 07 Feb 2011 10:00:00 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia is now entertaining requests for custom and proprietary features. Our feed publishing architecture provides a number of opportunities for implementing custom features. Contact us with your ideas!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ enfeedia.com 7943 20 Jan 2011 18:10:27 PST FeedBack ( 0) | As a result of requests for simplified explanations of RSS -- what it is, why it is important -- and how Enfeedia is the easy way to publish RSS feeds to exploit the benefits of RSS, Enfeedia has produced the first three episodes of a video series, "Nancy Does RSS", a playful 'cartoon version' of RSS and Enfeedia.

The first three episodes are:

Part 1: Nancy Agrees to Help Todd About RSS (shown on Enfeedia home page)
Part 2: Nancy Helps Todd with RSS Basics
Part 3: Nancy Helps Cynthia Get Started


The next episode will present the basics of promoting RSS feeds using tools provided by Enfeedia. Additional episodes are planned to delve into the more advanced features of Enfeedia and search engine optimization.

Naturally, the series is being provided on a new Enfeedia feed, "nancydoesrss". You can also view the series on our YouTube channel.

ENJOY! And may you have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!


[No video above? View video] ]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/nancydoesrss.php enfeedia.com 7910 01 Jan 2011 19:59:46 PST FeedBack ( 0) | People viewing your Enfeedia-hosted RSS feed can now share individual items of your feed with their LinkedIn contacts and groups. It's simple: For each item displayed on your feed NewsPage, an "IN" button is presented, like this: . When one clicks that button, a LinkedIn window opens that gives them the ability to comment on the item and post it to their contacts and groups on LinkedIn.

Now Enfeedia provides three powerful tools for viewers of your feed to share individual items of your feed: facebook, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn. Encourage everyone you know to use these tools to help spread the word for you. And you can of course use these tools to share your items with your friends, contacts, and groups.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 7882 09 Dec 2010 16:16:55 PST FeedBack ( 0) | If you choose the option to have a facebook 'share' button associated with each item in your feed, you now also get the StumbleUpon icon that provides the ability to recommend the that item to other subscribers of StumbleUpon.

It's always been possible to recommend the entire NewsPage to StumbleUpon subscribers, but now individual items within that NewsPage can be recommended. When the icon is clicked revealing the item, one can then go on to share the item with others.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 7813 29 Nov 2010 18:14:30 PST FeedBack ( 0) | The maximum size of the Description for feed items has been vastly increased for premium memberships. The size for the basic membership remains at 4000 characters, but has been increased for the Publisher, Publisher-Pro, and Enfeediac memberships to 8000, 12000, and 16000 respectively. With this expansion of the Description field, it is now possible to include long articles that in the past would have required you to upload it as a PDF file to a server as a separate document and then have your item link to it.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 7748 05 Nov 2010 17:38:38 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia now integrates a tool that makes it simple to display a picture from your Flickr gallery as your item image. Simple copy the HTML code provided by Flickr for the picture of your choice and paste the code into the appropriate box on the entry form. Online instructions are provided where you post the item.

Enfeedia extracts from the Flickr provided code (1) the URL (address) for the image and (2) the URL for Flickr webpage where that image is displayed; that URL becomes the link for your image. Thus, using this tool, you comply with this Flickr Community Guidelines condition: "pages on other websites that display content hosted on flickr.com must provide a link from each photo or video back to its page on Flickr."

As background, any image you wish to include with a feed item must be online somewhere. At Enfeedia, we have chosen not to be a photo storage/sharing site but instead recommend you use one of the many fine photo sharing sites that already exist. Flickr is an excellent choice as it is well know that, among photo sharing sites, it is far ahead of others in driving traffic to websites, just as YouTube is far ahead of other video sharing sites in driving traffic to websites.

Click here to see an example of a feed that presents images from Flickr. Click any one of the images to see how it links back to the Flickr page for that photo. (If your browser does not display RSS feeds, then click here to see the feed presented by Enfeedia.)]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 7660 09 Oct 2010 15:37:22 PST FeedBack ( 0) | The free Enfeedia membership now includes the feature of Facebook 'Share' buttons on individual news feed items shown on NewsPages. Clicking the Share button provides the ability for a Facebook user to post a comment, with a link to your news item, on the user's Facebook Profile ("Wall"). That action further results in that comment being published on the Facebook activity feeds ("News Feed") for that user's friends and friends-of-friends. Additionally, selection of this feature also includes a 'Like' button at the top of your NewsPage that lets Facebook users tell other Facebook users they like your overall NewsPage.

Imagine the additional promotional capability of Enfeedia's RSS publishing system given the ability for viewers of your feed to share your items with their friends and friends-of-friends, and the additional promotion when they in turn decide to "like" the feed item.

To add Share buttons to your news feed items and a Like button to your NewsPage, simply edit your feed (go to Set Up Feeds) and enable the feature in the data entry form.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ enfeedia.com 7564 13 Sep 2010 09:53:57 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Following on the heels of the announcement of provision of a 'Calendar Feed' type, Enfeedia now announces avaiability of its 'Subchannel Feed' type.

The Subchannel feed type derives its name as an extension of RSS feeds often being referred to as 'Channels'.

With a subchannel feed, you can group items in your feed by categories that you assign when posting items onto the feed. Using Enfeedia's 'shootOnSite' feed reader and Enfeedia's 'NewsPage' mini-website feed reader, the items are presented within their respective categories under caterogy tities, and presented in reverse posting order within those groupings just like a standard news feed.

Read this item on our 'Tips' feed to learn more about this new feature and compare it to standard feeds and Calendar feeds.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 7350 15 Jul 2010 11:28:52 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Traditionally RSS feeds present items in the order in which they are published. That's perfect for breaking news, but is awkward when feeds are used for calendar driven events -- meetings, recreational events, seminars, entertainment events, and so on -- for which viewers of the feed would like to see the items in order of the event date, not the posting date.

Moreover, the items should be posted in chronological order, not reverse chronological order as is the case for traditional feeds, such that the "top" item is the next upcoming event, and items below that in the feed are events going off into the future.

By marking a feed as a "Calendar Feed", Enfeedia re-sequences your postings according to the event date (and optionally time) that you specify, no matter when you post an item onto the feed. The event date is separate from the posting date for items, so users can also view the feed sorted by posting date if they wish.

Additionally, you can optionally direct Enfeedia to present your Calendar feed on Enfeedia's "NewsPage" feed reader to display both "upcoming events" sorted chronologically as described above, and in another column, display "past events" in reverse chronological order so that you view the most recent past event at the top of the feed. This two-column presentation is ideal for events that include some follow-up action, such as for upcoming meeting announcements coupled with meeting minutes subsequently published. As time goes by, Enfeedia automatically moves items from the "upcoming events" column to the "past events". Click here for an example.

And as always with Enfeedia, people can register for "ping" email such that they receive automatic notification whenever you post an item on your feed.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 7226 08 Jul 2010 14:48:16 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Effectively immediately, you can elect to have a Facebook Like button with the thumbs-up graphic automatically inserted on your NewsPage, just above your Title. The address of your NewsPage is associated with the button such that when one clicks the button, they report to all their Facebook friends that they like your RSS feed. That can bring more traffic to your NewsPage.

If you write interesting or entertaining feeds, they may then elect to follow your feed by registering for pings, such that they get automatically generated email alerting them whenever you post new items. That email includes a link to your NewsPage.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 6984 24 May 2010 18:06:44 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Making Enfeedia even easier to use, now you can login directly to your feed from a browser bookmark that is specific to your account and a predetermined feed. When you click the bookmark, the login page opens for that feed. Login to open the page for adding and editing the feed. And once in your account, you can select other feeds as well.

So now, when are are surfing the 'net and come across something you'd like to mention on your feed, simply click the bookmark, click "add", and enter the information on the form Enfeedia presents to you.

It's easy to set up the bookmark; here's how. Click the "shootOnSite" link associated with the desired feed. The page that open is the login page for that feed. Bookmark it and you're done.

As a reminder, you will find that "shootOnSite" link at the bottom of your news feed when displayed on your site, and at the top of the feed's NewsPage that is presented when you click the red-and-green "E" icon associated with the desired feed.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ enfeedia.com 6473 20 Mar 2010 09:03:00 PST FeedBack ( 0) | If you want to insert a YouTube video directly into an item of your Enfeedia feed, simply copy the URL provided by YouTube and paste it into the appropriate entry form when adding or editing your item. See How to podcast your YouTube video and embed the podcast on your website on our Tips feed for details. This item includes such a video as an example. (See "where is the video" if you do not see the video below.)


[No video above? View video] ]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 5188 29 Dec 2009 07:12:55 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Prior to this enhancement, Freelancers were not permitted to change the value in the "Category" field of the RSS feed. The feed owner could lock down the category value, giving the owner control over on-site displays using filters.

WIth this change, the Freelancer can add words to the category, with those words being appended to what the feed owner specified. This provides the feed owner to further filter the on-site feed display to select only those items that match the Freelancer's addition.

For example, if a Freelancer is assigned to a spot on a feed pertaining to real estate, the Freelancer could include the MLS number for the home being descreibed in the Category field. The feed owner could display the feed on site in a place where that home is described, and display the feed item only for that home, using the filtering feature, so only that home in the feed appears at that spot on the website.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ enfeedia.com 5056 11 Dec 2009 16:12:39 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Following on the announcement of the Ping feature, Enfeedia announces the availability of code snippets to display a +PING button on your website. When the +PING button is clicked, a screen is opened to provide the ability to register for ping email when new items are posted on the feed associated with that +PING button. The screen that opens is the same one that open when the "Set Up Pings" link at the top of the NewsPage is clicked.

For an example, see the top of the Enfeedia home page. You will find the +PING button under the Painless Tutorial link.

To get the code snippet for the +PING button, go to Stylize & Promote Feeds and follow the on-screen instructions.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ping.php?AN=enfeedia&FN=enfeedia enfeedia.com 5034 10 Dec 2009 14:12:33 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Effective immediately, Enfeedia now offers its Ping method for notification of new postings on Enfeedia-hosted feeds. Here's how it works: At the top of any NewsPage, you will find the "Set Up Pings" link. Click it to begin the simple three-step process. First, you provide us your email address in a form. Second, we send you an email validation code. Third, you copy that code into a form back on Enfeedia.

That's all there is to it. There are no accounts to set up anywhere. To protect your privacy, we do not record the email address you provide us until you give us the correct validation code. Simply hold the Enfeedia window open, go to your email reader to get the email with the code, and return to the open window to enter the code. Once you submit the code, we then store your email address in our database. And we never sell or offer your email address to others under any conditions.

Once your ping for a feed is set up, you will receive notification by email of new postings between approximately 10 and 20 minutes after the posting. Try it -- select the Enfeedia news feed as an example.

UPDATE- Now the account owner for a feed can set up pings for others, simply by entering the email address and the account password. Enfeedia automatically sends email to the person informing them that the ping has been registered, plus instructions on how to unregister the pings.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ping.php?AN=enfeedia&FN=enfeedia enfeedia.com 4833 19 Nov 2009 13:11:07 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia introduces the 'Dateline' feature to items posted by Freelance writers. Dateline is a term used within the newspaper industry to indicate the location origin of the story (e.g., Washington) but no longer actually includes date or time information. The dateline will appear at the beginning of the news item description (e.g., "WASHINGTON - The president signed into law today a bill that...").

The owner of an Enfeedia-hosted news feed can pre-set the dateline for freeelance items in that feed, i.e., the freelancer does not enter the dateline. Additionally, the owner of the feed can control whether the dateline is just plain text or is a text-link to a separate Log Feed in which the freelancer's postings accumulate. (A freelancer's Log Feed offers additional publication or promotional value to the freelancer.)

A significant value of the dateline is offering the owner of the feed containing freelance postings the ability to include a distinctive label for each freelancer's postings. For example, if the theme of a feed is travel destinations, and if freelance writers are assigned to various destinations, the dateline can be used to indicate that travel destination without imposing on the freelancer some convention on the postings to provide that indication. Similarly, if the theme is investments, the dateline could indicate "stocks", "bonds", "real estate" and so on, with a freelance writer assigned to each investment topic.

For an example of the use of datelines, see Vacation Rentals In The News.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ enfeedia.com 4831 19 Nov 2009 09:11:41 PST FeedBack ( 0) | You can know experiment with posting and editing items onto a "demo" feed by going to Enfeedia's Sandbox. Instructions are provided. Give it a try!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/sandbox enfeedia.com 4462 19 Sep 2009 11:09:23 PST FeedBack ( 0) | If you browse to readafeed.com, you will enter Enfeedia in 'lite' mode. This mode provides a streamlined way to read a feed only knowing the account name. You will be given a list of feeds in that account if the account isn't unlisted. Or if it is unlisted, you can enter the feed name directly.

Once the NewsPage for the selected feed is displayed using this lite mode, you can edit it (add items, edit items, delete items) in a more streamlined fashion by clicking the shootOnSite link at the upper left of the NewsPage.

For lite mode, the assumption is made you already have some experience using Enfeedia, because much of the explanatory information is removed in lite mode. However, even with very little experience using Enfeedia, you will find using lite mode pretty obvious.

The streamlined format of ReadAFeed is especially convenient for cell phone access to Enfeedia for posting items and reading feeds, because of the reduced text and narrow screen format appropriate for call phone viewing.

Give it a try with your free account.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 4453 17 Sep 2009 15:09:40 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Previously, a Gazette webpage tended to be targeted at public newsletter or bulletin board type applications. Enfeedia has now released an upgrade to the Gazette -- and renamed the feature "Snippets" -- that provides for secure (password-protected) communications among organizations of any kind wishing to benefit from RSS technology without publishing their information publicly. Consider corporate inter-department communications, project management organizations, dispersed sales forces, and family communications.

To make your Snippets page private, upgrade your membership to the Enfeediac level, then go to "About My Account" and specify a Privacy Password.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 4057 16 Jul 2009 16:07:56 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Now you can have your latest Enfeedia feed posting be automatically posted on your Twitter account. The Tweet comprises your feed title and link. Let your friends, family and associates know so they can follow your message stream. If you have an enterprise or endeavor for which timely information is critical, encourage other to open a Twitter account and follow you!

Interested in trying this out? Contact us for more information.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3942 29 Jun 2009 10:06:01 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Now you can post your items faster and easier with the "shootOnsite" link to a special Enfeedia log-in screen. Feeds displayed on-site and in the NewsPage format include a shootOnSite text link that when clicked, opens a simple login window for adding items to your feed. All you need to remember is your password. So when you are viewing your website, you are just a few clicks away from adding a news item.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3933 22 Jun 2009 18:06:59 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Beginning to day, a list of featured feeds is presented on the Enfeedia home page. Inclusion in the list is based on a combination of criteria including posting frequency. Benefits to the feed publishers include additional exposure for their enterprises as well as improved search engine page ranking.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3897 09 Jun 2009 20:06:50 PST FeedBack ( 0) | With the new category filter feature, items in a feed can be selectively displayed. The feed publisher can enter target words into the feed category field (a standard field on all RSS feeds) when adding or editing a feed item. Using Enfeedia's shootOnSite script for displaying the feed on a website, filters can be specified which are compared to the target words in the category field. Only items having a target word matching the filter are displayed.

Two filters are available. If both are specified, both must match target words for an item to be displayed.

As an example, consider a feed which presents news for cities in various states. The category for each item can contain the city and state names (using underscores to connect multi-word names). By specify a state name filter with the shootOnSite script, only items pertaining to that state will be displayed. If the second filter specifies a city name, then only items pertaining that city in that state will be displayed.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3860 02 Jun 2009 16:06:02 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Try the FREE Communicator membership. Then graduate to one of the highly featured membership levels that make Enfeedia the most powerful RSS ONLINE PUBLISHING SYSTEM (tm) available.

Build ecommerce sites.

Publish photo galleries using categories for ease in locating items.

Add site search tools to your feed items.

Exploit collaborative posting with Editor and Reporter modes, including moderation.

Embed PayPal purchase buttons to your items.

Publish a "Headline" feed that captures and aggregates your postings made to other feeds in your account.

Implement an automated "item rental" business to advertisers for profit.

Add Google ads (Adsense) to your dedicated NewsPage, that pay to your Google account.

Password protect selected items for members-only applications -- great for publishing an online for-fee newsletter when combined with the PayPal tools.

Publish a multi-feed "gazette" with ease.

Display your feed items directly on your site for site visitors and search engines.

So get started now with this powerful promotional tool, and let us know what creative applications you've found for Enfeedia!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/memberships.html enfeedia.com 3794 20 Apr 2009 13:04:03 PST FeedBack ( 0) | With the Publisher-Pro membership, you can now add a PayPal "Add-To-Cart" purchase button to any items in your RSS feed. Go to PayPal to create the button -- specifying your merchandise, purchase price, etc -- then get your button code from PayPal. Simply copy the "value" number associated with the "hosted button id" within that code and enter it with your item posting.

The button will appear in your feed offering your audience a method to purchase the item, using their PayPal account or a credit card without even having a PayPal account.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3791 19 Apr 2009 22:04:05 PST FeedBack ( 0) | WIth the latest update of Enfeedia, feed publishers can now specify that a "Contact Feed Owner" button be posted on the NewsPage, just below the feed title. Upon clicking it, a form opens for the site visitor to write an email message and have it sent to the Account Owner's email address. The email address is kept out of view of spammers who harvest email addresses from websites. Check out our feed as an example.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3541 25 Mar 2009 12:03:14 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia offers multiple ways people can collaborate to write items for feeds. The Account Owner can of course post items. And the Account Owner can provide for an Editor or Reporters to post items onto a feed using special passwords.

Enfeedia now supports optional moderation of Reporter postings onto feeds. If moderation is selected for a feed, any item posted to that feed by the Reporter is captured but not inserted into the feed until approved. This editorial oversight feature provides the ability for the Account Owner to review the Reporter's posting prior to it going online, either directly or by delegating that oversight authority to an Editor.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3503 14 Mar 2009 21:03:41 PST FeedBack ( 0) | If you've been caught between wanting a large image embedded in your feed item description and the impact of load time of the page showing that image, you now have a solution. With the Image OnSite Display Suppression feature, you can include a large image with your description but cause a camera icon to be substituted into the OnSite display of your feed (using the ShootOnSite feature). When one clicks the camera icon, the image is opened. But because the small camera icon is presented in place of your image, the load time of your web page is not affected.

This feature only affects display of the image when the feed is displayed on your web page.Your image is not suppressed in the NewsPage display and is included in your feed, at thumbnail size. And when that thumbnail image is clicked, either a full size version of the image is displayed, or a web page that you chose instead is opened.

Go to Stylize & Promote Feeds to get your code snippet to control how your feed is displayed on your web page, i.e., "OnSite".]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 3344 30 Dec 2008 15:12:14 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Today, Vacation Rentals In the News begins operation, offering vacationers a selection of act-now special vacation homes. The service is based on a single feed, "InTheNews", that providers of vacation homes can post onto, as Freelancers. Spots on the feed are consigned to those providers. And when they post, their item is automatically "autologged" to their own news feed.

During its introductory phase, membership in the service will be limited, to ensure an orderly start-up.]]> http://www.vacationrentalsinthenews.com enfeedia.com 3326 18 Dec 2008 13:12:28 PST FeedBack ( 0) | With Enfeedia's Freelance Logging feature, when a freelance writer publishes an item onto a hosted feed, that item is automatically and simultaneously posted on a feed owned by the freelance writer. Whereas the freelance writer publishes only to the one (or several) item spot(s) designated by the feed owner, all those items accumulate over time on the freelance writer's feed, building a powerful tool for the freelance writer to use for his/her own benefit. Consider these applications...

A real estate advertising organization hosts a feed to which (s)he designates real estate agents as freelance writers for a fee. The advertiser places that feed on important websites reaching the real estate buying public. Agents publish onto that feed to promote their business with news pertaining to their market. And when they do, those items also accumulate in their own feed that they can use on their website, or other websites, for additional impact.

Similarly, an advertiser of vacation rentals providers can contract with those providers to display their postings on the advertisers site, as freelance writers. Their postings accumulate in their own feeds for use on their site, giving them a marketing engine to further their businesses.

And so on, for promoting other businesses like restaurants, financial advisors, and event planners. Sign up today for the "Publisher" membership to prosper from these features.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ enfeedia.com 3170 25 Nov 2008 07:11:17 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia introduces automatic 'Headline' posting onto a news feed you specify as your Headline feed in your account. If you have multiple news feeds in your account, you will find this feature useful for your viewers in that they can subscribe to, or set up alerts for, the Headline feed and be notified whenever an item is posted to any feed in the account. The automatically posted item in the Headline feed comprises just the item title which links over to the feed where you posted this item.

To pick a feed to serve as the Headline feed, go to Set Up Feeds, select the Advanced Data Entry Mode, and select "Make this feed a Headline feed". You can make the selection when adding a feed or when editing an existing feed.

Whenever you post an item on any other feed in your account, using Advanced Data Entry Mode, you can specify that it also be added to your Headline feed. You will find the check box towards the bottom of the data entry form.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/ enfeedia.com 3131 18 Nov 2008 10:11:19 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Implementation of NewsOnSite using the ShootOnSite news reader script has been improved, adding clarity to the instructions and improved navigation. Enfeedia's NewsOnSite feature provides you the ability to display your feed directly on your website, if your webserver supports PHP. A full explanation of support requirements are spelled out. (Most webservers provide the required support).

The feed is displayed by an Enfeedia-developed "news reader" script called ShootOnSite. You can elect to use the script that's located on the Enfeedia server or you can upload a copy onto your own server. Either way, by placing a small Enfeedia-supplied code "snippet" on one of your web site pages, the feed will be displayed right at that spot on that page. The code snippet executes the ShootOnSite script to perform that function.

Not only will visitors to your site appreciate such quick and easy access to your most current information, rather than have to search your site for what's new, but also search engines will reward your site with higher search results page placement because of the value they place on fresh content.

NewsOnSite comes with your free "Communicator" membership. Sign up now and get the benefits of on-site feed presentation!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/promote-news.php enfeedia.com 3040 29 Oct 2008 09:10:42 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia is now offering two ways to display your Enfeedia-generated and hosted news feed on your own website. Choose either "NewsOnSite" or "ShootOnSite".

To use NewsOnSite, simply insert a code snippet that Enfeedia provides to you that will execute the NewsOnSite script on the Enfeedia site. Go to the "Promote News" tab at enfeedia.com to get that code.

To use ShootOnSite,
(1) download our ShootOnSite script and upload it to the directory that holds the web page upon which you want to display your feed, and
(2) install a code snippet that Enfeedia provides (that executes that local script) onto your webpage where you want that feed displayed.

Both cases require that your host support PHP. But whereas your host must also support "PHP external includes" for NewsOnSite, not so for ShootOnSite. So if your host us unwilling to support those "external includes", ShootOnSite is just the thing for you.

For an example of ShootOnSite, view the Run Away To Santa Fe Vacation Rentals website. Look about midway down the page.

Download the ShootOnSite script here. We are in the process of adding the code snippet generator for ShootOnSite, but in the meantime, here is a simple version you can try:

]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 2854 21 Aug 2008 15:08:05 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Available immediately, Enfeedia's FreeLancer feature.

With this feature, the owner of an RSS news feed can assign writing privileges to a freelance writer for any feed item or items. Privilege is granted by providing a Freelance Password, done so on an item-by-item basis. The same Freelance Password can be assigned to multiple items across multiple feeds owned by one owner to give the freelance writer access to all those items, conveniently offering those items to the writer once signed in. A freelancer signs in using the account name and the special Freelance Password -- that's it.

Until the account owner revokes the password, the freelancer can maintain the item as consistent with the assignment. Then at some point, the assignment can be discontinued simply by deleting the password.

Consider these examples of applications:

-- The owner of a stock-tracking news feed can assign writing responsibilities to specialists on those individual stocks.
-- A department manager can assign writing responsibilities to direct reports using the feed as a real-time no-email auto-alerting status reporting system.
-- A real estate broker can assign writing responsibilities to individual agents in the office to produce a comprehensive brokerage information feed for clients.
-- An entrepreneurial account owner can offer an advertising feed, for restaurants for example, where each restaurant can provide a freelance writer to post promotional information, including posting seasonal specials, menu changes, holiday events, and so on.

The Freelancer feature is available at the "Publisher" membership level and higher.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 2826 12 Aug 2008 15:08:54 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia announces release of the "Gazette" feature and is making it available for a limited time with the "Publisher" membership.

The Gazette is a multi-feed group-published online "newspaper". One builds the custom Gazette for their account simply by filling out a form. Entries include title, subtitle, title link, additional links, and up to 16 feeds. For each feed, the user can specify how many stories to display, and how much of each story to display (with the full story presented by click a "read the feed" link).

Furthermore, for each feed, the user can specify one of three styles: "Standard" (users with a password can read any story and post to any feed), "For Members Eyes Only" (users need a special password to read the story, but can see the title), and "Owner Posting Only" (only the owner of that feed can post to that feed).

You can think of the Gazette as a multi-user blog. For each feed, a visitor to the Gazette is given the opportunity to subscribe to the feed or receive email alerts upon new postings, and to share content on popular social networking sites.

Consider the possibilities: community bulletin boards (e.g. for members of home owners associations), clubs, family shared newsletters (with each family member having his/her own feed), real estate agents, and more.

Check it out at Enfeedia.com. Sign up for the Publisher membership. Once you are enrolled, click "Publish Gazette" and get going.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com internet/RSS enfeedia.com 2733 23 Jul 2008 16:07:25 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Do you find RSS feeds to be somewhat difficult to understand? Like anything else, when you first encounter something new, it can be confusing. Wouldn't it be nice to have a simple explanation about RSS from a good teacher? Then this video is for you. ]]> http://www.blip.tv/file/205570/ enfeedia.com 2684 10 Jul 2008 08:07:04 PST FeedBack ( 0) | All feeds generated by Enfeedia are compatible with both RSS and Atom standards. So you don't have to worry about that arcane detail when selecting a news reader. See for yourself, go to Feed Validator, plug in the address of the news feed you wish to check, and get the results. You can get the address of the feed by clicking on the RSS icon for the feed and copying it from your browser address bar. (If your browser substitutes "feed" for "html", you will need to reverse it back to "html" when you enter it into Feed Validator.)]]> http://www.feedvalidator.org/ enfeedia.com 2683 29 Jul 2008 06:07:45 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Enfeedia announces the immediate availability of the "Publisher" membership level.

New features:

- Advertisements omitted from your NewsPage. (By the way, ads are never inserted, at any level membership, into a news feed.)

- Flexible "Editor / Reporter" feature for group collaboration. Others can post items into your feed, given a password you provide, without accessing each other's submittals. Editors have the priviege of approval of reporter news items before they appear on-line.

- More of your custom news feeds with more news items per feed. Consider creating "feed arrays" where items in a "master" feed link to "subordinate" feeds. One news feed address leads to all connected feeds. Imagine a real estate master feed with each item linking to a dedicated feed for a specific property that displays an annotated picture gallery. Check out this example NewsPage.

- Ability to insert a Google site and web search tool directly into any news item of your feed. Use your news feeds to lure readers of your feed to your website.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 1921 28 Apr 2008 14:04:18 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Simply by specifying the address of a website to be searched and a nickname for that website, Enfeedia will automatically insert a Google search box into your news item. (We also override, for news items with Google search boxes, any item length restrictions you may have specified to be sure the Google tool is fully and properly displayed.)

Readers of your news feed can easily search your website using their search terms ... and can also search the Web using the same tool. Imagine how well-written news items can be used to pull visitors into your site, giving them the ability to explore the topic using search terms of their choosing.

This news item includes the search box, with the RunAway GetAway Alliance website used as an example. Thinking about a ski vacation? Give "ski" a try. Enjoy!

Web RunAwayGetAway

]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 1041 18 Jan 2008 00:01:54 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Here's how. Improve your site's Search Engine Results Placement using RSS News Feeds in three ways.

First, search engines know from which search term a site was reached, and for how long a site visitor stayed on that page once there. It's widely believed that with this knowledge, search engines will improve the SERP for a search term the longer one views the site using that search term. By including well-written news feeds on your site, you can retain the visitor's attention and keep them around for awhile longer, thereby improving your SERP.

Second, when you include news feeds on your site and add a news item from time to time, you keep your website "fresh". Search engines reward sites with fresh content, compared to relatively static sites, with higher SERP. Yes, you could just change your website HTML code from time to time, but hohw much easier it is using a news feed for this purpose: no coding, no file uploading, no web designer fees.

Finally, the content of your news items is "crawled" be search engines. If you write news with thoughtfully selected keywords organically intertwined with your text, your web page will be seen increasingly more relevant to search terms appearing in your news items as well as across your site, again improving your SERP.

Don't miss out on the news feed opportunity. They're easy, powerful ... and free.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 1026 15 Jan 2008 14:01:28 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Now Enfeedia automatically generates the code for you to include an image and one or more text-links in your news item.

For images, you specify the address for the image and we do the rest. A thumbnail version appears in the news item, and if one clicks the image, the full-size version of the image is presented. Or you can choose to have the image link go to any online document / webpage you want.

For text-links, you simply specify the text to be made into a link, and enter the link for that text. We generate the code to make that text a text-link. Make as many links as you want. Consider the search-results benefit to your website by including links to your site in various news items that you publish.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 926 08 Jan 2008 23:01:16 PST FeedBack ( 0) | Available immediately ... Second-level membership features have been merged into the free feed publishing "Communicator" membership. Enjoy the benefits of multiple feeds and double the number of news items. Existing members have been automatically upgraded.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com/memberships.html enfeedia.com 813 23 Dec 2007 10:12:44 PST FeedBack ( 0) | For Enfeedia-hosted news feeds, it's only necessary to know the account name for the account in which that news feed is published in order to read the feed. No need to enter or copy-and-paste cryptic news feed addresses. Just enter the account name in the provided field. You will then be given the opportunity to select any news feed in that account to be displayed.

If you publish a news feed with Enfeedia, you can easily direct others to your news feed by simply telling them to visit Enfeedia.com and enter your account name ... so make sure your account name is memorable!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 812 08 Jan 2008 23:01:25 PST FeedBack ( 0) | ... if the item is longer than you permit, Enfeedia automatically links it to the full item. No upload of documents required, no cryptic links to provide. With this feature, you can choose to include lengthy articles right in your news feed without taking excessive space on your website. And still enjoy the benefits of on-site news for both your visitors and search engines.]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 811 23 Dec 2007 10:12:37 PST FeedBack ( 0) | ENFEEDIA announces the commencement of unique news publishing services designed not only for the benefit of your audience but also for improved visibility of your website in search engines results placement. During our introduction stage, we will be selecting a limited number of Charter Members who intend to be active news publishers and who would like to help shape the future of ENFEEDIA with their suggestions. Absolutely no prior knowledge of news feeds required, just the desire to communicate. Check us out!]]> http://www.enfeedia.com enfeedia.com 810 23 Dec 2007 10:12:17 PST