March 23, 2004
Atom

I've got a favor to ask each and every Cementhorizon blogger. Head into your nifty little "Templates" area (where you can edit stylesheets and the main index). Open up the "RSS 0.91 Index" file and find a line that looks like this

<description><$MTEntryExcerpt encode_xml="1"$></description>

Replace it with the following

<description><$MTEntryBody encode_xml="1"$></description>

And do the same for the "RSS 1.0 Index" file.
Explanation: Each CH weblog broadcasts what's known as an RSS feed. RSS aggregators can gather these feeds and keep you up to date on tens to hundreds of RSS feeds in an easy-to-access organized format. However, CH blogs are currently set up to only broadcast the Excerpt from each entry instead of the full text, which means anyone trying to get your entries will only see "Blah blah blah blah...." instead of "Blah blah blah blah bork bork! I have a potato!" Which really defeats the purpose of having an RSS aggregator in the first place.

If you're looking for RSS aggregators to try out, I recommend either:
Windows
SharpReader (free but harder to use) or FeedDemon ($$$, but beautiful and foolproof).
Mac OS X
Shrook (free, beautiful, and foolproof)

Atom!

Posted on March 23, 2004 10:33 AM
Comments

Done and done. Thanks for the heads up on RSS.

Posted by: sean on March 23, 2004 11:04 AM

i keep getting the following error message:

Build error in template 'RSS 1.0 Index': Error in tag: You used an 'MTEntryBody' tag outside of the context of an entry; perhaps you mistakenly placed it outside of an 'MTEntries' container?

Posted by: michele on March 23, 2004 11:48 AM

The place where you need to be replacing the tag is near the bottom of the file. The occurrence you're looking for should be preceded by

and followed by

If you're replacing the right one, you should copy/paste your template into a file and send it to me. The MTEntryExcerpt (original) won't work unless it's inside an MTEntries container, so it shouldn't complain when you switch to MTEntryBody. This might be indicative of a deeper problem?

Posted by: Jacob on March 23, 2004 12:23 PM

See, but why should I make it easier and more efficient for people to read my entries without being on my page? You have to go to Snoqualmie if you want to know what's going on in Snoqualmie. Snoqualmie is an insular city that way. I know that, because I live there.

Posted by: dianna on March 23, 2004 09:06 PM

ah-ha. i fixed it.

Posted by: michele on March 24, 2004 11:13 AM

what about a client for Linux?

Posted by: dr v on March 24, 2004 01:10 PM

Liferea @ http://liferea.sourceforge.net/ (gnome)

Several Firefox/Mozilla extensions @ http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/ (RSS Reader Panel is quite nice)

Amphetadesk @ http://www.disobey.com/amphetadesk/ (actually a little webpage-maker)

Evolution has an RSS reader built right in, but only displayes the headlines.

Syndigator @ http://syndigator.sourceforge.net/

Posted by: Jacob on March 24, 2004 01:39 PM

wow...I kind of expected to stump you with that one... I'd tried a couple RSS clients for Linux but didn't like them much...I'll try your suggestions tomorrow and let you know what I think. Thanks for the tip.

Posted by: dr v on March 24, 2004 02:18 PM

jacob, in that I'm and admin, if you'd like I can update everyone's template myself.
-g

p.s. i also get to use funky SQL search and replace syntax!

p.p.s. I have to do this kinda thing to all of your templates about once a month as it is. =) And you all didn't even know. hehe

Posted by: gene on March 24, 2004 10:42 PM

I figured that I'd ask people to do it, because I'm sure there are some who would rather not broadcast their entire entries.
But it's good to know that my word is law within the CH admin.

Dear Gene: Please replace everyone's background with pictures of sad-eyed puppies. k thx bye

Posted by: Jacob Corn on March 25, 2004 02:09 PM

mwee hwee hwee hwee hweeeeee!

Posted by: michele on March 25, 2004 02:58 PM

No, damn you!

Kittens with balls of string!

Posted by: dianna on March 25, 2004 03:03 PM

Awesome! I was hoping Gene would take the bait. Comedic genius.

Posted by: Jacob on March 25, 2004 04:20 PM

And now, we can all point and laugh at Jacob for being the only one with puppies. HA! Puppies are for losers! Puppy loser!

Posted by: dianna on March 25, 2004 04:38 PM

It's true. I can never remember where I put those darn things.

Posted by: Jacob on March 25, 2004 04:42 PM

ahem. ahem. i claim credit for the puppies. i asked gene for them to be on your page AND i sent him links of the pictures of many cute puppy faces. the one chosen for you is a bishon frize. which i am spelling wrong.

Posted by: michele on March 25, 2004 06:49 PM
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