AYP Forum 2.0? -- RSS

[Kirtanman]

Hello & Namaste Yogani & All,

In the "yantra for I am" discussion, I would have posted the (Devanagari) results for everyone to see, but our, er --- "very pre-Web 2.0" forum interface doesn't make it real intuitive to do so.

(And I'm not "dissing" the forum interface Yogani - it's great to have the forum, period -- and an ongoing "thanks and namaste" for creating and hosting it!)



However, if you ever want to upgrade to something a bit more Web 2.0 (where inserting things like graphics, soundfiles, video clips, etc. is really easy, where users can keep up to date on threads by subscribing to them via RSS, etc.) -- please let me know.

I was going to say "drop me a line" - but I decided it would probably be better to do it as a forum thread (hence this post) - I'm probably not the only "tech-ish" AYPer - and certainly don't have a monopoly on good ideas in this realm.

I just don't want to run with the discussion, if you're not interested ...



(Plus, it would be good to know how interested other AYPers are in some of these capabilities -- personally, I would find the RSS subscription feature to be awesome -- I miss a lot of good posts by having to remember to check back manually - and RSS is very non-invasive (and ultra-easy to use) - you just get a little "chiclet" icon on the toolbar in your browser or newsreader -- no emails, or anything like that.)

There may be some truly free options, but for the most part, there are associated costs, but they seems pretty reasonable ($99-$249 set-up / license fee, and $10-$20/mo. for the highest cost options I've seen.)

So ...

Yogani: Please let me / us know if you're interested in discussing.

AYPers: Please let me / us know how much (or "if") you would like to see additional capabilities such as those listed above -- or if you're 100% satisfied "as is" (understanding that it's all Yogani's "call" -- unless he decides to make it a "group thing" --- which is his call, also! )

Cheers & Namaste,

Kirtanman

[Wolfgang]

Suggestion for improvement:
I would like to see that users can indicate their sex (male/female) in their profile.
I am often not sure about a users sex

L&L
Wolfgang

[yogani]

Hi Kirtanman and Wolfgang:

The Snitz forum software has many more features than we are currently using -- just about everything you mentioned. The options have been kept to a bare minimum in the current setup for simplicity's sake, to save on server storage and bandwidth, and to minimize hacker/spammer/virus invasions (they are always trying to break in, and we have a pretty good system in place now for preventing it).

Maybe other Snitz features will be turned on someday. If you want to see more of what Snitz can do, go to the link at the bottom of this page. It is open source freeware -- not counting hosting and upkeep.  

Transforming what we have here to another forum software and database would be a large technical challenge, not to mention an administrative nightmare, so I don't think that is in the cards. Just increasing the options turned on here in Snitz would add considerable upkeep and administration -- not something I can entertain right now. In the digital world, things are seldom as simple as they seem, under the hood that is.

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep the good ideas coming!

The guru is in you.

[Etherfish]

AYP has a myspace page where you can add all of those things. Personally I have problems loading myspace pages because of low bandwidth due to financial restrictions. So this forum as it is, is better for any poor people around the world who can only afford dial-up. Too bad we have to forsake those who don't have a computer and a phone.

[yoginstar]

For what it is worth, the last time I looked up a myspace page linked from this forum I had continuous spam for a while from myspace...  sorry about that...

[Kirtanman]

quote:Originally posted by Etherfish

AYP has a myspace page where you can add all of those things. Personally I have problems loading myspace pages because of low bandwidth due to financial restrictions. So this forum as it is, is better for any poor people around the world who can only afford dial-up. Too bad we have to forsake those who don't have a computer and a phone.

Hi Ether,

I think we're talking about different things.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is kinda-sorta like an email subscription - like Yahoo! and Google groups offer - except that you view the content by clicking on a little icon - called a "chiclet" that sits near the top of your browser, on the toolbar.

For an example of what I'm talking about, please visit:

http://www.taobums.com

... and scroll to the bottom of the screen, and click on the RSS icon (little orange and white thingy).

Voila! To see updates from then on - you just click the Taobums chiclet in your browser toolbar.

To get rid of it, just right-click and delete.

The big difference between RSS and email subscriptions is that RSS does NOT tend to chew up bandwidth, the way email subscriptions do - it's more like having an additional web visitor.

(So the "MySpace Problem" would not be a problem - I have a cable modem - in Silicon Valley they fall between air and food, as in 1. Air 2. Cable Modem 3. Food - regardless of one's financial condition - on the ol' Hierarchy of Needs scale -- and *I* detest MySpace for the same reasons you do -- faster connections do *not* help, vis a vis MySpace!)


Note to Yogani:

To see what's involved in setting up RSS, please check out

http://www.devx.com/xml/Article/10790

Per the growing popularity of RSS, it might be a good way to spread the AYP message -- understanding, of course, that the rate at which you want to "scale" AYP is 100% your call, of course!



As easy or easier would be the addition of fields (i.e. gender) in the profile area - in fact, you could probably get the code to cut-and-paste from the Snitz Forum for their profile form - it includes fields for everything this side of what gum you like to chew on alternate Sundays!



Hope this helps, in one way or another.



Kirtanman

PS - IF you ever decide to check into a more "robust" Forum interface  - please check out http://www.taobums.com - at the bottom of their page is a link to that software package's provider (also open source) - can't recall the name. Just FYI, they offer conversion from one ASP-based package to another, as a service. There is a set-up / license fee ($249 for businesses - for the software, not the transfer - they quote that on a case-by-case basis) -- but what they offer looks pretty slick (Taobums being a decent example) - a proprietary (non-Open Source) vendor would charge several grand - minimum - for what these guys offer for $249.

[yogani]

Hi Kirtanman and All:

I am very interested in any sort of web "viral marketing" programs (RSS and others -- but not spam or unsolicited popups) that could be set up to increase AYP visibility -- preferably the online lessons before the forums, for clarity sake for newcomers.

But I have no time to implement such a thing myself. Any volunteers?

Many thanks!

The guru is in you.

PS -- Having said that, the place to check about an RSS mod for Snitz is with the Snitz folks. It is probably available already. They have every other kind of mod. But remember what I said about AYP forum upgrades in the near term.

But tasteful (non-invasive) technology for spreading the word on AYP far and wide? Oh yes!  

[Athma_Shakti]

Dear Yogani

having vast experience in developing web based sys, i will be happy to offer volunteership to aypsite

[yogani]

quote:Originally posted by Athma_Shakti

Dear Yogani

having vast experience in developing web based sys, i will be happy to offer volunteership to aypsite

Hi AthmaShakti:

That's great. Thank you. What do you recommend for "viral marketing" that will not eat the webmaster (little me) alive?

The guru is in you.

[yogani]

PS: Just a reminder that we have what some have called a pretty good "AYP ambassador" in the form of the radio interview -- 45 minutes long, 20MB downloadable MP3. http://www.aypsite.com/plus/interviews.html 

The more file sharing that can be done with this the better.

The guru is in you.

[Anthem]

Any news Yogani if you will be doing this again?

[Athma_Shakti]

viral marketing is a powerful technique to reach the media easily using email broadcasts, IM's, pop's etc..

this will increase number of hits/users also the traffic/load of the server.

and for webmasters and moderators maintaining the forums is the difficult think in the world haha.

[yogani]

quote:Originally posted by Anthem11

Any news Yogani if you will be doing this again?

Hi Andrew:

Tentatively, I am to be on the same show every Sunday evening in January. It will be announced when it is firm.

Or did I just announce it?

The guru is in you.

[weaver]

Good news Yogani!

Then hopefully you can have opportunity to go more in depth into the teachings of AYP.

[ruirib]

There is code around to add an rss feed to a Snitz forum. Let me know if you are interested and I'll easily add it.