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19 Sep 2007
Listphile
I started playing with the Listphile service. This service allows a user to create and manage Lists of Items. One can create either some standard lists, such as text, people lists, video lists, images lists and an atlas. Or one can add fields at will to create one's own list. In order to experiment a bit, I create a list with sundials. I added some fields to the standard atlas list to suit my need.
This service offers many features of desktop MicroContent Clients, so I will discuss the service using that checklist.
The first check is whether the Items in Listphile are MicroContent. Indeed these Items support structure, are flexible (one can extend them) and offer some MicroWeb possibilities through links. There are standard fields, such as titles, descriptions and tags. And each Item has a permalink.
The interface consists of only 2 web-pages: a View-pane and a Items-pane. The View-pane shows a single Item, the location is shown on a map. The Items-pane can be set to maps, lists or thumbnails mode. There are limited sorting possibilities. A separate page is available for a tag cloud.
The service has standard Item functions for viewing, adding, editing and deleting Items. There are only limiting functions for a List itself (editing title, address, etc.).
There are only limited functions for importing an exporting, i.e. no importing and exporting only as RSS and embedded Lists.
The fact that this service is on Internet allows to add some news features. A List can be a social List. This means that multiple authors can work on a single List (still have to check this out). And to help here one has the possibility to see authors and what has been edited. There is some moderation and access control. It is also possible to comment on an Item or author.
I miss the import and export possibilities. I would like to exporting as KML and OPML. I am now locked in. The service is still in beta and I did see some minor errors, but overall it works great.
Categories/tags:
MicroContent •
client •
service •
widget •
field •
location •
tag •
mashing •
type
listphile
PermaLink •
(1)
Comments •
TrackBacks •
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Comments
Hi there—thanks for posting about Listphile, and giving a thorough rundown on what we’ve created. I wanted to mention two things pertinent to your blog post:
1) We will definitely allow KML/OPML/CSV/etc. import and export. It’s just a matter of time and priority for our development team. You are not locked in! I hope that people will use Listphile because they think it’s a great tool, but feel strongly that, in the spirit of the commons and your data rights, that the effort you put into your list/atlas/database is yours, and that data is yours. It’s important that we respect peoples’ time and attention, and I would never want people to feel locked in, the way I have felt with certain (online and offline) apps.
2) We just made an “embed” feature available for every list that gives lists a new portability. The core list still resides on Listphile.com, but now anyone can take a list/atlas/database, and embed it into their site or blog.
Cheers, Steve from Listphile