Publishing

Secret service

I have been asked to check out a bookmarking service that is still in beta, so I will not reveal it’s name. I will fill in the blanks later. But I thought it would be a good moment to see whether my MicroContent Client checklist would also work for this service. And where any problems would lie in the checklist. I start with checklist version 1.4.

Comments on the checklist:

• Platform - naturally I had to delete the MacOS-specific category. I guess I have to switch to some web browser list. I can imagine things like adherence to standards, lightness of web-pages, Ajax-support, etc. All the things we would like to see;
• Identity - the user has to login into his personal account at the service. On MacOSX one has to login into one’s account as well;
• Publishing - a strong feature of a service is, is that one can access the data from any place with a browser. One is freed from the computer. This is unlike local MicroContent clients. This adds a new publishing method to the list (.Mac, FTP, RPC). This allows user to browse bookmarks of other users;
• Social stuff - the service add some social stuff, such as a list of friends, an inbox. I see these more like other application and not related to the MicroContent Client itself;

This service scores only 18 points, which is pretty low. There do not seem to be much features in the service, but that might grow in the future.

• MicroContent (5/10) - to what degree does the client support MicroContent Items?
  • Structure - YES, the service supports bookmarks with fields such as title, url and description;
  • Multiplicity - NO;
  • Flexibility - NO;
  • MicroWeb - NO;
  • Merged - NO;
  • Pick-list Fields - YES for tags;
  • Title - YES;
  • Description - YES;
  • Tags - YES, hierarchical structure;
  • Rating - NO;

 

• Interface (5/10) - does the client have the characteristic layout?
• View-pane - YES, in a details tab. Hovering over a preview (thumbnail) of the bookmarked page shows the bookmark information as well;
• View-pane styles - NO;
• View-pane Window - NO;
• Items-pane - YES;
• Items-pane Views - YES, there is a thumbnails and list view;
• Items-pane Sorting - YES,
• Items-pane Fields - NO;
• Lists-pane - NO;
• Browser-pane - YES, one can browse the tag cloud;
• Pane layout change - NO;

 

• Item functions (4/10) - functions for managing individual Items.

  • View - YES;
  • Create - YES, but only through a bookmarklet;
  • Edit - YES;
  • Mark - NO;
  • Search - NO;
  • Persistence - NO;
  • Access Control - NO;
  • Duplicate Control - NO;
  • Delete - YES;
  • Download - NO;

• List functions (2/17)

  • Local - NO;
  • Connected - NO;
  • Shared - NO;
  • Remote - YES, all bookmarks reside on the service platform
  • Handpicked - NO;
  • Smart - YES, these are based on tags. Not sure whether I should call this smart lists though;
  • Recommendations - NO;
  • List Metadata - NO;
  • Statistics -NO;
  • Directories - NO;
  • Add - NO;
  • Edit - NO;
  • Show - NO;
  • Backup/revert - NO;
  • Refresh - NO;
  • Remove - NO;
  • Delete - NO;

• Groups (0/8) - the service does not support groups.

  • Unlimited Depth - NO;
  • Local - NO;
  • Connected - NO;
  • Shared - NO;
  • Remote - NO;
  • Directories - NO;
  • Add - NO;
  • Edit - NO;
  • Delete - NO;

• Import (1/6) - does the Client allow for importing Items?

  • Classic - NO;
  • Standard - NO;
  • Proprietary - NO;
  • Application - NO;
  • Bookmarklet - YES;
  • Drag&drop - NO;

 

• Export (1/14) - does the client allow for exporting Items?

  • Classic - NO;
  • Standard - NO;
  • Proprietary - NO;
  • HTML - NO;
  • Print - NO;
  • Feed - YES, an RSS-feed for your bookmarks is available;
  • Local - NO;
  • Connected - NO;
  • Shared - NO;
  • Remote: .Mac - NO;
  • Remote: FTP - NO;
  • Remote: RPC - NO;
  • Drag&drop - YES, but this is a browser feature;
  • Application - YES, one can email a bookmark to friends;

tags: microcontent, type, bookmark,

Extratasty

This service allows users to publish, search, review drink recipes and get recommendations.

A user can publish a drink recipe using a title, a fixed ingredient list with amounts, directions and tags. An ingredient is automatically turned into a tag.

Users can search recipes through (popular) tags or free search. They can also comment on and rate recipes.

A user can define the things he has in his bar and the service gives the correponding recipes.

As the service only supports structure, it guess only 1 MicroContent web2.0 rating.

tags: drink recipe

Clipmarks

This service allows users to create bookmarks, but with an extra twist. In this service a bookmark is called a clipmark. A clipmark consists of a Title, Tags, Remarks, Folder (think category) and some privacy stuff (make clipmark public) and most importantly a Clip. The clip is something copied from the from a website. The user can select a piece of text, an images, etc. to be copied and clipped. With each clip there is a corresponding URL where the clip came from. An interesting feature is using the Clip It function in a Firefox extension. This allow the user to moise over items in a webpage, clicking an item and then saving it as clipmark.

An user can also view clipmarks created by other users.

• Structured MicroContent - YES, as shown above;
• Data Outside - NO;
• Licenses - NO, although the use can decide whether a clipmark must be private of public;
• Feeds Galore - YES, one can subscribe to clipmarks from an author;
• Web API’s - NO, not that I am aware of;
• Desktop Integration - YES, it is just standard blog-format, so any RSS reader can be used;
• Single Identity - NO;
• MicroWeb - NO;
• Wild Structure - NO;

Metawishlist

This service allows a user to publish his wishlist. A wishlist contains products that the creator wants to have, read, listen to, etc. A wishlist is a structured record of the product, consisting of a title, a link to a product page, a link to an image, price, tags, quantity, priority, comments and a list. With a bookmarklet the productlink, image link and price fields are filled in, when one views the corresponding product page. The nice thing of the service is that it creates something independent from specific suppliers. The service allows to import items from the Amazon.com wishlist.

Naturally the service also has some social stuff. View who wants an item as well, browse tags, etc. Also easy to copy an item to your own wishlist.

tags: wishlist

Douban

Yet another service, which allows a user to create a library of books and music. The basic MicroContent type is the review, although a user can limit himself to just bookmark the item. Through a search function the user can find the link for a book or CD. I assume the relevant information is pulled from Amazon. For each item ithe user can set the reading status (has read, reading, want to), a rating (5 levels), tags, a short remark and a review (with spoiler warning if required). It is not possible to link to a single review, no permalink. There is a link to my library. The service is lacking import and output options at the moment (10-dec-05), but it is a very nice start.

Stuffopolis

A service where a user can store an overview of his possesions, such as CD’s, books, board games, etc. A user can also publish his collection, so that it can be search by others. The service integrates with Amazon in order to populate various fields.

LibraryThing

This service allows a user to manage the books he owns. The user can enter his books through either an ISBN of UPC code. Or he can fill out the various fields for a Book bookmark. This book bookmark has also some personal fields such as tags, comments, a review (url) and a rating. Thus the MicroContent type is like a review. The user has various edit possibilities. Nice are the very extended import facilities. One can for instance point to an Amzon wishlist to import the items there.

The service also has a feed with the recently added books. And there are some recommendation functions, which give related books or users.

This service can be seen as an online MicroContent client. It has features such as items (the review) and panes (view and items).

• Structured MicroContent - YES, a review;
• Data Outside - YES,  there are many import possibilites;
• Licenses - NO;
• Feeds Galore - NO, just the latest books added. And there is a simple export possibility;
• Web API’s - NO, not that I am aware of;
• Desktop Integration - NO;
• Single Identity - NO;
• MicroWeb - NO;
• Wild Structure - NO;

tags: microcontent, type, review, service, librarything

Suprglu

This service allows the user to combine multiple feeds into a single webpage and publish that page (such as my page). The user can also point to various other services and retrieve the corresponding information. Thus the user can combine any feed and create something new.

bbBuddy

This service allows a user to publish pieces of MicroContent. The structure of this MicroContent type consists of a subject, a body, a source and a label. The idea is that any data that one posts in a discussion board, in comments, etc, is copied in this service.

PageBites

Service that allows user to create and publish jo postings and resumes. The service also crawls the Internet for resumes and job openings.

• Structured MicroContent - YES, there seems to be some structure, but it is not very formalised;
• Data Outside - YES, the MicroContent can be outside, but I am not sure how the service understands the structure;
• Licenses - NO;
• Feeds Galore - YES, there are some feed possibilities;
• Web API’s - NO, not that I am aware of;
• Desktop Integration - Yes, it is just standard blog-format, so any RSS reader can be used;
• Single Identity - NO;
• MicroWeb - NO;
• Wild Structure - NO, although one can create onything on a resume;

Remember the Milk

This service allows a user to manage and hosts its to-do items. The service supports lists to organise the items. Users can subscribe to todo’s through Atom or iCal. Lists can also be shared to people on the contact lists or to the entire net.

• Structured MicroContent - YES, todo items have nice structure;
• Data Outside - NO;
• Licenses - NO, there is some access control (private, contacts, free);
• Feeds Galore - YES, one can publsih Atom or ical-feeds;
• Web API’s - NO, not that I am aware of;
• Desktop Integration - YES, through the feeds, but only for viewing;
• Single Identity - NO;
• MicroWeb - NO;
• Wild Structure - NO;

tags: microcontent; type; todo; service; rememberthemilk;

23 Photo Sharing

This service allows users to manage and publish their photos (images). The user can add the necessary data to a photo, such as a tag or comments. Interestingly the servcie precooks some service queries to other providers based on tags.

• Structured MicroContent - YES, image with various fields;
• Data Outside - YES, you can integrate a blog;
• Licenses - NO, although you can set an image as private;
• Feeds Galore - YES, several feeds can be created;
• Web API’s - NO, not that I am aware of;
• Desktop Integration - YES, it is just standard blog-format, so any RSS reader can be used;
• Single Identity - NO;
• MicroWeb - YES, it acknowledges the tag-field a a tie in to other services (photo’s, bookmarks, podcasts);
• Wild Structure - NO;

tags: microcontent; service; 23; type; image;

TracksLife

This service allows a user to create and fill tracks. Basically a track can be seen as a list of item. The user can define the fields of an item per track. Each field can be in word, number, money, boolean or paragraph format. The services uses a tabular format to display tracks and items (one row per item). The use can chose to publish a track to the internet. The user can subscribe to RSS-feeds, which remind him to update a track or to the updates for a track.

• Structured MicroContent - YES, each track has structure;
• Data Outside - NO, does not seem relevant here;
• Licenses - NO;
• Feeds Galore - YES, each track can be published as a feed;
• Web API’s - NO, not that I am aware of;
• Desktop Integration - YES, any RSS reader can be used;
• Single Identity - NO;
• MicroWeb - NO;
• Wild Structure - YES, the possibility to create your own track structure is certainly wild;

tags: microcontent; type; wild; service; trackslife;

Vimeo

A service for hosting and publishing video content. It is possible to search in some metadata of the video, such as the title and tags.

tags: microcontent; vimeo; type; video;

CiteULike

An interesting service that allows the user to bookmarks articles found on the web. When a user sees an article on a supported site, he can add the article to his personal literature list on CiteULike. The interesting thing is that information from that article, such as title, authors, journal, abstract, etc are copied as well. CiteULike extracts that information from the web-page.



The interesting thing is that the article information is extracted (an hformat anyone?) and copied. The service is really a variant of bookmarking, but with much more added information. Yet another MicroContent type.



By the way there is tagging as well and sharing of literature. Your literature list can be exported to bibtex and endnotes format, and a RSS-feed is available.

tags: microcontent; service; citeulike; type; literature;