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13 May 2006
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;