RSS Feed Software Options

Interview with Sharon Housley

Sharon Housley is vice president of marketing for NotePage, Inc., the creator of FreeForAll.

NotePage, Inc. was founded in 1996 as a software company with a focus on communications software. In the fall of 2004, NotePage launched the FeedForAll product line, which involves RSS feed creation, editing, and publishing. Housley has written numerous articles and tutorials related to RSS, podcasting, and online marketing. She has been marketing online since 1996 and currently manages the content and marketing for more than 100 independent Web sites owned by NotePage.

Farkas: Where did FeedForAll come from?

Housley: FeedForAll was the result of a need that our marketing team had. In their attempts to create RSS feeds for product promotion, they realized the difficulties that an erroneous character or malformed feed could cause. As a result, the marketing team searched for software to create feeds. Unable to find any solutions, our marketers met with our development team and proposed the product. Realizing the need and market opening, our development team worked with our marketers to develop an easy-to-use RSS feed creation application, which has evolved into modern-day FeedForAll.

Farkas: What are the future plans for FeedForAll?

Housley: There are a number of enhancements planned for FeedForAll. I've detailed the enhancements that I can share below:

Improved uploading capabilities

We will be working on a easy way to upload files associated with a feed, all in one simple process. For example, with podcasts, there are audio files referenced in the feed that also need to be uploaded to your Web server. There will be a way to have FeedForAll upload your feed and the audio files, images, etc., all with the click of a button.

Importing

We will also be adding a way to import items easily from other feeds into the current feed. One possible use for this feature would be to create a new feed by picking and choosing items from other existing feeds.

WYSIWYG description editor improvements

We are constantly trying to add small improvements to make FeedForAll more powerful without losing any of its ease of use. For example, the next release will allow you to add images to your item descriptions easily by using the WYSIWYG description editor (and even make them into links).

Farkas: How do you see the realm of podcasting changing in the next few years ?

Housley: I think the quality of podcasts will significantly improve. Businesses will embrace podcasting as a means to further streamline corporate communications, by finding innovative new uses for both internal and external podcasts.

I think online learning will blossom with the advent of podcasting and that innovative new uses of podcasts will help unify the global marketplace . Obviously, advertising and fee-based podcast will evolve , and quality podcasts will become the standard while the lower-quality casts will fade away.

Farkas: What impact do you think FeedForAll has had on podcasting?

Housley: FeedForAll currently makes it extremely easy for anyone to podcast, for very little expense. Some will make a name for themselves and be able to compete with large companies that have deep pockets. Ultimately, professional podcasts, whether made by an individual or a corporation, will survive, but for now, FeedForAll helps even the playing field.

Published by Reinvented Software (www.reinventedsoftware.com; Figure 4.14 ), Feeder is a Macintosh RSS feed creator that makes creating an RSS feed as easy as pie. Feeder is an excellent tool for podcasters who are producing multiple podcasts on a regular basis.

Mentioned in Chapter 3, Propaganda (www.makepropaganda.com) is an all-in-one podcast creation/publishing program that takes you from recording the podcast through editing and finally to creating and publishing the RSS feed. If an all-in-one solution is what you need, Propaganda does the job adequately. That said, there are more elegant individual pieces of software that do what Propaganda does, but the process is not confined to one piece of software.

Also mentioned in Chapter 3, iPodcast Producer is a commercial product that runs $149.95 from Industrial Audio Software's Web site. iPodcast Producer is an all-in-one solution that is acceptable, but again, if elegance and ease of use are your goal, it may be better to put the pieces together piecemeal rather than have this all-in-one package. The one thing that iPodcast Producer does offer is the ability to create the RSS feed for your podcast with relative ease. For those who are looking for all-in-one solutions, this is on par with Propaganda.

BlogMatrix, the creator of Sparks! 2.0 (also mentioned in Chapter 3), offers a free service for sharing your podcasts via its Web site (www. blogmatrix .com). Remember that Sparks! 2.0 is a podcast aggregator as well as an audio recorder, editor, and podcast publisher. Most of its features are free, but if you want to use the recording feature, there is a $10 fee. (The recording feature comes with a 30-day free trial.)