Bernhard Seefeld's Blog

Automatic RSS Subscription Via XML Button

Update: As one could expect, this has already been done quite a while ago (found in Jeremy's comments). A pity, that it didn't get more adoption so far. I'll leave the rest of the post here, but it's pretty redundant to the original.

Dave Winer describes a solution to the problem of growing number of subscribe buttons for all the different aggregators. Jeremy Zawodny suggest a local helper application. I think that for aggregators and tools sitting on the local machine, the problem is sufficiently solved by the feed:// protocol, although its penetration is very low. I fear that requiring a local helper application reverses some key advantages of the web-based aggregators, i.e. the unproblematic deployment, even in controlled environments and to some degree their portability.

I'd like to suggest a simplified version of Dave's suggestion: Similar to his case, link only to one server, roughly in the same way the myYahoo button works. This server is run by an independent entity, so all the provisions of Dave apply here, too. After clicking on the link the server displays a collection of all those subscribe buttons re-linked with the original feed, but also remembers which one was clicked. The next time the user subscribes to a feed, he is either automatically redirected to the appropriate subscribe link or at least, that last selection is the default selection at the top.

Participating aggregators could quickly pass their users through this server (preferably through a redirect) after registration, so that the server learns that this user has an account on this aggregator, giving him an appropriate hint on the next subscription. Alternatively, the server could directly ask if the user wanted this aggregator as the default aggregator directly after the registration.

Of course, the whole story with the buttons is also a branding issue; not only carrying the Yahoo name over many more sites, but vice-versa using the Yahoo name as a recognition point ("Ah yes, I have this. I know how this works"). So if anything, this new solution should be able to either use the orange XML button or the name RSS as a basis of the button design.

Also, Dave's suggestion has a more powerful goal, possibly centralizing the whole management of subscriptions.

BTW: quicksub is a local javascript implementation of a similar idea, although without a memory.