Feedonomics

We really went overboard the last few months when it comes to adding files to your account. We had options to upload from your computer, and copy from the Web, and make bookmarks from the Web. We had different icons to show you whether the file was hosted on our site or on a remote server. In the end we came to call this our matrix design. We found every possible combination of file type and method of adding the file, and then provided the ability to do them all. It was just too much. Even we got confused when talking about it. We have now thrown all that away and started again. Of course, we kept all the files that have already been added, and the URLs for these files are exactly as they were before, so no widgets will break. When you login, and visit your My Files page, you will now see just two buttons: Add Feed, and Add Reading List.

Add Feed means what it says. You can add the URL for any feed that is available on the Web. This will allow you to view it easily in the widget, and provide a Read page to display it on our site. It is no longer possible to save static feed files on the site, however. All feeds added to your My Files list will be dynamic links to the remote file. This means that any changes to the feed file will automatically show up in the widget. This option had been available before, but there were too many ways to make it happen. Now there is only one.

Add Reading List is used to add an OPML file to your My Files listing. We will be transitioning to using Reading List in place of OPML. We have found that new users feel more comfortable with this term, and really don’t care if it is OPML inside. If you try adding a feed using this option, you will get an error message saying that this is not a valid reading list. When you click Add Reading List, you are given two options: you can upload it from your local computer, or provide the URL of a file that is on a remote server.

If you upload a reading list from your computer, it will be stored on the Grazr.com server. If you later edit that file on your computer, you can use Add Reading List again to replace the old copy on our server.

Entering the URL for a file that is on the Web will save the URL in your account. This is a dynamic file, and any changes that are made to that file on the remote server will automatically show up in our widget, and on the read page at Grazr.com. If you want to save a static copy of the file on our server, you can click the Copy to Grazr.com checkbox. One reason to click that box is if you want to edit a remote file using our new text editor, which I’ll explain in the next post.

We also simplified the options available when you view someone else’s file in a read page on the site. There is now a single button to Add to My Files, which lets you include other people’s files in your account. Clicking this button does the right thing automatically. If the file is a feed, you will be taken to the Add Feed form. Otherwise you will see the file’s information in the Add Reading List form.

We hope this new interface design streamlines the process of adding files to your account. There certainly are fewer buttons and options. Please let me know if you find any of this confusing. You can reach me at [adam AT grazr DOT com]. We will keep working to provide the easiest to use site possible, while giving you the power and flexibility you need.