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FutureD
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09/28/11 02:22 PM (14 years ago)

Advanced RSS Reader

Hi, Is it possible to make the RSS reader do something similar to what it does in an app such as http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/big-brother-news-2011/id446685894?mt=8 I have been native coding for 11 months now and this is something ive just not got my head around. Any ideas?
 
MGoBlue
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09/28/11 03:13 PM (14 years ago)
Absolutely. It's easiest if you control the news feed. I posted on this earlier too, so if you search rss feeds you'll probably find a more detailed description. If you control the feed, make sure it outputs a thumbnail image. Usually it's encoded as 'media:thumbnail' or 'enclosure' If you don't control the feed, open the feed in your browser and look for an image reference. Then in advanced properties, include the media reference in the Image XML Element spot. You'll need to adjust the row height and specify thumb nail size in the advanced properties area too. If you don't control the feed and there are no images in the feed, you're still not out of luck. What I do is pull the feed into a wordpress website. I extract the entire article content, including photos using a program from fivefilters.org (http://fivefilters.org/content-only/). There are wordpress plugins that allow you the then embed images into your own rss feed. Hope this isn't too confusing.
 
FutureD
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09/28/11 03:58 PM (14 years ago)
Thats great, many thanks Mgoblue. Images aside, with regard the way it looks, is that just tweaking the advanced properties? When ever I have created a feed they always look horrible, just an unpleasant looking run of bold text and single line rows? Also, how are readers created that pull data from different sources and then link to them, such as this app.. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/football-rumours/id391286992?mt=8 Greatly appreciated, many thanks!
 
MGoBlue
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09/28/11 08:07 PM (14 years ago)
You can use a service like http://rssmix.com/ to pull multiple feeds into one. The biggest drawback to rss feeds, is most of them are just summaries that link to the original article. More often than not, the original article is on a site that's not mobile optimized. That's why I grab feed using the full rss program mentioned above and post them to one of my word press sites. All of my rss links go back to my site then which is optimized for viewing in the app. As for tweaking the advanced properties, yes that's exactly what you need. The description property will wrap over multiple lines. The title property is only one line. On some of my apps, I put the author/source in the title section, and the title in the description section. Then I set the title to a much smaller font. Here's an example here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/conservative-republicans-california/id463185166?mt=8&uo=4
 
Relics
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09/29/11 01:27 AM (14 years ago)
Hey MG, did you design the app that you show in your example there. The Conservative Republicans of California ?
 
FutureD
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09/29/11 01:27 AM (14 years ago)
Thats really great, many thanks. I shall look in to it in depth later, hopefully you'll be happy to address any queries I might have..?!?!!?! Greatly appreciated.
 
FutureD
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09/29/11 01:30 AM (14 years ago)
Having looked at you app, thats exactly what i'm looking for. Was that created here on buzztouch?
 
MGoBlue
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09/29/11 05:39 AM (14 years ago)
@Relics - Yes, that's one of mine. @FutureD - Yes, that was created in BuzzTouch. Happy to answer questions. I'll try to watch for them. For some reason, I don't get emails anymore when people comment on the threads even though I have the 'Subscribe to this discussion' checked. Odd.
 
FutureD
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09/29/11 02:18 PM (14 years ago)
Thanks MGo, I'm really pleased with the results of my latest app built with your help. Cheers.
 
Relics
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10/20/11 10:41 PM (14 years ago)
How did you do the banner image at the top of the news channel? Is that news channel being driven by the app or a HTML page? Is the article display parsed in app or via HTML on your website?
 

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