2005Offiste/RSS Integration
From MozillaWiki
Ben's architectural diagram
.---. .----------------. |.))| -------> | Live Bookmarks | '---' '----------------'
.---------. .--------. |Protocol | .----------. | feed : | ---------> |Handling | | Internal | pretty printing? '--------' '---------' /| Handlers | ---> web services? | / | | preview? .---------------. V / '----------' | Content Types | .---------. / .----. | app/rss+xml | --> | UCT |-- | | | app/atom+xml | | System | \---| OS | ---> system registered reader '---------------' | | | | '---------' '----'
UCT stands for "Unknown Content Type", where we currently have an "open/save/cancel" dialog.
See: File Handling for a generic view of this.
Discussion
- beng, chofmann: RSS is just another type of web content, and we should try to provide a transient experience where we display that content in the most appropriate fashion
- beltzner: two primary use cases: 1) mail-like, where each post should be tracked, marked read/unread, archived, searchable, and 2) headline-scanning like where recency is key and posts can be missed; usually for feeds with higher volume of updates
- less common third path is the "innovative use of RSS in applications" path like podcasting
- beltzner: "Live Bookmark" can be extended to any webpage which has been changed; could mean "watch this page for updates"
- beng: part of this requires us to have a better UCT system UI which provides a better user experience for dealing with a file of unknown content type
- uses OS hooks and a WSDL service to detect and suggest handlers
- this UI and the UI for registered content type handers needs to be revisited and revised, most likely
- beng: better integration with the places work might solve some of these problems, too, as it will allow for easier searching, archiving, marking read/unread, etc.
- dveditz: could be also used to show the last visited date
- what about future uses of the RSS/Atom formats (ie: podcasting) that we can't predict?
- sgarrity: right now Firefox offers no support for grabbing the RSS feed off a page and handing it off to my feed reading application
- beng: I think ultimately that needs to go through the protocol handlers of UCT system (see diagram above); we can also leverage some of the RSS detection code that we backed out
- sgarrity: Safari currently obeys the system registered RSS reader, even in the "RSS" button
- beltzner: the danger there is that it doesn't allow for someone to create a LiveBookmark
- beng: right now in prefs we show an elaborate dialog that illustrates registered content handlers, this is where I'd suggest we do that. The [x] Always Use this handler button might be a solution here. Or alternatively to have an "Open With ..." metaphor.
- a lot of fallout discussion about the advantage of the "Open With.." metaphor for mailto: links, rss files, any sort of file (MP3, etc)
- using places we'll be able to keep a local store of the Live Bookmarks.
- beng: we could even collect the feeds that you come across in a browsing session and store them using the annotations service so that they can be found later through some form of search