Comments on: Feeds - a threat to design on the web http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/ You have found Friendly Bit, a web development blog. I focus on client side technologies like CSS, HTML and Javascript. You find my articles below and categories to the right. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:26:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: kelye http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-9637 kelye Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:33:51 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-9637 When you are using the internet for learning and documenting so the content is all that matter. Unstyled feeds allow you to look beyond the "wrapper"(the nice look) of a "product" (the article). I disagree that they will stop coexisting. People tend to visit 5-10 sites all the time (not web developers).. they will use feeds as "reminders" and visit the real site .. where style takes the crown. When you are using the internet for learning and documenting so the content is all that matter. Unstyled feeds allow you to look beyond the “wrapper”(the nice look) of a “product” (the article).
I disagree that they will stop coexisting. People tend to visit 5-10 sites all the time (not web developers).. they will use feeds as “reminders” and visit the real site .. where style takes the crown.

]]> By: Emil Stenström http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-7856 Emil Stenström Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:33:47 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-7856 @Aaron Pratt: That leaves us with another issue, XML vs. HTML. I'd like to think that most people consider HTML a better choice... @Aaron Pratt: That leaves us with another issue, XML vs. HTML. I’d like to think that most people consider HTML a better choice…

]]> By: Aaron Pratt http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-7852 Aaron Pratt Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:09:06 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-7852 The idea that feeds are a threat to design on the web is a little bit alarmist. XML feeds (such as those in RSS format) allow true separation of content and design. Take a look at the specs for XSLT and see how an XML feed can be styled using a basic transformation language and CSS. The ultimate result is similarly formatted content becomes easier to style for designers. The idea that feeds are a threat to design on the web is a little bit alarmist. XML feeds (such as those in RSS format) allow true separation of content and design.

Take a look at the specs for XSLT and see how an XML feed can be styled using a basic transformation language and CSS. The ultimate result is similarly formatted content becomes easier to style for designers.

]]> By: Jonathan Nicol http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6906 Jonathan Nicol Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:50:56 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6906 I use a feed reader (Sage for Firefox) to quickly scan my favourite blogs for new posts, but I very seldom will read a full article within the reader. It's about getting the best of both worlds. Unstyled (or uniformly styled) feeds allow me to quickly ascertain the "interestingness" of content, but when I view the article in its original context I can enjoy the benefits that a website offers: images, elegant text styling, javascripty goodness, comments, and just plain sexiness. I use a feed reader (Sage for Firefox) to quickly scan my favourite blogs for new posts, but I very seldom will read a full article within the reader.

It’s about getting the best of both worlds. Unstyled (or uniformly styled) feeds allow me to quickly ascertain the “interestingness” of content, but when I view the article in its original context I can enjoy the benefits that a website offers: images, elegant text styling, javascripty goodness, comments, and just plain sexiness.

]]> By: Jon http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6501 Jon Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:11:38 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6501 I think that unstyled feeds and designed sites can definitely co-exist. Perhaps it's me wishfully thinking, but personally when I'm sifting through my feed reader, I definitely take time out to open articles in my browser just so I can read the author's writing in the intended environment. I might be the only one who does that, however. I can definitely understand your concern about one beating out the other, but in the end I think it comes down to reader preference. I can infer that a significant amount of my readers use RSS only to read my articles, so asking "Why bother designing anything" can come up. How I respond to that is that there are still going to be first time readers stumbling across the site every day. There are going to be new readers finding an article after searching Google for something they want to learn about. Your design will still be seen by many. I think that unstyled feeds and designed sites can definitely co-exist. Perhaps it’s me wishfully thinking, but personally when I’m sifting through my feed reader, I definitely take time out to open articles in my browser just so I can read the author’s writing in the intended environment. I might be the only one who does that, however.

I can definitely understand your concern about one beating out the other, but in the end I think it comes down to reader preference.

I can infer that a significant amount of my readers use RSS only to read my articles, so asking “Why bother designing anything” can come up. How I respond to that is that there are still going to be first time readers stumbling across the site every day. There are going to be new readers finding an article after searching Google for something they want to learn about. Your design will still be seen by many.

]]> By: Emil Stenström http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6467 Emil Stenström Fri, 03 Nov 2006 23:42:26 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6467 @Robert Nyman: So lets take it to the news page then. Why bother designing it if most people access it by feed? I'm sure you could push the other pages into feeds. We push most content into the "scientific paper" model HTML gives us today. @Robert Nyman: So lets take it to the news page then. Why bother designing it if most people access it by feed?

I’m sure you could push the other pages into feeds. We push most content into the “scientific paper” model HTML gives us today.

]]> By: Robert Nyman http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6458 Robert Nyman Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:26:40 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6458 Emil, How would one of them take over? A web site is almost always a hierarchical representation. You have news, about, contact, information pages etc. The only one of those that could be turned into a useful feed is news, the other onea need to be "real" web pages. Emil,

How would one of them take over? A web site is almost always a hierarchical representation. You have news, about, contact, information pages etc.

The only one of those that could be turned into a useful feed is news, the other onea need to be “real” web pages.

]]> By: Emil Stenström http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6419 Emil Stenström Fri, 03 Nov 2006 08:04:01 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6419 @Christian Tietze, Rowan Lewis: That's how I use feeds too: as a way to see when someone updated their sites. I use Thunderbird, and like Christian says I have about half of the sites showing like I want them, fully rendered sites. @Robert Nyman, Roger Johansson: Of course content is king. This is about content with design and content without design. If more and more people switch to feeds for accessing sites, then why should I care to maintain the design? So yes, they can coexist, but sooner or later one of them will take over. Something else: Well marked up sites can easily get unstyled if that's what you're after, just disable the CSS. The "finding updated sites" part of feeds are damn useful, I'm not sure about the other parts. @Christian Tietze, Rowan Lewis: That’s how I use feeds too: as a way to see when someone updated their sites. I use Thunderbird, and like Christian says I have about half of the sites showing like I want them, fully rendered sites.

@Robert Nyman, Roger Johansson: Of course content is king. This is about content with design and content without design.

If more and more people switch to feeds for accessing sites, then why should I care to maintain the design? So yes, they can coexist, but sooner or later one of them will take over.

Something else: Well marked up sites can easily get unstyled if that’s what you’re after, just disable the CSS. The “finding updated sites” part of feeds are damn useful, I’m not sure about the other parts.

]]> By: Roger Johansson http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6416 Roger Johansson Fri, 03 Nov 2006 07:40:50 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6416 I'm with Robert on this. Unstyled feeds and styled sites can coexist quite happily. I’m with Robert on this. Unstyled feeds and styled sites can coexist quite happily.

]]> By: Rowan Lewis http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6403 Rowan Lewis Fri, 03 Nov 2006 02:56:40 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6403 I hate the whole idea of feeds for content. To me Live Bookmarks are it. If I want to read the content, I just go to the website, whats's the point of the feed? I hate the whole idea of feeds for content. To me Live Bookmarks are it. If I want to read the content, I just go to the website, whats’s the point of the feed?

]]> By: haveboard http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6402 haveboard Fri, 03 Nov 2006 02:09:03 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6402 I like feeds, and like them separate, simply because I want that choice to view it plain, or styled. Some sites I like to read, don't have much going on for them in a design respect ,so I would think they would note it in their feed if they put any effort in the design. I typically go to the sites to read the articles, though, even if the full article is offered in my feed. I'll scan my feeds, and open up what I want to read in a bunch of tabs. It's a little taxing on my machine at times if I go overboard. I'll start closing tabs to read the next article. I think everybody probably has their own habits with feeds, also. To each their own. I like feeds, and like them separate, simply because I want that choice to view it plain, or styled. Some sites I like to read, don’t have much going on for them in a design respect ,so I would think they would note it in their feed if they put any effort in the design.

I typically go to the sites to read the articles, though, even if the full article is offered in my feed. I’ll scan my feeds, and open up what I want to read in a bunch of tabs. It’s a little taxing on my machine at times if I go overboard. I’ll start closing tabs to read the next article. I think everybody probably has their own habits with feeds, also.

To each their own.

]]> By: mayvelous » Feeds - A Threat to Design? » Me, Myself and Mayvelous http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6398 mayvelous » Feeds - A Threat to Design? » Me, Myself and Mayvelous Fri, 03 Nov 2006 01:10:37 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6398 [...] Over at friendlybit, Emil talks of feed readers being a threat to a design on web. I find it a good article and something to think about. I’ve seen many debates over “Full vs Partial Feed” publishing. I’ve seen lots of talk on “Great Content vs Great Design”. Now Emil brought up another thought on “Users should decide vs Webmasters should decide” and “styling vs unstyling” web trends. The widely accepted rule was to let the users decide the layout; after all why should we need to download the same design over and over? Design was something the user decided, not the author. [...] [...] Over at friendlybit, Emil talks of feed readers being a threat to a design on web. I find it a good article and something to think about. I’ve seen many debates over “Full vs Partial Feed” publishing. I’ve seen lots of talk on “Great Content vs Great Design”. Now Emil brought up another thought on “Users should decide vs Webmasters should decide” and “styling vs unstyling” web trends. The widely accepted rule was to let the users decide the layout; after all why should we need to download the same design over and over? Design was something the user decided, not the author. [...]

]]> By: mayvelous http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6397 mayvelous Fri, 03 Nov 2006 01:09:11 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6397 I'm with you. Unstyled web is too dull. Design speaks a thousand words. Partial feed and long live design. I’m with you. Unstyled web is too dull. Design speaks a thousand words.
Partial feed and long live design.

]]> By: Robert Nyman http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6391 Robert Nyman Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:32:09 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6391 Content is king. Seriously. I think design, interactivity and so on are second to that. Of course there are web sites where design is more important than others; for instance, I find it highly unlikely that we will see rock band web sites as feeds in the near future. But then again, they might offer the latest news as a feed, but the rest of information on the web site. I'm more of the opinion that feeds and design can co-exist; frequently updated parts can be in feeds, but the complete information can be in the web page. Text for those who want it, and design for those who prefer that. Better to cater to all than to choose just one of the paths. Hell, let's even call it accessibility! Don't let feeds and design compete; let them live in symbiosis instead! :-) Content is king. Seriously.

I think design, interactivity and so on are second to that. Of course there are web sites where design is more important than others; for instance, I find it highly unlikely that we will see rock band web sites as feeds in the near future. But then again, they might offer the latest news as a feed, but the rest of information on the web site.

I’m more of the opinion that feeds and design can co-exist; frequently updated parts can be in feeds, but the complete information can be in the web page. Text for those who want it, and design for those who prefer that.

Better to cater to all than to choose just one of the paths. Hell, let’s even call it accessibility!

Don’t let feeds and design compete; let them live in symbiosis instead! :-)

]]> By: Christian Tietze http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6390 Christian Tietze Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:13:20 +0000 http://friendlybit.com/other/feeds-a-threat-to-design-on-the-web/#comment-6390 What should we do? I mean, I'm a heavy feed subscriber myself. Now it's just so that I read the content and notice the design only when there are partial feeds or when I visit a site to get additional content (except news) or when I visit a site the first time. I used Thunderbird a year ago to subscribe to feeds and TechCrunch was presented in the page's design. You know, it was like visiting the blog post from within Thunderbird. I don't know whether that was Thunderbird following the source link or the feed itself that made it possible, but suddenly this stopped. Then, feeds looked just plain ugly, Times New Roman and the like. I switched to Google Reader since I wanted a web mail solution as well and here I am: missing the "real page" preview or how you call it but not knowing how to achieve this. Writing my own feed reader application that visits the site itself to show me the content the way it's meant to be? I just like to subscribe to feeds to be notified whether something interesting and new is happening. I don't mind visiting the site, but if Google Reader displays everything just fine, hell, why not? Probably this "post view" idea isn't that bad at all. And writing a feed reader shouldn't be too hard, should it? What should we do?

I mean, I’m a heavy feed subscriber myself. Now it’s just so that I read the content and notice the design only when there are partial feeds or when I visit a site to get additional content (except news) or when I visit a site the first time.

I used Thunderbird a year ago to subscribe to feeds and TechCrunch was presented in the page’s design. You know, it was like visiting the blog post from within Thunderbird. I don’t know whether that was Thunderbird following the source link or the feed itself that made it possible, but suddenly this stopped. Then, feeds looked just plain ugly, Times New Roman and the like. I switched to Google Reader since I wanted a web mail solution as well and here I am: missing the “real page” preview or how you call it but not knowing how to achieve this. Writing my own feed reader application that visits the site itself to show me the content the way it’s meant to be?
I just like to subscribe to feeds to be notified whether something interesting and new is happening. I don’t mind visiting the site, but if Google Reader displays everything just fine, hell, why not?

Probably this “post view” idea isn’t that bad at all. And writing a feed reader shouldn’t be too hard, should it?

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