OpenSearch is a collection of technologies that enhances the search functionality of both websites and search engines by using a standard format for publishing search results. It was developed by A9 (subsidiary of Amazon), and version 1.0 was released in March of 2005.

 For most websites, the coolest piece of this technology is the ability to include your search functionality in the browser's built-in search box.

 

For anyone reading this article on the CrossTech Partners Blog using IE7 or Firefox 2.0+, you should see the search icon in the upper right corner of your browser lit up. Click the down arrow to reveal the list of choices and you will see our CrossTech Partners Blog listed in the search providers. If you select the CrossTech Partners Blog listing, you can type right into the box and it will send the query to our search engine handler. It will handle requests exactly the same way as the search box we have in the upper right.

Also, if you add our search provider to your list, you will be able to take advantage of our search box no matter what site you are on. This is most useful for search-engine based sites such as Wikipedia, but can be useful for any site that contains searchable information.

Let's take this one step further. Since we now have a standard format for search requests/results, we can build a site that aggregate search results from hundreds of individual website search engines. Take a look at A9.com and you will see an example of how they aggregate multiple search engines into a single page.

With this technology, developers can create sites that search multiple product inventories, article databases, or any other search-based information store.

As trend in the Web 2.0 shifts more and more towards open standards it will allow developers to easily aggregate sources of information, and create more value for their users.  

 

We just wrapped up the webinar on Business Strategies for Content Management. We had very good attendance, and some very insightful questions.

Over the next few days, I will be posting the answers so check back for updates. Or, if you're like me, you will want to Subscribe To This Blog.

If you didn't get a chance to ask a question during the webinar, or if anything new has come to mind, you can either comment on this post (scroll down), or use our simple contact form.

For anyone who wants to review or share this presentation, you can watch the replay or download the slides.

Thanks to all those who attended, and we hope to see you again next time!

 

 

Yesterday, Google annouced FriendConnect, their answer to MySpace Data Availability and Facebook Connect. These services will allow users to securely access social networking features, including friend lists, profile information, etc.. to  third party applications. The eventual goal of these services is to allow users centralized access to all their social information.

So which service will reign supreme? Time will tell. On the business side, MySpace and Facebook have much larger communities (100M and 70M respectively), which means most integrations will be focused on these two services. 

On the technical side, it seems Google's service is somewhat lacking. Where Facebook and MySpace are allowing users direct acess to information via an API, Google will be serving up data through an iframe, which means less control for the developers.

For Google to catch up, they need the pendulum to swing in their favor. By spearheading projects such as OpenSocial and Social Graph they are appealing to the developer community, but until they get the average user on their side, they will be playing second fiddle.

We received a bunch of questions very similar to the one above, so I'm sure many of you are in the same boat. You are excited about this technology, but where to start? The key is to really take a look at your organization and see what you could benefit from. Though everyone has different needs, I will describe a common problem with websites today, and demonstrate a few ways to use social media to combat it.

Problem: Stale Content
Let's look at your homepage. Do you have a news or events box that reflects something recent? Has anything on your homepage been updated since the site was built? If not, then keep reading. If your site is to provide value to the user, it should be the definitive source for any news or events related to your organization. Without this type of frequently updated information, your website becomes an expensive brochure.

Solution: Content Management
In the last few years, one of the biggest buzzwords has been CMS (or Content Management System). These are essentially web-based applications that allow a non-technical users to make updates to site content. Simple versions are open-source and focus only on site content. More complex system can manage product lines, send email, search a customer database, etc... Regardless of what system you choose, you will have an easy way to update your content without having to shell out cash for a web developer.

Solution: Content Syndication
One of the biggest advances in Web 2.0 is the ability to push content quickly and easily to multiple locations. Using Web Feeds (either RSS or Atom), we can take existing content, and put it into a format that many different applications already understand. Let's say you have a blog where you publish all recent news. Once you publish your blog, your blog's Feed is automatically updated with that new article. Once your Feed is updated, any applications that are "subscribing" to that feed will automatically download the article as well. By creating a widget for your homepage and connecting it to your feed, updates to your blog will be automatically pushed to your homepage. Also, since many user are already familiar with Feeds, they may choose to subscribe to your news as a Feed instead of more traditional medium such as an e-newsletter.

By embracing this technology, you are showing an entire generation of users that you are up on the latest technology, and that your website is a valuable resource.

 

Several people in the webinar asked about good starting places for some of these new technologies. For you beginners, a good first step would be to educate yourself about the overall concepts. Wikipedia has some good articles on Blogs, RSS Feeds, Wikis, and Social Networking. If you want to dive in headfirst, for each topic I have included a quick definition and a list of sites that use the technology.

Blogs

A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.

Blogger - Create a blog for free
WordPress - Create a blog for free
Technorati - Blog search engine tracking over 112 million blogs

RSS Feeds

A web feed (or news feed) is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it.

Google Reader - Browse RSS based news feeds
iGoogle - Customizable Feed-based homepage, similar to Pageflakes, NetVibes, and MyYahoo.
Technorati - Search for articles, subscribe to search results as RSS Feed

Wikis

A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.

Wikipedia - Free, open content encyclopedia
PBWiki - Create your own free, hosted, password-protected wiki

Social Networking

A social network service uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

LinkedIn - Professional social networking
Facebook - Social networking
MySpace - Social networking
Twitter - Microblogging service allows users to communicate via short messages

 

 

"White Label" social networks are applications that are easily rebranded with your corporate logo.

A good example of this would be Ning, an application that allows you to quickly and easily create your own social network.

Quick answer? It depends.

Anyone who needs is looking to create a social network post-haste should visit Ning. Ning allows you to create a social network for free, in less than a few minutes. For small groups or clubs, this may be all you need.

Most companies, however, are looking for a more robust social networking tool that they can install behind their firewall, and possibly integrate with existing systems or application. This will require a good amount of custom development, and is more difficult to determine a timeframe. This is why vendor selection is such an important part of the process.  A good vendor will be able to ask the right questions to determine what features you really need for the release and which features can be added in a second phase, etc... From this, they should be able to give you a good idea of how long the process will take.

Here is a rough idea of what to expect: 

Open-Source Solution: 4 - 6 weeks

Open-Source (Custom Development): 6 - 12 weeks

Custom Solution: 12 + weeks

 

A dashboard is an interactive application designed to give the user an overview of all relevant information on a single easy to digest page. Dashboard have generally been used for business intelligence and contain reports, charts, status, etc... relevant to the company's internal operations. More recently, dashboards are being used as customized portals to enhance the user's social media experience. Users can customize their dashboard by adding/removing/re-arranging modules (or "widgets").

Widgets are generally small self-contained pieces of code that can perform any number of functions from analytics, reporting, communication, or news.

On the business intelligence side, the goal is to create a single page that contains all Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the company (or website).  They are generally referred to as "Executive Dashboards" because they give enough information for a C-Level executive a sense for how the business if performing, without overwhelming them with numbers.

Comments are a way for the readers of your blog to communicate with the authors, thereby forming of a micro-community. Without this interctive aspect, some readers may look for greener pastures, if it makes them feel like part of a community. With that said, we need to figure out a comment management strategy that allows users to comment, but protects the blog from  inappropriate comments, spam, etc.. There are essentially two schools of thought when it comes to managing blog comments:

Damage Control
This method allows instant posting of all comments. The blog administrator waits until someone posts something vulgar or obscene to take action.

Pros:
- No resources spent on moderation
- Comments are immediately viewable
- Establishes trust with readership

Cons:
- Inappropriate comments may appear on the blog
- If spammers find your blog, they may attack it frequently

Comment Screening
This type of comment moderation allows comments to be submitted, but they are not posted until approved by an administrator.

Pros:
- All posts screened before posted to the site
- Ensures blog is free of spam and inappropriate comments 
- Reading each comment may further conversation between author/reader

Cons:
- Comments are not instantaneous
- Requires additional resources to approve all comments
- Negative (but valid) comments may not be approved

Remember, your readers have the right to disagree, provided they do so in professional manner. Try to entertain even the most negative comments, as an intelligent response to a negative comment can help to make your point even stronger.

Though comment moderation may be somewhat of a hassle from the adminsitration side, your readers will appreciate the sense of community they feel when allowed to voice their opinions, and keep coming back for more.

This blog was created to facilitate a collaborative discussion surrounding business innovation with Second Circle Technologies™. We also use this Blog as our platform to answer questions after CrossTech Webinars and to post ideas and innovations about using technology. We can't always address every question in our one-hour timeslot, so all the remaining questions will be answered here.

If you have a question or something you would like more information about, please contact us and we will do our best to provide answers. Also, please feel free to comment on each post, as we are excited to hear your thoughts as well.