News :: 15MR: Feed Editor v4.31
Hello and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Feed Editor version 4.31 by ExtraLabs Software—An application to assist you build an RSS feed when you don’t have a dynamic feed generator.
As Giveaway of the Day states: (Clipped)
“You want to create professional RSS feeds but you don’t want to learn complicated RSS technology? Well, then Feed Editor is a solution for you!
You don’t need to be a computer science guru and learn Internet technologies. Our editor makes your work with RSS feeds extremely simple. All you need to know is what RSS feed you need. Rest is Feed Editor`s work.”
Sample
Quick Pros
- Easy to use and set up
- Support of a large range of RSS featureset, as well as podcasts
- Uploader takes away some of the effort of using another program
- Basic editor as well as straight text entry for ‘description’
- Built-in XML/HTML editor gives you some power to tinker with the original file
Quick Cons
- No way to set predefined fields (Author, domain & GUID would be nice)
- Resulting file not ‘prettied’ (Indented)
Expansion
While this application seems simple, it can be a help to those who just don’t want to deal with trying to set up (or don’t want) a blog, CMS system or similar; Or who have a webhost that doesn’t support anything but raw HTML, but would like to generate some of the traffic gained by creating, maintaining and promoting a feed. I found this application easy to get rolling and set up, and while the resulting file isn’t overly pretty, it works fine, especially for those who don’t want to look at the RSS file generated.
This application provides a shocking amount of the RSS specification; While not all of the featureset, it covers what most would ever need. The built-in editor and XML editor is also nice as well as the FTP uploader; This application attempts to make sure you don’t have to leave this application except for cutting-and-pasting in descriptions, which can be avoided if you use the ‘Import’ feature.
Only issue I really had, is because of tediousness, I’d prefer to be able to set ‘predefined’ Optional Fields and have them populate the same way. For sure, I’d like domain, author and an auto-GUID done each time I did a new item to save having to click on that tab each time and enter that information, at minimum.
Final Verdict
While the need for an application as this one may be dwindling with time, there are still plenty of people who would rather or have to generate their RSS feeds manually rather than dynamically. If you are one of those, I would recommend snapping this gem up today. While $39.95 is awfully steep for an application which is fairly simple, if it is something you’d use daily to weekly, how much time would this save you rather than trying to learn RSS or manage it weekly. It does do a good job of keeping it simple for those who truly don’t want to be bothered with the XML of it all and keeping your feed organized.
Posted by BladedThoth on Monday, March 19, 2007
