For any Radio UserLand users

For any Radio UserLand users who're curious what this Stapler tool I keep talking about is, know how to install Radio tools, and don't mind running incomplete software, here is the current version of Stapler. Unzip it into your Radio directory (assuming your www directory is still under your Radio directory).

Here's a quick run-through of how to make it do something, assuming your Radio lives at http://127.0.0.1/ :

  1. Go to http://127.0.0.1/Stapler/, preferably in a Gecko-based browser (there are some cosmetic issues with other browsers yet). You should see the empty list of feeds.
  2. Click the Sources link at the top. You should now see the empty list of sources.
  3. Look down for the form labeled New source, never scanned, under the Save Changes and Delete Checked buttons. For the Title, enter SinFest. For the Url, enter http://www.sinfest.net/. For the Scraper (the drop-down on the right), select KeenSpot.
  4. Click the Add Source button. The sources list should now contain a source labeled SinFest, never scanned.
  5. Click the Feeds link at the top of the page.
  6. Look down for the form labeled New feed, 1/1/04; 12:00:00 AM. For Title, enter Comics. For the Filename, enter comix. Leave the Desc and Url blank, or enter anything you like. In the Sources selector to the right, select SinFest.
  7. Click the Add Feed button. The feeds list should contain an entry labeled Comics, 1/1/04; 12:00:00 AM.
  8. If it's close to the top of the hour, go get something to drink. Otherwise click the Scan Now button.
  9. Click the Feeds link at the top. While the status (the part after Feeds: Thu 5/3/01, 11:12:45 PM; or whatever) doesn't start with Finished, wait a moment and reload the page.
  10. Check the comix.xml file in your www directory. It should be an RSS 0.92 file with today's SinFest comic as the only item; add http://127.0.0.1/comix.xml to your My UserLand on the Desktop subscriptions, and next time MUOTD scans headlines, the comic will be waiting for you.

Problems as of yet include aforementioned cosmetic issues, how to get new scraper routines, and how you're supposed to know what URL to put in for what scraper (for KeenSpot, it's the comic's main page; for LiveJournal, it's the person's main journal page). Anyhow, I think Stapler's turning out pretty nice so far, though I have been Gecko-centric with it.

0 comments