Playing With Sharp Objects

Update 2007-02-18: Note that Google Toolbar is known to interfere with the functionality of the firefox feed handlers settings.

Update 2007-02-25: Firefox is at version 2.0.0.2 to fix a major security hole and to apply stability fixes.

What you are seeing in the following screenshot is integration of MonkeyChow into Firefox 2.0’s RSS subscription handoff.

Rather than provide us with a built-in RSS client, the folks at Mozilla wisely chose to make Firefox 2.0’s RSS Feed handling as flexible as possible. At a later date, should Mozilla choose to include an RSS reader in Firefox, they will still have that option. And so do the rest of us.

In the latest SVN release, Version 112, when you click on the Add Feeds link in the menu pane, MonkeyChow will check to see if you have Firefox 2.0 running. If you do, it adds a link that you can click on to make the above happen. You will be asked to confirm the addition of the link to the feed reading list.

Note that there is a bug in Firefox 2.0 that does not highlight user added feed readers in that list. Although MonkeyChow is not highlighted by Mozilla, rest assured it is selected and functioning.

The first time you click the orange icon () in the address bar, you will be asked if you always want MonkeyChow to be used for RSS feed subscriptions. OK this and from now on it will automatically be added to your subscription list.

This is just another reason to move to the greatest web browser and the fastest evolving web based RSS reader as your RSS platform!

If you go to http://www.shokk.com/monkeychow/published.php right now, you will see a new feature I just added to version 105 of the SVN at sourceforge.net. This allows you to let others see your recycled articles in an HTML form, so that they are not required to set up their own RSS reader.

With a little templating, it may be possible to create an totally automated site that gets its articles from your monkeychow published database, yet actually looks
like a full presentable site.

If you do not have access to the SVN version, you can pick up a copy of published.pht here. Place it in the root of the MonkeyChow install, rename published.pht to published.php, and then you’re all ready to share.