Content Syndication
Imagine your articles, tips, or personal observations
appearing on dozens or even hundreds of sites.
You might provide syndicated content at no charge for your
byline exposure, domain name branding, and/or linking. Or,
sites may be willing to pay a fee for your content.
Remote syndication sites must put some simple JavaScript
on their site where they want your content to appear.
That's all they have to do.
With that JavaScript, whenever you change the syndicated
content on your site, all remote syndication sites will be
updated automatically -- instantly!
For example, if you put this JavaScript on your page
<script language="JavaScript"
src="/library/c/wmp.js">
</script>
then the current WillMaster Possibilities featured article
will appear right there. Every week, the article is replaced
with a new one, like magic, with no further effort on your
part.
Here are a few more syndication ideas: recipes, poems,
source code, calendar events, boo-boo of the week, daily
news -- anything that can be expressed with HTML and almost
anything that can be expressed with JavaScript. You could
even use it to serve banners and other advertisements.
I will show you how it's done. I will show you how you can
do it for free, and I will recommend two commercial CGI
programs for a more automated approach.
How To Do It For Free
First --
Decide on a file name for your syndicated content file (it
should have a .js file name extension). Also, decide where
it will be on your server.
Once you know the name of your content file and where it will
be located, then you also know its URL. It will be something
like http://www.yourdomain.com/contentfile.js
When you know your content file's URL, you also know what the
JavaScript code for remote syndication sites will be:
<script language="JavaScript" src="[CONTENTFILE_URL]">
</script>
Just replace [CONTENTFILE_URL] with your content file's URL.
This is the JavaScript code that remote syndication sites
put on their page.
Second --
Create your syndicated content file.
It's a bit easier said than done, but once learned it could
become more boring than hard.
The thing to remember is that your content will be a part of
a web page, not an entire page by itself. So you code your
HTML tags with that in mind.
The less specific font styles you specify, the more design
control you leave for syndicating sites. Unless yours is an
unusual circumstance, it can be good for syndicating site
owner relationships to let them fit your content into their
site design.
Probably the easiest way to create a syndicated content
file is to create a web page with the content and then copy
the relevant portion of the source code and paste it into
your syndicated content file.
You need to make the syndicated content JavaScript
compatible before you upload the file to your server.
Do these steps in order:
- Ensure all URLs are complete http://... URLs.
Relative URLs won't work.
- Precede each backslash ( \ ) with another backslash:
\\
- Precede each apostrophe ( ' ) with a backslash:
\'
- End each line with:
');
(The above code is --
apostrophe - close parenthesis - semi-colon
-- for those with indiscernible fonts.)
- Begin each line with:
document.writeln('
(That last character is an apostrophe.)
- Insert this line as the first line of your file:
<!--
- Add this line as the last line of your file:
//-->
- Save your file and upload it as ASCII/plain text.
Once your content file is uploaded, every syndicating site
is automatically and immediately updated.
When you want to change the content on the remote
syndication sites, do the above eight steps with the
new content.
The above can be a bit of work if you change content often.
But if you change content only once in a while, then you
may not wish to invest in a commercial program to automate
the process.
A More Automated Approach
The recently upgraded Master Syndicator provides a
lot of automation for its $99 retail price. See
/a/10/pl.pl?msyn
Just paste your content into a form and click the button.
That's all there's to it. Master Syndicator automates the
process mentioned in "How To Do it for Free," above, to
make your content JavaScript compatible and store it on
your server.
You can even tell Master Syndicator to insert HTML
paragraph tags and to convert your URLs and email
addresses into clickable links.
There is no limit to the number of syndication channels
you can have.
We use Master Syndicator for both the weekly article
and the weekly tip, always current with the most recent
WillMaster Possibilities issue. We also syndicate those
titles for folks who want to link to the article or tip
using the current title in an index or introductory
paragraph.
We have private syndication channels, too. For example,
when I receive my emailed WillMaster Possibilities, I copy
the email and paste it into the Master Syndicator form. This
automatically updates the "Current Issue" page on our site.
You can use private channels for headers and footers on your
own web pages. You can even use channels to display banners;
when you're ready to change a banner just paste the new code
into the Master Syndicator form.
It's, well, easy.
For Some Control
The newly released Master Syndication Gateway I provides
all the automation and ease of use mentioned above. In
addition, you control which domains can display your
content.
You can choose to make content available to everyone.
Then, if someone abuses your property or refuses to comply
with your terms, just put their domain name on the banned
domains list. From that point on, they can't show the
content anywhere on that domain.
On the other hand, you can choose to make content available
exclusively for domains that are on your authorized list.
No one else can get the syndication, not even if they copy
the JavaScript code from the page of an authorized domain.
The content you upload for syndication can update remote
sites either immediately or it can have a future activation
date. There is no limit to how many content blocks you can
upload ahead of time -- when an activation date arrives,
the new content automatically replaces the old.
You can specify what content to send if a browser requests
a syndication channel that is not available.
You can specify what content to send in place of the
requested content when a banned domain or an unauthorized
domain makes a request.
Master Syndication Gateway I will count the number of times
content is served to the individual remote syndication
sites. These statistics can be viewed as bar graphs of
totals or as numbers in daily tables.
Read the manual and see a demonstration of the control
panel at /a/10/pl.pl?msg
How To Choose
Both Master Syndicator and Master Syndication Gateway I are
wonderful tools. But they work quite differently.
Master Syndicator generates a JavaScript compatible file
and stores it on your server. The JavaScript code on remote
syndication sites then directs the browser to retrieve the
file directly.
Master Syndication Gateway I stores your original content
in a database. The JavaScript code on remote syndication
sites request content from a CGI script. The CGI script
determines whether or not the site is allowed to have
the content and, if okay, generates the JavaScript
compatible content and sends it to the browser.
If you have articles or ads or advertorials or a viral
thing (put this on your page to get ______ and tell all
your friends to do it too!) or anything that you don't care
how many people pick up and publish, then Master Syndicator
can be ideal.
However, if you feel you want some measure of control
over who may or may not publish your content, then Master
Syndication Gateway I is the better choice. This program
also has a built-in content delivery log and the ability
to upload content ahead of time.
The program you choose will depend on what you want to use
it for. Your needs might fit better with one or the other.
Or, you might be able to use both, each for its own type
of content.
Will Bontrager
©2001 Bontrager Connection, LLC
Please note:
Articles on this website are presented "as is". However -
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