Shyftr Blog http://blog.shyftr.com/ Shyftr news and updates. en-us Shyftr Filter http://blog.shyftr.com/post/27/shyftr-filter/ View Filter

  • Filters can be run against terms within the Title, Author, and/or Article content. There are also a variety of conditions within each that you can set.
  • There are 44 sources this particular filter looks at.
  • You can remove and/or include any combination of the 44 sources for your filter result set. Select the Some Popular sources radio button to see a list of all the sources included in this filter.
  • For a quick result, check out the example filters on the right side of the page.
  • Pull an RSS feed of your filter results and we'll deliver the news to your reader (i.e. google reader, bloglines, myyahoo, etc.).
The second variation of the filter is for publishers. Publishers can now take our filter and offer it to their readers directly from their site. How does this work?
  • We will release invite codes to publishers starting today, and registration is very easy.
  • Once registered, add your source(s).
  • Create your own custom filters to distribute through your site.
  • Embed one of two (or both) widgets on your site.
  • Widget 1 (The Filter): Let your readers build custom filters against your content from your site.
  • Widget 2 (Filters you have created): Offer a widget of pre-built filters you create. The filters take readers directly into the RSS feed.
There are many features that we plan to build into this tool as we move forward. For example, the current release of the filter is our free version. In the future we plan to offer a premium option for those publishers that are interested. We also realize there are aspects of the tool that are missing at the moment, such as faqs, forgot password, welcome email, etc. We'll get them integrated shortly. This is an early release. If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts, please reach out directly to us or submit feedback at:

Get Satisfaction

What does this mean for the current version of Shyftr?

We had to make the difficult decision to cease development on the current Shyftr product and devote our time, effort, and system resources to the filter. Starting today we have removed the ability to register new accounts. In 14 days we'll start removing unused accounts. If you don't use Shyftr but want to grab an OPML file of your feed list, please make sure you do that within the next 2 weeks. If you have been using Shyftr on a regular basis we'll keep your account active. The only change for people actively using Shyftr will be that we are going to move www.shyftr.com to old.shyftr.com as we make this transition. Please note that at some point in the not too distant future we're going to phase out the current version of Shyftr as well. We will provide reasonable notice beforehand.]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:00:00 -0400 Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:00:00 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/27/shyftr-filter/ Activity Stream Updates http://blog.shyftr.com/post/26/activity-stream-updates/ We rolled out some updates to the activity stream:

  1. Items display images for popular feeds:

  2. Comments:

    3. You can edit comments that you have previously made.

  3. Media enclosures have been added:

    Look for the View Media buttons.

]]> Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:18:00 -0400 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:18:00 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/26/activity-stream-updates/ The Shyftr API, Activity Stream, and Embeddable Widgets http://blog.shyftr.com/post/25/the-shyftr-api-activity-stream-and-embeddable-widgets/ Today marks a moment in time for us, one that we are very excited to share. Over the past few months we have been focusing very hard on our foundation so that Shyftr can be built in a way that successfully drives us into the future. During this period we have made some subtle updates, all of which were implemented to prepare for this moment.

Today we take one step closer to establishing the long term direction of our service. We are opening up our core features so that Shyftr content comes to you, and we are excited to share what we have been working so hard on developing the past few months: The Shyftr API, the Activity Stream, and Embeddable Widgets.

The Shyftr API

The API was and continues to be developed for a variety of reasons. Ultimately, we needed to build the API so that we could more effectively and more quickly build features. But the upside is far greater than that. The API is being used internally, and is integral in the development of the features that we are rolling out today. In the near term we are restricting access to the API for internal use and select partners. Although, at some point in the future we will make the API accessible publicly.

Shyftr handles a wealth of exciting and interesting content that we felt needed to be released. The API will enable our data to be used both to build features and tools within Shyftr, as well as features and tools for use outside of Shyftr. We plan on supporting just about every aspect of the service through the API, outside of reading feeds in the reader. The realization surrounding what can be built by leveraging this API is an extremely exciting thought, and we are looking forward to both the tools and features we release over the short term as well as the tools that 3rd party developers will want to build down the road.

Activity Stream

At the core of the Shyftr experience there are Pockets (shared items), Comments (discussing content), and Shyfts (adding new feeds). Previously, you would have to go to a friend or another person's profile to evaluate when they add new feeds, when they comment on content, and when they pocket items. We addressed pocketed items previously by building the pocket blog, allowing you to add an RSS feed to track when someone else pockets an item. But it was not ideal and we needed to address the bigger dilemma.

It is imperative that people's actions are pushed to you so that you do not have to seek them out. Shyftr is about sharing. Sharing feeds, sharing items, and discussing content within shared conversations. So with that in mind, an activity stream was born. An activity stream that shows when someone shyfts a feed, pockets an item, and comments on a piece of content. An activity stream that delivers this content to you.

The activity stream can be filtered in a few ways. You can view and interact with any combination of these 3 pieces of content: comments, pockets, and shyfts. The green dot signifies that the content is on and loaded into the stream, and the red dot signifies that the content is turned off and withheld from appearing in the stream.

You can also filter who you want to view in the activity stream:

Everyone's activity
My Friends Activity
My Activity
or by clicking a username within any activity stream you can see their specific activity.

When you are looking at an activity stream, you can engage it by pocketing items you would like to share, shyft feeds of interest, and comment within conversations that interest you.

(note: If your privacy settings are set to private, your pockets and shyfts will not appear anywhere within any activity stream besides your own, which only you will be able to view.)

The activity stream is core to the social aspects of what Shyftr represents. And this is just the beginning. As we move into the future, it is important that we highlight the wealth of activity that underpins the service. So with that in mind, we thank the Popular page for time well served, and welcome the Shyftr activity stream. The Popular page will be phased out and the Shyftr activity stream will become our new home page. We want to hear what everyone thinks, as this will help us to shape the future of the stream and how we will continue to develop it.

Embedabble Widgets

The embeddable widgets are an example of how we leveraged our API to build tools that re-distribute Shyftr content. The embeddable widgets come in 3 forms (all containing pockets, comments, and shyfts) and can be customized in a variety of ways.

Your Activity Stream - this widget allows you to embed your activity in shyftr and place it on another site.
Feed Activity Stream - any action associated with a specific feed can be customized and embedded back to that publisher's site. This stream includes posts along with shyfts, pockets, and comments.
Shyftr Activity Stream - the Shyftr activity stream can be used to show all the activity happening within Shyftr.

The following example is a feed activity widget:

What This All Means

A few months ago we realized that in order to develop Shyftr's social features over the long term and develop them quickly, building the API was critical. We could have continued down the path we were on, but eventually it would have become a roadblock. Instead, we have opened many doors. Our vision has never changed. Building a social feed reader and content aggregator is a deep passion of ours and there are many variables - a couple being the reader experience and the social experience. We have spent a lot of effort on the reader and we will continue to do so. With the development of our API we have established a direction we can take the social aspects of Shyftr over the long haul. A direction we can use to help fulfill our vision. Today we are excited to roll out the results of this hard work, the direction this takes us, and all the great features and tools that will come of it. We hope you do as well, and we are looking forward to hearing your questions, comments, and thoughts.

]]> Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:27:00 -0400 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:27:00 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/25/the-shyftr-api-activity-stream-and-embeddable-widgets/ Notice: System Changes and New Implementations http://blog.shyftr.com/post/24/notice-system-changes-and-new-implementations/ Over the past few weeks we've been trying to stay on top of the site performance. Having the site run and perform at a high level is something that we will relentlessly work towards achieving. The nature of the service will force us to continue analyzing how we handle our data. With that in mind, we are going to make some fundamental changes that may or may not affect your Shyftr usage.

The first measure we will implement will be to track numbers only dating back one month. If you are a daily or even occassional user, this most likely will not affect you. A month is a long time when it comes to near realtime access to information. If you don't use your account for more than a month, this does not mean that you will not have any numbers. It just means that your numbers will only date back a months worth of content per feed. When this implementation takes place it will take a few hours for the system to cycle through, and the new number tracking will be a permanent implementation - not a one time sweep.

It's important for us to do this because there is a database that is growing at such a rapid pace, effectively dragging down the performance and experience for everyone. We initially thought it would be nice for people to have the ability to go back and look through old content, but it's becoming clear that this is not important to users. Shyftr is being used as a near realtime content discovery and sharing tool, and we cannot sacrifice the performance of the site for a growing database that is rarely being tapped. Once we rollout the new way of handling numbers, we will remove a substantial portion of backdated data. This should alleviate much of the poor performance that we have been experiencing over the past few weeks, and possibly allow us to re-implement features that have been temporarily disabled (such as search). At the same time there may be some new features that come out of this. In the end, we will continue to evolve and enhance the user experience. It's time we trim some fat while making the system leaner, more efficient, and better prepared for future growth.

As we head down this path, we are looking forward to hearing any and all feedback you may have for us.

]]> Fri, 30 May 2008 13:45:00 -0400 Fri, 30 May 2008 13:45:00 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/24/notice-system-changes-and-new-implementations/ Numbers Reporting http://blog.shyftr.com/post/23/numbers-reporting/ Over the weekend we made an adjustment to how we handle feeds and this caused a duplication of items that were already in the system. As a result, numbers were appearing for items that you may have already read. We sincerely apologize for this and hope it does not cause too much of an inconvenience. If you would like to quickly resolve what occurred, mark all your feeds as read and they will start tracking normally again.

]]> Tue, 27 May 2008 16:30:00 -0400 Tue, 27 May 2008 16:30:00 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/23/numbers-reporting/ Toluu Integration http://blog.shyftr.com/post/22/toluu-integration/ Thanks to Caleb and the Toluu team for integrating Shyftr to the list of feed readers at Toluu. If you have a Toluu account and would like to add a feed to your Shyftr feed list, you can now sync them up. Check out all the details over at Toluu:

www.toluu.com/blog

]]> Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 -0400 Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/22/toluu-integration/ OPML Support Is Here! http://blog.shyftr.com/post/21/opml-support-is-here/ You can now import an OPML file or export your Shyftr feed list as an OPML file.

To access OPML, select the green plus button at the top of your feed list and choose the OPML tab. To import, select Choose File or Browse... and browse your computer for your OPML file. Once you have chosen your file, select the Upload button to start the process. To export your feed list, select the Export OPML link in the OMPL tab, and then save the file.

Please be patient if you are importing a large feed list as it will take a few minutes. The good news is, you will see your feed list build during the upload process. Do not refresh the page during upload. This will stop the file from uploading.

]]> Mon, 05 May 2008 17:51:34 -0400 Mon, 05 May 2008 17:51:34 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/21/opml-support-is-here/ Adding Feeds Just Got Easier - And Other Updates http://blog.shyftr.com/post/20/adding-feeds-just-got-easier---and-other-updates/ Adding Feeds:

You can now add feeds without knowing the RSS or Atom feed URL. Here's how it works. For example, let's say I want to add the New York Times home page. All I have to do is type www.nytimes.com into the Add Feed form on my Feeds list (click the green plus sign and you'll see this form). You can also copy and paste the URL into the form. Looking for an even easier way? If you bookmark the Shyft It button, you can click Shyft It while on the New York Times home page. What if you want to add just the New York Times technology section? While on the New York Times site, click their 'Technology' link, then follow either set of directions above: copy and paste that URL into the Shyftr Add Feed form, or just click your Shyft It button.

Media:

Media such as video and audio can now be viewed inline in the reader, or through a popup window.

Search:

We've had to temporarily disable search for Feeds, Content, and Authors. You can still search for Members within the community. We will be working on improving our search tool so that we can bring these categories back as soon as possible.

Have a great weekend!

]]> Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:29:00 -0400 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:29:00 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/20/adding-feeds-just-got-easier---and-other-updates/ RSS Feeds, Community, Publishers, and Revisions http://blog.shyftr.com/post/19/rss-feeds-community-publishers-and-revisions/ Over the past few days, much discussion has occurred regarding the nature of Shyftr and its service.

Shyftr is a social RSS reader. Like other RSS readers, Shyftr provides tools for people to aggregate, organize, read, and share RSS feeds they are subscibed to. One extension of this experience is the ability to discuss content that is read. All of the content is pulled in through the RSS feed, not HTML scraped, as some have speculated. It was important that we consider the viewpoints for those that felt we crossed the line. Louis Gray, Tony Hung, Mathew Ingram, Paul Glazowski, and Eric Berlin have all weighed in on their thoughts, and we have read many additional opinions.

All the discussions happening on Shyftr are initiated by the user. If a publisher is syndicating a full RSS feed, and discussions occur around an item in that feed, up until now, the full content of the article appears in the item being discussed. Shyftr provides full attribution to publishers, links back to their sites, and we do not remove advertisements nor alter the content in any RSS feed. With that in mind, we have decided to revise the format around our discussions. We will only display the title, author, and date of an item where discussions occur outside of the reader. We deeply respect content publishers, and it is not our intention to cause unease.

Shyftr was developed to help people find and subscribe to publishers that they otherwise would have never found on their own, through the community and network of friends. Having a community where people can share and discuss the feeds they read helps to facilitate this goal. As we build this community, we might make decisions that raise concerns, but we listen to our users and hope our overall efforts will get people excited to use Shyftr. If we make decisions that are not well-received, we will strive to make appropriate changes.

The conversations that have occurred over the past couple of days are healthy, thoughtful, and we appreciate all of the opinions that we have read. We will continue working towards building an environment that stimulates an opportunity for publishers to reach a broader audience, while respecting how that content is presented to our users. We hope that this change gets us back on track, addressing the valid concerns of publishers whose content comes to Shyftr.

]]> Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:03:02 -0400 Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:03:02 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/19/rss-feeds-community-publishers-and-revisions/ I got a little change in my pocket going jingle lingle ling http://blog.shyftr.com/post/18/i-got-a-little-change-in-my-pocket-going-jingle-lingle-ling/ Today we extend the functionality of your Pocket and how you share it. When we first created the pocket, it was based on the idea that there needs to be a place to save items for future reference. This makes sense for personal use. But the pocket was not friend friendly. So today we introduce the Pocket Blog.

The Pocket Blog:

Your Pocket Blog is an extension of your pocket. It is a standalone page where others can view not just the title of the items you've pocketed, but the entire post. If you know CSS you can customize the look and feel of this page (we'll follow up with another post on Customizing Your Pocket Blog). You can Pick Pocket any item that you come across in another Pocket Blog, addding it to your pocket.

RSS Feed:

You can Shyft or grab the RSS feed of any Pocket Blog. You no longer have to go to your friend's profile page to see what they're saving.

How to use the Pocket Blog:

You must first set your privacy settings to:
  • Profile - Everyone
  • My Pocket - Everyone
How to get to a Pocket Blog:
  • Select the Pocket tab on your or a friend's profile page
  • Select Pocket Blog link at the top of the list

At the top of your friend's Pocket Blog are buttons to Shyft the Pocket Blog or grab the RSS feed so you can use it elsewhere.

As we introduce the Pocket Blog today, sharing your pocket and following others has become a whole lot easier.

]]> Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:46:18 -0400 Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:46:18 -0400 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/18/i-got-a-little-change-in-my-pocket-going-jingle-lingle-ling/ Updates http://blog.shyftr.com/post/17/updates/ My Feeds

We added a new tab at the top called My Feeds. This is so you can get directly into the reader, no matter where you are in Shyftr, with one click.

Friends

Friends now appear in your profile when added. You can still manage your Top 15.

When you log in, the Home tab no longer appears at the top. If you would like to circle back to that page, there is a Home link at the bottom of the site or you can go to www.shyftr.com

]]> Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:04:47 -0500 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:04:47 -0500 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/17/updates/ Search - Social http://blog.shyftr.com/post/16/search---social/ Today is a big day for feed and member searches. Here is what's new.

Social feed searches
Feed search results now include:

  • Ability to Shyft the feed
  • The number of people that are subscribed to the feed
  • A random sample of 10 people that are subscribed to the feed (if you mark a feed as private, you will not appear in a feed search result)

You can now run feed searches based on topic. Try searching for a feed using: technology, sports, gossip. When you find a feed that you want to add, you can now see a sample of other people that are already subscribed to it. Maybe they have other feeds that you haven't heard of, but might be interested in. Go for it!

Social search:

If you check, Only show results with feed subscribers (social search), only feeds that have subscribers will show up in the results, and the order in which results are returned are influenced by social elements.

Members

You can now search for users by username or email address. Limited profile information is attached to each user.

You can also search for users based on topic. For example, check out these 3 member searches: new york, tech, guide. Hopefully, this will help you find people that share similar interests.

Our search has taken a big step forward. We've improved on the core of our search engine, and we've added some new features which will hopefully help you add, find, and learn about feeds more effectively.

]]> Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:11:48 -0500 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:11:48 -0500 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/16/search---social/ New - Notifications http://blog.shyftr.com/post/15/new---notifications/ You can now receive email notifications for the following:

  1. When someone leaves you a comment
  2. When someone adds you as a friend
  3. When someone suggests a feed to you, or when someone suggests a content item to you

These settings are turned on by default. If you would like to disable any or all of them, go to the Privacy tab in your preferences, uncheck the notification(s) you would like to disable, and save your settings.

]]> Sun, 02 Mar 2008 18:21:09 -0500 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 18:21:09 -0500 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/15/new---notifications/ Rolling Out Updates http://blog.shyftr.com/post/14/rolling-out-updates/ Today we are rolling out many updates to Shyftr. Some are behind the scenes and some you will notice in your every day use. We're constantly improving the efficiency of the site and the overall experience for our users and wanted to let you know of some improvements.

Behind the Scenes - we cleaned up how the feed list was built. The benefit of this will be noticeable in the time it takes for your feed list to load. The performance of your feed list has been greatly improved.

Folders - You can now view how your friends, guides, and other users organize their feeds.

Your Interface - You can now mark all feeds as read (a current tool available), or you may choose to mark all feeds as read past a certain date. For example, if you go out of town for a week and don't want to sift through 7 full days of back-logged feed entries, but would rather just see the last 2 days of entries you've missed, you can mark the feeds as read "Older than 2 days".

Invite Friends - We have a simple "Invite Your Friends" interface at the top right hand corner of the Shyftr site. In addition, once new friends register, there's a simple list of feeds for them to choose from right from the registration page. This is a "quick start" approach which we think will help new users get started successfully.

]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:14:55 -0500 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:14:55 -0500 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/14/rolling-out-updates/ Our blog has launched http://blog.shyftr.com/post/13/our-blog-has-launched/ Amongst a very large rollout of new features and site improvements, we've launched the blog. The Daily will now cease to exist as we publish all of Shyftr's updates in the blog.

Shyft the blog so you never have to come back to this page! You won't be hurting our feelings, I promise.

]]> Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:36:58 -0500 Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:36:58 -0500 Dave Stanley Dave Stanley http://blog.shyftr.com/post/13/our-blog-has-launched/