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*Mind Mapping Tools: Online Guide To Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services
Posted by: | Commentsmind mapping tools are an effective way to collaborate, brainstorm, visualize and plan ideas either on your own or with other people. If you still use tons of sticky notes to organize your thoughts, in this online guide I have collected and reviewed the best web-based mindmap drawing services out there.
Photo credit: Robin Good
A mindmap is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.
mindmaps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing. (Source: Wikipedia)
Tony Buzan, who has first evangelized this unconventional way of visualizing ideas, claims that mindmaps utilize the full range of left and right human cortical skills, balance the brain and tap into the alleged 99% of your unused mental potential, as well as intuition.
Though a lot of scientists suggest that such claims may be just marketing hype, my own experience is that mind mapping works great when it comes to visualize my thoughts or brainstorm ideas with my virtual team.
In fact, the real advantage I see about mind mapping is the ease to visualize ideas in a virtually unlimited space, while giving very precise text labels to ideas, tasks, projects and to the relationships between them. These two basic characteristics, with the ability to watch and edit the same map in real-time with others, creates a truly effective and memorable way of collaborating productively.
Here below let me share with you just some examples, taken out of my own experience, of how mindmaps contribute to simplify my work:
- When I need to prepare a tool guide on a specific topic, I use a mindmap to collect all the tools that will be part of that guide, without worrying to create a specific order. I just add tools randomly as they come to my head.
- As you probably know, I offer anyone the opportunity to engage in a one-to-one relationship with me during an internship period here at MasterNewMedia. The internship is essentially a training period where I teach all I have learned while becoming a professional online publisher. Each step during the internship requires specific goals to achieve and precise skills to acquire, but since these steps are not necessarily reached in a linear path, I use a mindmap to display and check which goals have been reached first and what is still left to do.
- I have recently been involved in an interesting experiment. I asked my readers to add any online collaboration tool they use or know to a specific mindmap that I would publicly share. Visualizing such an extended list of tools would be impossible in a normal document. So, I built the Best Online Collaboration Tools 2009 map, which you can easily consult and where new tools are added daily.
Now that I have briefly introduced you to mindmaps, let me point out clearly some of the main advantages of web-based mind mapping tools compared to a desktop mind mapping solution:
- Access mindmaps regardless of which computer you are using.
- Collaborate in real-time with other people at a distance.
- Publish mindmaps on the web to share your ideas.
- Engage readers in collaborative brainstorming sessions.
If you want to test these mind mapping tools for yourself, I have prepared two comparative tables as well as a set of mini-reviews of all the web-based mind mapping tools on the market.
Here the criteria I personally selected to prepare the tables and write each review:
- Real-time collaboration: The number of concurrent users who can work in real-time to a mindmap
- Publishing: mindmap sharing on web pages, either using a widget, simple HTML code or other options
- Public / private option: Access restriction to allow only selected users to collaborate on a mindmap
- Customization: Support for font styles, notes, images, attachments and hyperlinks to personalize the style and appearance of a mindmap
- Text chat: Integrated text-chat feature to collaborate in real-time with other people
- Accessibility: Availability of mobile and offline versions to access your mindmaps when you are not connected
- Import / export formats: Supported file types to import existing mindmaps created using another mind mapping tool. Also, all export options to save your mindmap: other compatible mind mapping tools, documents or image file formats
- History: Chronological history of all the revisions made to a mindmap either by you or a collaborator. Ability to revert the mindmap to any previous version or edit..
- Free features: Other options available at a free level
- Pro features: Advanced options available only to premium paid accounts
Here all the details:
Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services Comparative Tables
Mind Mapping Tools: Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services
- MindManager
MindManager is the web-based counterpart of the Mindmanager mind mapping desktop software. MindManager Web is priced at €120 and a 30-day free trial is available. The mindmaps you create can be shared with up to 9 collaborators who see real-time changes as you edit. An integrated web-conferencing feature also allows you to voice-chat with your teammates, and if you are on a Windows machine you can even text-chat with other users. You can either create public or private mindmaps, but you cannot share your maps publicly on the web. MindManager Web lets you customize the appearance of your mindmaps by using different font styles and formatting options. You can also insert notes, hyperlinks, attachments, images and draw colored lines to connect nodes. MindManager Web supports import and export of your mindmaps from / to Mindomo, Mind42, Comapping and WiseMapping. The service is also accessible through Windows Mobile smartphones using PocketMind software (€49). For offline editing, you must purchase the stand-alone MindManager suite. Revision history is supported. Flash is required to use MindManager Web.
http://tinyurl.com/b8bgb9 - MindMeister
MindMeister is a collaborative web-based mind mapping solution you can use for free with restricted capabilities or full-featured for 30 days. The service allows you to create a mindmap that can be shared with other users who see real-time changes as they are made by other collaborators. Your mindmap can either be public or private. If you set a mindmap for public access, you can also embed it on a web page by pasting the relevant HTML code. MindMeister allows you to apply different styles to your map by editing size, color and formatting of your text. You can also add images, hyperlinks, notes, and icons. When you are working on a map, all changes are stored for future revision and you can go back at any time to undo all changes made. Using MindMeister you can also add text to your maps using SMS, e-mail, desktop / web widgets and a Firefox / IE add-on. You can import your maps from MindManager, FreeMind and TXT files. You can also export your finished map to RTF, PDF, JPG, GIF and PNG file formats, as well as MindManager and Freemind files (Premium users only). Text-chat is not supported. With a free account you can draw up to three mindmaps, have basic import / export capabilities and share your work with others. To work with unlimited users you have to purchase a Premium plan (starting from $4/month). Premium plans also let you access advanced import / export features, work offline, add file attachments to your maps and secure your data. All maps created with a Premium plan are ads-free.
http://www.mindmeister.com - Mindomo
Mindomo offers both a software and a web-based mind mapping tool. You can create both public and private maps. Public maps can be embedded on any web page by copying and pasting the relevant HTML code or sent via e-mail. To customize your map you can use different font styles and colors. You can also add hyperlinks, icons, images, videos, and use lines to connect different nodes of your map. If you have already drawn a mindmap using another mind mapping tool like MindManager or FreeMind, you can import your existing map inside Mindomo. You can also export your mindmaps to TXT, RTF, PDF, JPG, GIF or PNG file formats. Text-chat and revision history are not supported. With a free account you can create up to seven private mindmaps and have unlimited public maps. To have unlimited private maps you must switch to the Premium account, priced at $6/month. Mindomo Premium account also lets you get rid of ads, protect your maps with secure encryption and use the spell-checking feature. Flash is required to use Mindomo.
http://www.mindomo.com/ - Bubbl.us
Bubbl.us is a free mind mapping tool that allows you to create mindmaps right inside your browser. Bubbl.us maps can be shared with unlimited users, but you cannot create fully public mindmaps. To customize the appearance of your mindmap, you can only change the background color of the bubbles (the elements that contain text), but you cannot modify the style of the text. Adding icons, attachments, hyperlinks and images to your bubbles is not supported either. Bubbl.us lets you publish your mindmap by pasting a small piece of HTML code inside your web pages. You can also export your finished map as JPG or PNG images or send it via e-mail. No text-chat and revision history are available. You cannot work on your map in offline mode or access your mindmap via mobile. Flash is required to use Bubbl.us.
http://www.bubbl.us/ - Mind42
Mind42 is a free web service that allows you to create mindmaps that can be shared with unlimited collaborators. You have different options to style your mindmap: you can change the font type, the color of the font and also add notes, images, hyperlinks, icons and attachments. When your mindmap is completed, you can embed your map on a web page by pasting the relevant HTML code or export the map to MindManager or to a RTF file. Importing an existing map made with another mind mapping tool is not allowed. Using the Birdview mode you can see a small preview of your entire map if the whole map does not fit inside your browser window and the portion of the map you are working on is also highlighted. Text-chat functionality is not built inside the service, but Mind42 provides quick access to use your Skype and Gtalk accounts to communicate with your teammates. You cannot choose to create public and private maps: all maps are private. Offline working mode and revision history are not available.
http://www.mind42.com/ - WiseMapping
WiseMapping is a free web-based mind mapping tool. You can build as many mindmaps as you want and share them with unlimited co-workers. To personalize your maps you can add icons, hyperlinks, and notes but not images. You can also add colors to the nodes of your map and change the appearance of your text (font type, color, size). Maps can be either private or public and your public maps can also be published on the web. Just grab a small piece of HTML code and embed the hyperlinked image of your map inside any web page. To export your map you can choose among SVG, PDF, MMAP (MindManager), JPG and PNG file formats. To see a previous version of your map, check the revision history for any modification you and your collaborators have done and, optionally, revert the map to a previous state. No text chat available. WiseMapping does not provide offline access to your mindmaps.
http://www.wisemapping.com/ - Comapping
Comapping is a paid web-based mind mapping solution you can test for a trial period. The service has different price levels starting at $15/six months for a single license. Using Comapping you can work with up to 20 collaborators who see changes in real-time as you modify a shared map. You can also use text-chat to communicate and brainstorm ideas with collaborators. Your maps can either be public or private. Public maps can also be published on the web using a widget. To style your mindmap you can use different font colors and styles. You can even use icons and attachments, but not add images or notes. Comapping also allows you to hold presentations using your mindmap. A server version is also available upon request. You can import your maps from MindManager (MMAP) and export to MMAPP, RTF and HTML file formats. Revision history is not supported. Comapping works offline by downloading to your computer a small application based on Adobe AIR.
http://www.comapping.com/ - DropMind
DropMind is a free web-based mind mapping tool that you can use to build and share your mindmaps with up to two collaborators. You see real-time changes made by collaborators and you can also text-chat any other user working on your mindmap using Gtalk. To customize your map you can add hyperlinks, icons, notes and style your text by changing font type, color and size. Any time a collaborator modifies the mindmap, all changes are stored for future revision and you can always revert your map to a previous state. Dropmindmaps are private by default, but you can publish them to let other DropMind users check your work. You can import your existing maps from MindManager and Freemind, but also from RTF and DOC files. Exporting a map is not supported. Premium access (starting at $15/3 months) allows you to have unlimited concurrent users, hold presentations, export map as RTF, DOC, PDF, HTML and image files, add images and attachments, and also work offline on your own desktop. Microsoft Silverlight is required to use DropMind.
http://web.dropmind.com/ - MAPMYself
MAPMYself (former Mapul) is a free mind mapping tool that works right inside your browser. With MAPMYself you cannot share your maps with other collaborators for real-time editing. You have several customization options to style your map: you can change the appearance of the nodes, and also the font, color, and size of your text. You can even add images, icons and notes and hand-write the text of your nodes. MAPMYself mindmaps can be all publicly shared on the web. Export formats supported include PNG, DOCX and MindManager (MMAP) file formats. The Presentation mode allows you to hold a presentation using your mindmap. MAPMYself can also work offline. Revision history is not supported.
http://www.mapul.com/ - Glinkr
Glinkr is an open-source web-based mind mapping tool. Glinkr does not allow you to share your maps with other users, but you can embed your map inside a web page using a widget. You have limited customization options for the nodes of your map: you can change the background colors of the nodes or add attachments, hyperlinks and descriptions, but not else. Maps can be imported into Glinkr from GIF, JPG, PNL and HTML files, but cannot be exported. No offline mode nor revision history are supported.
http://glinkr.net/
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on August 10th, 2009 as “Mind Mapping Tools: Online Guide To Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services“.
Mind Mapping Tools: Online Guide To Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services
Posted by: | CommentsMind mapping tools are an effective way to collaborate, brainstorm, visualize and plan ideas either on your own or with other people. If you still use tons of sticky notes to organize your thoughts, in this online guide I have collected and reviewed the best web-based mindmap drawing services out there.
Photo credit: Robin Good
A mindmap is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.
mindmaps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing. (Source: Wikipedia)
Tony Buzan, who has first evangelized this unconventional way of visualizing ideas, claims that mindmaps utilize the full range of left and right human cortical skills, balance the brain and tap into the alleged 99% of your unused mental potential, as well as intuition.
Though a lot of scientists suggest that such claims may be just marketing hype, my own experience is that mind mapping works great when it comes to visualize my thoughts or brainstorm ideas with my virtual team.
In fact, the real advantage I see about mind mapping is the ease to visualize ideas in a virtually unlimited space, while giving very precise text labels to ideas, tasks, projects and to the relationships between them. These two basic characteristics, with the ability to watch and edit the same map in real-time with others, creates a truly effective and memorable way of collaborating productively.
Here below let me share with you just some examples, taken out of my own experience, of how mindmaps contribute to simplify my work:
- When I need to prepare a tool guide on a specific topic, I use a mindmap to collect all the tools that will be part of that guide, without worrying to create a specific order. I just add tools randomly as they come to my head.
- As you probably know, I offer anyone the opportunity to engage in a one-to-one relationship with me during an internship period here at MasterNewMedia. The internship is essentially a training period where I teach all I have learned while becoming a professional online publisher. Each step during the internship requires specific goals to achieve and precise skills to acquire, but since these steps are not necessarily reached in a linear path, I use a mindmap to display and check which goals have been reached first and what is still left to do.
- I have recently been involved in an interesting experiment. I asked my readers to add any online collaboration tool they use or know to a specific mindmap that I would publicly share. Visualizing such an extended list of tools would be impossible in a normal document. So, I built the Best Online Collaboration Tools 2009 map, which you can easily consult and where new tools are added daily.
Now that I have briefly introduced you to mindmaps, let me point out clearly some of the main advantages of web-based mind mapping tools compared to a desktop mind mapping solution:
- Access mindmaps regardless of which computer you are using.
- Collaborate in real-time with other people at a distance.
- Publish mindmaps on the web to share your ideas.
- Engage readers in collaborative brainstorming sessions.
If you want to test these mind mapping tools for yourself, I have prepared two comparative tables as well as a set of mini-reviews of all the web-based mind mapping tools on the market.
Here the criteria I personally selected to prepare the tables and write each review:
- Real-time collaboration: The number of concurrent users who can work in real-time to a mindmap
- Publishing: mindmap sharing on web pages, either using a widget, simple HTML code or other options
- Public / private option: Access restriction to allow only selected users to collaborate on a mindmap
- Customization: Support for font styles, notes, images, attachments and hyperlinks to personalize the style and appearance of a mindmap
- Text chat: Integrated text-chat feature to collaborate in real-time with other people
- Accessibility: Availability of mobile and offline versions to access your mindmaps when you are not connected
- Import / export formats: Supported file types to import existing mindmaps created using another mind mapping tool. Also, all export options to save your mindmap: other compatible mind mapping tools, documents or image file formats
- History: Chronological history of all the revisions made to a mindmap either by you or a collaborator. Ability to revert the mindmap to any previous version or edit..
- Free features: Other options available at a free level
- Pro features: Advanced options available only to premium paid accounts
Here all the details:
Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services Comparative Tables
Mind Mapping Tools: Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services
- MindManager
MindManager is the web-based counterpart of the Mindmanager mind mapping desktop software. MindManager Web is priced at €120 and a 30-day free trial is available. The mindmaps you create can be shared with up to 9 collaborators who see real-time changes as you edit. An integrated web-conferencing feature also allows you to voice-chat with your teammates, and if you are on a Windows machine you can even text-chat with other users. You can either create public or private mindmaps, but you cannot share your maps publicly on the web. MindManager Web lets you customize the appearance of your mindmaps by using different font styles and formatting options. You can also insert notes, hyperlinks, attachments, images and draw colored lines to connect nodes. MindManager Web supports import and export of your mindmaps from / to Mindomo, Mind42, Comapping and WiseMapping. The service is also accessible through Windows Mobile smartphones using PocketMind software (€49). For offline editing, you must purchase the stand-alone MindManager suite. Revision history is supported. Flash is required to use MindManager Web.
http://tinyurl.com/b8bgb9 - MindMeister
MindMeister is a collaborative web-based mind mapping solution you can use for free with restricted capabilities or full-featured for 30 days. The service allows you to create a mindmap that can be shared with other users who see real-time changes as they are made by other collaborators. Your mindmap can either be public or private. If you set a mindmap for public access, you can also embed it on a web page by pasting the relevant HTML code. MindMeister allows you to apply different styles to your map by editing size, color and formatting of your text. You can also add images, hyperlinks, notes, and icons. When you are working on a map, all changes are stored for future revision and you can go back at any time to undo all changes made. Using MindMeister you can also add text to your maps using SMS, e-mail, desktop / web widgets and a Firefox / IE add-on. You can import your maps from MindManager, FreeMind and TXT files. You can also export your finished map to RTF, PDF, JPG, GIF and PNG file formats, as well as MindManager and Freemind files (Premium users only). Text-chat is not supported. With a free account you can draw up to three mindmaps, have basic import / export capabilities and share your work with others. To work with unlimited users you have to purchase a Premium plan (starting from $4/month). Premium plans also let you access advanced import / export features, work offline, add file attachments to your maps and secure your data. All maps created with a Premium plan are ads-free.
http://www.mindmeister.com - Mindomo
Mindomo offers both a software and a web-based mind mapping tool. You can create both public and private maps. Public maps can be embedded on any web page by copying and pasting the relevant HTML code or sent via e-mail. To customize your map you can use different font styles and colors. You can also add hyperlinks, icons, images, videos, and use lines to connect different nodes of your map. If you have already drawn a mindmap using another mind mapping tool like MindManager or FreeMind, you can import your existing map inside Mindomo. You can also export your mindmaps to TXT, RTF, PDF, JPG, GIF or PNG file formats. Text-chat and revision history are not supported. With a free account you can create up to seven private mindmaps and have unlimited public maps. To have unlimited private maps you must switch to the Premium account, priced at $6/month. Mindomo Premium account also lets you get rid of ads, protect your maps with secure encryption and use the spell-checking feature. Flash is required to use Mindomo.
http://www.mindomo.com/ - Bubbl.us
Bubbl.us is a free mind mapping tool that allows you to create mindmaps right inside your browser. Bubbl.us maps can be shared with unlimited users, but you cannot create fully public mindmaps. To customize the appearance of your mindmap, you can only change the background color of the bubbles (the elements that contain text), but you cannot modify the style of the text. Adding icons, attachments, hyperlinks and images to your bubbles is not supported either. Bubbl.us lets you publish your mindmap by pasting a small piece of HTML code inside your web pages. You can also export your finished map as JPG or PNG images or send it via e-mail. No text-chat and revision history are available. You cannot work on your map in offline mode or access your mindmap via mobile. Flash is required to use Bubbl.us.
http://www.bubbl.us/ - Mind42
Mind42 is a free web service that allows you to create mindmaps that can be shared with unlimited collaborators. You have different options to style your mindmap: you can change the font type, the color of the font and also add notes, images, hyperlinks, icons and attachments. When your mindmap is completed, you can embed your map on a web page by pasting the relevant HTML code or export the map to MindManager or to a RTF file. Importing an existing map made with another mind mapping tool is not allowed. Using the Birdview mode you can see a small preview of your entire map if the whole map does not fit inside your browser window and the portion of the map you are working on is also highlighted. Text-chat functionality is not built inside the service, but Mind42 provides quick access to use your Skype and Gtalk accounts to communicate with your teammates. You cannot choose to create public and private maps: all maps are private. Offline working mode and revision history are not available.
http://www.mind42.com/ - WiseMapping
WiseMapping is a free web-based mind mapping tool. You can build as many mindmaps as you want and share them with unlimited co-workers. To personalize your maps you can add icons, hyperlinks, and notes but not images. You can also add colors to the nodes of your map and change the appearance of your text (font type, color, size). Maps can be either private or public and your public maps can also be published on the web. Just grab a small piece of HTML code and embed the hyperlinked image of your map inside any web page. To export your map you can choose among SVG, PDF, MMAP (MindManager), JPG and PNG file formats. To see a previous version of your map, check the revision history for any modification you and your collaborators have done and, optionally, revert the map to a previous state. No text chat available. WiseMapping does not provide offline access to your mindmaps.
http://www.wisemapping.com/ - Comapping
Comapping is a paid web-based mind mapping solution you can test for a trial period. The service has different price levels starting at $15/six months for a single license. Using Comapping you can work with up to 20 collaborators who see changes in real-time as you modify a shared map. You can also use text-chat to communicate and brainstorm ideas with collaborators. Your maps can either be public or private. Public maps can also be published on the web using a widget. To style your mindmap you can use different font colors and styles. You can even use icons and attachments, but not add images or notes. Comapping also allows you to hold presentations using your mindmap. A server version is also available upon request. You can import your maps from MindManager (MMAP) and export to MMAPP, RTF and HTML file formats. Revision history is not supported. Comapping works offline by downloading to your computer a small application based on Adobe AIR.
http://www.comapping.com/ - DropMind
DropMind is a free web-based mind mapping tool that you can use to build and share your mindmaps with up to two collaborators. You see real-time changes made by collaborators and you can also text-chat any other user working on your mindmap using Gtalk. To customize your map you can add hyperlinks, icons, notes and style your text by changing font type, color and size. Any time a collaborator modifies the mindmap, all changes are stored for future revision and you can always revert your map to a previous state. Dropmindmaps are private by default, but you can publish them to let other DropMind users check your work. You can import your existing maps from MindManager and Freemind, but also from RTF and DOC files. Exporting a map is not supported. Premium access (starting at $15/3 months) allows you to have unlimited concurrent users, hold presentations, export map as RTF, DOC, PDF, HTML and image files, add images and attachments, and also work offline on your own desktop. Microsoft Silverlight is required to use DropMind.
http://web.dropmind.com/ - MAPMYself
MAPMYself (former Mapul) is a free mind mapping tool that works right inside your browser. With MAPMYself you cannot share your maps with other collaborators for real-time editing. You have several customization options to style your map: you can change the appearance of the nodes, and also the font, color, and size of your text. You can even add images, icons and notes and hand-write the text of your nodes. MAPMYself mindmaps can be all publicly shared on the web. Export formats supported include PNG, DOCX and MindManager (MMAP) file formats. The Presentation mode allows you to hold a presentation using your mindmap. MAPMYself can also work offline. Revision history is not supported.
http://www.mapul.com/ - Glinkr
Glinkr is an open-source web-based mind mapping tool. Glinkr does not allow you to share your maps with other users, but you can embed your map inside a web page using a widget. You have limited customization options for the nodes of your map: you can change the background colors of the nodes or add attachments, hyperlinks and descriptions, but not else. Maps can be imported into Glinkr from GIF, JPG, PNL and HTML files, but cannot be exported. No offline mode nor revision history are supported.
http://glinkr.net/
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on August 10th, 2009 as “Mind Mapping Tools: Online Guide To Web-Based MindMap Drawing Services“.
Why Tracking External Links Can Help You Improve Website Traffic
Posted by: | CommentsTracking and monitoring your incoming links can provide you with great and valuable insight into which sites, social media and other web traffic sources are sending you the best and most qualified visitors for your web site. But how do you go about analyzing those incoming links in an effective way? Which one of those traffic sources is better? Social media, search engines, organic links on other sites and blogs?
Photo credit: hypermania
To evaluate the effective traffic potential of most of the typical web traffic sources, Pavel Israelsky, a young web publisher from Israel, has taken the time to systematically analyze the main traffic sources sending people to his site, including forums, blogs, web directories, instant messengers, social media sites and even emails.
The goal for Israel was the one of understanding which one of these traffic sources brings in more traffic and consequently which should be the traffic source on which to spend the greatest amount of energies. Though these results do not represent general trends and data applicable to all types of sites or blogs, the story of how this analysis was setup and run can help those with less experience in tracking online data in getting a glimpse of how you can actually go about collecting such data and make that information help you understand better how and where to focus to increase your web traffic.
Can you get relatively more traffic from Twitter or from your signature at the end of your emails?
Here all the details:
The Great Traffic Experiment
by Pavel Israelsky
Who wouldn’t want to increase the incoming traffic to his website by knowing which traffic source to focus on?
How can we evaluate the potential of all traffic sources we use on a daily basis?
With the recent development of social networking and the various media tools, the number of traffic sources has increased dramatically. As a result, tracking of traffic to our websites became a tougher task.
For the last two months I’ve been conducting an experiment (quite secretive), intended to evaluate the potential of all the standard sources of traffic in the Internet, which I use regularly. Forums, blogs, social networks, web directories, instant messaging software applications, Twitter and even Gmail (patience, all will become clear shortly).
It is true that there are quite a lot of great statistical applications supplying the goods, such as Google Analytics, but still, at the end of the day, me and many others go to sleep with many unanswered questions and wonders.
Questions like:
- How many got into my website through my Gmail signature?
- How many clicked on the link in my blog in my Facebook profile?
- Did anyone click the link of my website in my Skype status line?
- Does anyone click on my URLs in articles talkbacks? Etc.
Preliminary Preparations: Mapping Sources and Setting Up Tracking Links
This kind of questions has always bothered me and I came to the conclusion that I just have to check it out. So I decided to conduct an experiment which includes the following steps:
- Map all the sources at which I am active,
- Group the sources (blogs, forums etc.),
- Create a designated link to count clicks for each group and lastly,
- pPace the designated link in any of the source sites (usually the link was “Websites Promotion Blog” and not the URL address).
For example: Facebook, TheMarker Café (popular social network in Israel) and LinkedIn are part of the “social networking” group, so I dedicated a designated link to these three sites.
There are two reasons why I decided to track only the sources I use on a regular basis:
- In the other sources I do not have a profile so there are no outbound links to my blog.
- I wanted to evaluate the potential of the sources I use based on my browsing habits so I can learn how much energy I should invest in them (if at all).
In order to create tracking links I chose a URL shrinking service, which supplies me with detailed statistics of the number of clicks on any link I create through it. So I created an account in the popular service cli.gs and began with creating designated inbound links for every traffic source group.
Below you can find all the tracking links I created:
- Social networks: cli.gs/social-askpavel
- Blogs: cli.gs/blogs-askpavel
- Discussion groups and forums: cli.gs/forums-askpavel
- Instant messages: cli.gs/instant-askpavel
- E-mail service: cli.gs/email-askpavel
- Twitter: cli.gs/twitter-askpavel
You can check and see that each such URL leads to my blog’s home page.
The Course of the Traffic Experiment: Dividing the Links into Groups and Collecting Data
So there are designated links, groups and sources – now all that is left to do is integrate them.
Here is a reference to every group of sources including the final results based on readings made over a period of two months.
Group 1: Social Networks
Designated link: http://cli.gs/social-askpavel
Traffic sources (these links lead to my profile pages): Facebook, Linkedin, TheMarker Cafe
The position of the link in every source: In the three sources the link appears first and foremost in the profile page in the field “personal site“.
In addition, it appeared in my Facebook’s SEO Group and my other SEO Group in LinkedIn.
Location in Facebook:
Location in LinkedIn:
Location in TheMarker Café (it’s under “expanded about page in my blog:“):
Conditions for exposure: The exposure to a link is directly dependent on the number of activities I do at each of the sites (If I am inactive no one will be exposed to it), number of friends, my involvement in the network and the number of searches leading to my profile.
During the experiment, in order to maintain the objectivity of the results and to ensure they truly reflect the potential of each group, I did not act in an extraordinary way.
The activities I did (which made people become exposed to the link) are:
- Talkbacks in the relevant discussions,
- adding new friends,
- sending messages to existing friends,
- uploading pictures and videos,
- updating my status line and comment to my friends status changes,
- joining communities and groups which interest me,
- use of several social applications etc.
All the activities can be grouped under “Internet Personal Branding“.
My social parameters in this channel (influencing on the level of exposure):
Unfortunately I cannot measure the number of searches leading to my profile, or the number of activities I have done in each network.
The only estimate is the number of friends in every network:
- 605 friends in Facebook (217 friends in the SEO group in Facebook),
- 190 in LinkedIn (11 friends in the SEO group in LinkedIn) and
- 186 friends in TheMarker Café.
The overall number of participants coming from this group: 55
Group 2: Comments in Blogs
Designated link: http://cli.gs/blogs-askpavel
Traffic sources: I read a lot of blogs (Israeli and foreign) on a regular basis. The very partial list can be found at Websites Promotion Recommended Resources I have written before.
Additional blogs I read can be found here, a collection of the world’s top 25 most recommended blogs about SEO.
The link’s location in each source: In the “Full name” field in the talkbacks themselves
Conditions for exposure: The people exposed to the comment link are the blog’s editor and the other readers of the same post. The exposure is dependent on the number of comments I make and the number of readers exposed to those comments.
In addition, it could be said there is a direct connection between the traffic of the blog in which I am commenting and the traffic I will get from the link inside the comment. Hence the recommendation to try to comment in those blogs popular in the area you are interested in.
My social parameters in this channel (influencing on the level of exposure): During the term of the experiment (2 months) I commented 40 times in about 20 different blogs.
The overall number of participants coming from this group: 46
Group 3: Discussion Groups and Forums
Designated link: http://cli.gs/blogs-askpavel
Traffic sources: K Forum (K Forum is an Israeli popular SEO forum), Tapuz SEO Community (Tapuz is a popular Israeli forum-based community), Commercial Internet Community (In TheMarker Café).
The link’s location in each source: In the signature at the end of the comments. In some of them there is just an URL and not a clickable link so this source contributes less to the overall number of clicks of the designated link (people usually are too lazy to copy a link into their browser and prefer something clickable).
In K forum:
In TheMarker Café forum:
Conditions for exposure: Only those reading my comment in the body of the discussion were exposed to the link.
In addition, the forum’s reputation and popularity are important factors – the more popular it is, the more traffic goes through it and so there is a greater chance people will click on the link in the signature.
My social parameters in this channel (influencing on the level of exposure): In forum K I commented in 35 different threads (1-3 times in average per thread), in the commercial forum I reacted to 5 threads (1-3 times in average per thread) and in the Tapuz community I commented in one thread once.
The overall number of participants coming from this group: 79
Group 4: Instant Messages
Designated link: http://cli.gs/blogs-askpavel
Traffic sources: All the various instant messaging applications and services – ICQ, Skype, MSN messenger, Google Talk.
The link’s location in each source: In each application there’s that status line where you can write whatever you want, sort of “status“.
The link on Google Talk (the link looks pretty much the same in the other instant messaging applications):
Conditions for exposure: The exposure depends on 2 factors: The number of people in my friends list with which I talk on a regular basis and the frequency of the correspondence.
The more a person corresponds the longer the “stage time” of the link in the status line becomes (for the person with which we correspond at the moment).
In addition, the more friends a person has on his friends list, the bigger is his link’s exposure even if he is not corresponding at that minute (since when he is online all his friends see his status line).
My social parameters in this channel (influencing on the level of exposure): 126 friends on Google Talk and 53 on Skype (out of which 5% are inactive).
The overall number of participants coming from this group: 40
Group 5: E-Mail Service
Designated link: http://cli.gs/blogs-askpavel
Traffic sources: This item focuses only on the e-mail service I use – Gmail.
The link’s location in each source: At the end of the e-mails I sent (in my signature).
Conditions for exposure: In principle, every person who receives an e-mail from me should be exposed to the link. This, of course, depends on how long the e-mail is (who has the energy to scroll the whole way through?) and the size and color of the font of the signature (Gmail left me very little choice), but my basic assumption is that anyone who got an e-mail from me saw the link. The click on it depends on my relationship with that person, if we do not know one another there is a high chance this person will click and if we correspond on a regular basis, the chance is that he will not.
My social parameters in this channel (influencing on the level of exposure): In the last couple of months I have sent an average number of 11 e-mails per day and a total of 684 e-mails. Out of which, 45 e-mails were sent to new people (people I approached for the first time).
The overall number of participants coming from this group: 33
Group 6: Twitter
Designated link: http://cli.gs/blogs-askpavel
Traffic sources: Twitter. Not enough?
The link’s location in each source: The bio field in the personal profile.
Conditions for exposure: Twitter is a powerful tool deserving a post of its own and this is why I decided to create for it a category of its own.
The exposure of your profile depends on the number of people following you, the number of tweets, the number of searches leading to your profile and the number of retweets you get.
The rule valid here is very common to all social networks – the more popular you are, the more people will be exposed to your profile.
My social parameters in this channel (influencing on the level of exposure): 171 people following me and during the period of the experiment I sent only 16 tweets (because of the low number, it does not reflect the normal usage and the power you can extract out of the tool).
The overall number of participants coming from this group: 37
Here is a final concentration of the figures:
- Social networks: 55
- Blog comments: 64
- Discussion groups and forums: 79
- Instant messages: 40
- E-mail service: 33
- Twitter: 37
Results and Conclusions of the Experiment
I have learned a lot from this experiment, both about me as a user and about the potential of external links from the different sources.
In addition, a lot can be understood from the statistics about the users habits in every channel (where do people click more on links etc.).
It is worth mentioning that these findings are subjective and depend on any person’s habits. Nevertheless, a few insights would fit all.
Here are the experiment’s findings (not in any order):
- Although I wasn’t a hardcore user of Twitter (and it’s a shame I wasn’t), the number of hits I got from there is more than those coming from e-mails.
- Homework to myself (urgent): “Start investing in Twitter!“
- Second chore for homework (less urgent): “Start commenting in popular blogs!“
- The forums yielded the most entries and the least came from the e-mails.
- At the beginning I created designated links that did not include my blog name in the URL, but they hardly got clicked upon. During the experiment I did decide to include my blog name, because it gives the reader a hint where the link leads to.
- Although I send a lot of e-mails, relatively very few people clicked on the link in the signature.
- Although I am pretty active user in social networks and do not tend to comment a lot in blogs, I got more entries from the blog comments.
What are your favorite traffic sources?
So I conducted an experiment and I learned a lot about the traffic I get into my blog, but that only reflects my case. What about you? What are your favorite sources? Where do you think it would be worthwhile to invest your time to attract maximum visitors?
This post was translated from Hebrew using OneHourTranslation Translation Service.
Originally written by Pavel Israelsky for MasterNewMedia and first published on May 6th, 2009 as “Why Tracking External Links Can Help You Improve Website Traffic“.
About the author
Pavel Israelsky (follow him on Twitter: @askpavel) is an Israeli Search-Engine-Optimization (SEO) consultant and blogger. He is writing in Hebrew about SEO techniques in his blog AskPavel.
Photo credits:
Preliminary Preparations: Mapping Sources and Setting Up Tracking Links – Helder Almeida
Group 1: Social Networks – Eric Isselée
Group 2: Comments in Blogs – Khaled Benseguenia
Group 3: Discussion Groups and Forums – zzzzz
Group 4: Instant Messages – Konstantinos Kokkinis
Group 5: E-Mail Service – juliengron
Group 6: Twitter – mipan
Results and Conclusions of the Experiment – artzone
If you are looking into innovative ways to browse and explore search engine results, visual search engines may provide exactly what you have been looking for. Instead of long lists of page titles and URLs, visual search engines deliver visually rich maps of content results, often utilizing also size, color and positioning to communicate at a glance a greater array of information about the items found.
Photo credit: lhfgraphic
Visual search engines are generally web-based tools just like Google and they require no extra software or plugin to be installed. You can just type a keyword and start diving inside their visual result pages: select a visualization type, re-arrange your results, sort them by date, relevance, or by other possible parameters.
Within the set of visual search engines available out there, there are some that allow you to search standard Web-based content as well as others capable of retrieving also network contacts, similar sites, videos, images, podcasts, and much more.
In fact, some of these visual search engines will also search for your preferred keywords inside Wikipedia, Amazon or Twitter.
To explore and give a try these eye-striking visual search engines you need to look no further as I have taken the time to search, check and pull together a guide that includes all of the visual search engines out there.
As always, I have also done some extra homework to identify some basic comparison criteria to help you select the visual search engine that could best match your needs:
- Technology Type: Software or web-based.
- Visualization types: Dynamic map, stacks, list, tag clouds, etc.
- Content Sources: Web, Wikipedia, videos, images, Amazon Books, Twitter, etc.
- Search options: Sort by date, exclude keywords, search inside domain, RSS, etc.
Here all of the best visual search engines and what I have discovered about each one:
Top Visual Search Engines Comparison Table
Top Visual Search Engines
1. Grokker
Grokker is a web-based search engine that allows you to explore your results in a visual fashion. Your results are displayed both in a standard outline and in a dynamic map you can interact with. Grokker takes advantage of Yahoo!, Wikipedia, and Amazon Books search engines to perform its queries. Results can be sorted by date, source, domain and refined selecting (or excluding) specific related keywords. Grokker is also available as a software for enterprise use.
http://www.grokker.com/
2. KartOO
KartOO is a web-based visual search engine that can search the Web, images, videos and Wikipedia entries. Using Google, and Yahoo! search engines KartOO allows you to create a visual map where related results are linked between them. You can save and print your map, filter results using a parental filter, and filter your SERPs by language.
http://www.kartoo.com/
3. Viewzi
Viewzi is a powerful visual search engine that provides many different possibilities to display your results. Using Yahoo!, Google and Viddler, you can search the Web, images and videos. SERPs can be arranged in stacks, along a Google timeline, for individual site information, using simple text, showing a photo tag cloud, and more. Results can be also customized as you can star or hide sites you care / don’t care about. A parental filter is also available.
http://www.viewzi.com/
4. Searchme
Searchme is a web-based search engine that allows you to explore SERPs in a visual fashion. Searchme displays results in a dynamic carousel stack you can navigate back and forth. Searches are performed in multiple categoreis like videos, images, advertising, shopping, sport,, entertainment, news, and more. Other features include a parental filter, the possibility to play media right inside Searchme, and the sharing of your results via Twitter.
http://www.searchme.com/
5. Quintura
Quintura is a web-based search engine that allows you to explore results visually. Quintura can search the Web, images and Blinkx. Results are displayed in a customizable tag cloud, and a classic organic outline. the tag cloud with your results can be also embedded and shared with others via e-mail.
http://www.quintura.com/
6. Ujiko
Ujiko is a visual search engine you can use to display and explore your search results visually. Completely web-based, Ujiko allows you to scout the Web and arrange your results in a radial outline. Available in English, German and French.
http://www.ujiko.com/
7. Search-cube
Search-cube is a search engine that instead displaying your results in a classic organic style, creates a 3D cube made up of visual previews. Web-based and very easy to use, Search-cube allows you to search for sites, images, and videos.
http://www.search-cube.com/
8. Middlespot
Middlespot is a visual search engine that lets you explore the results of your searches in a visual fashion. Sources available for search are: Web, Images, News, Amazon and Twitter. Middlespots allows you to create as many workpads as the search terms you want to explore. Results will be displayed inside a gallery where you can zoom and re-arrange elements.
http://middlespot.com/
9. oSkope
oSkope is a visual search engine. Using oSkope you can visually display and explore search results for specific keywords right inside your browser window. Results from Amazon, eBay, Flickr, Fotolia, Yahoo! and YouTube can be explored in different visualizations styles like: grid, stack, pile, graph and list.
http://oskope.com/
10. Nexplore
Nexplore allows you to browse your search results in a visual fashion. Nexplore performs searches on the Web, news, videos, images, blogs and podcasts. The web-based service shows also related Wikipedia definitions for your searched keywords. Results can be displayed in three ways: summary, line, gallery, and can be shared on the Internet.
http://www.nexplore.com/
11. eyePlorer
eyePlorer is not a proper visual search engine, because you cannot search for any words or phrase you like. The service rather provides you with a visual representation for common, popular facts and suggest connections with other related facts and sources. All results displayed inside a colored wheel can be arranged onto a virtual notepad for later reading and sorted for relevance.
http://www.eyeplorer.com/
12. Ziipa
Ziipa is a web-based visual search engine for Web 2.0 web designs and applications. Unlike other competitors in this field, Ziipa does not search images, videos, or other media content. Results are showed by a gallery and a tag cloud and can be shared and syndicated via RSS.
http://www.ziipa.com/
13. RedZee
RedZee is a visual search engine that shows search results in a visual fashion, displaying a carousel you can navigate back and forth right inside your browser window. No media content can be searched via RedZee.
http://www.redzee.com/
14. Liveplasma
Liveplasma is a visual search engine to explore music and movies. By searching for a keyword related to these two topics, the service will suggest other potential related interests and arrange them in bubbles, linked between them. All without leaving your browser. You can also refine your map by searching for specific topics like directors, actors, or a particular discography. The map with your results can also be shared on the Web.
http://www.liveplasma.com/
15. TouchGraph Google Browser
TouchGraph Google Browser is a visual search engine that displays the connections between web sites using Google technology and visualizing the results in an interactive and customizable map. Results can be filtered and re-arranged around the map. You need to have at least Java 1.5 installed on your machine for TouchGraph Google Browser to work.
http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on April 20th, 2009 as “Top Visual Search Engines: The Most Interesting Ways To Visually Explore Search Engine Results“.
How To Embed And Display RSS Feeds On Any Web Page: Best RSS-To-HTML Publishing Tools
Posted by: | CommentsTo display, embed or publish a RSS feed on your home page or blog post, there are a number of little known tools, scripts and web services that can solve your need in a matter of minutes. Here’s a live example of an RSS feed embedded and displayed inside this very article:
if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget(’054475fe-bcbd-4868-915e-566e61933558′);
As a matter of fact, to do this, all you need is just a technology capable of converting your selected RSS feed into something that can be easily pasted and copied into a blog post or inside the HTML template of your web site.
In this guide, I have pulled together all of the RSS-to-HTML tools that I have discovered out there and which allow you to easily display any RSS feed on any web page, or social media site, rapidly and easily.
Some of these RSS publishing tools are capable of generating fancy and highly customizable embeddable widgets, like the one displayed above, some others simply generate a piece of JavaScript, HTML or PHP code that you need to paste in the appropriate section of your site.
As always, I have also selected a few basic criteria and a full tools comparison table to allow you to easily compare and identify the ideal solution for your specific needs:
- Technology type: JavaScript widget, PHP script, HTML embed, etc.
- Customization: Personalize the look and feel.
- Import OPML: Import an OPML file which contains multiple RSS feeds.
- Social media integration: Embed on social media sites.
- Pro starting price: First price level to access extra features.
Here all the details:
Best RSS-To-HTML Publishing Tools Comparison Table
Best RSS-To-HTML Publishing Tools
- Grazr
Grazr is a free tool that allows you to embed and display RSS feeds onto any web page or social media sites. Grazr creates a customizable JavaScript-based widget with RSS feeds URLs you copy and paste into the dedicated editor. You can also drag&drop feeds and update your widget very easily. OPML files importing is fully supported.
http://www.grazr.com/- Bitty Browser
Bitty is a free embeddable browser that allows you to have a navigable window inside your own web site or any social media site. Bitty can display web sites, RSS feeds, podcasts, and more. If you want Bitty to display a RSS feed of your choice, just paste the URL (OPML files are also supported) inside the browser and then embed the code wherever you like. You can also customize some limited options on how the browser will be shown on web pages.
http://www.bitty.com/- Feedroll Pro
Feedroll Pro is a web-based service you can use to build, display, and embed RSS feeds onto your web pages or social media sites. Just register to the site and purchase the service (first month is free) for $14.95/month. Feedroll Pro creates a JavaScript widget with RSS feeds (OPML importing is supported) and then provides you with a piece of code you can customize and embed wherever you like.
http://www.feedrollpro.com/- Feedroll RSS Viewer
Feedroll RSS Viewer is a free tool to create, embed and display a feed onto your web site or social media sites. Feedroll uses a customizable JavaScript-based widget to publish RSS feeds. OPML importing is not supported, and you can just select among a fixed range of news feeds, but not displaying a feed of your choice.
http://www.feedroll.com/rssviewer/- Feedo Style
Feedo Style is a web-based tool to create a widget out of an RSS feed. Once you input a single RSS feed of your choice, a JavaScript widget will be created and you can embed it on your blog or preferred social media site. If you want extensive customization features or have Feedo Style manage multiple feeds, you can purchase one of the advanced pricing plans, starting at $4.99/month. OPML importing never possible.
http://www.feedostyle.com/- Google Gadget Builder
Google Gadget Builder is a free tool that allows you to create a gadget that will displayed on iGoogle homepages. You can freely customize your gadget to display RSS feeds and then also promote and monetize it via AdWords. No OPML importing features. Embedding is limiting to iGoogle homepages, so personal web pages or social media sites are excluded.
http://tinyurl.com/cx9h7s- Google Dynamic Feed Control Wizard
Google provides a free service to embed a dynamic feed control on your web page and let your users see customized views of the feeds. You can freely customize the way the dynamic feed control should be displayed, and then simply copy and paste the Ajax-based code onto your web site or iGoogle homepage. No OPML importing feature or social media integration features supported.
http://tinyurl.com/3jemrf- Blidgets
Blidgets are free JavaScript widgets that display the content of an RSS feed, and can be embedded on any web page or social media site. Widgets can be completely customized. OPML importing not available. If you need advanced features like the video playing facility or display tabs inside your widget, you can upgrade to Blidget Pro for $3.99/widget.
http://docs.widgetbox.com/developers/blidget/- Feed Informer
Feed Informer is a powerful tool to embed and display RSS feeds in any web page. Free to use, Feed Informer provides you with a customized feed digest in HTML, PHP, Flash, JavaScript, ASP, or JPG and PDF files. Social media integration is fully supported, as well as the possibility to import multiple feeds at once using an OPML file.
http://feed.informer.com/- WebRSS
WebRSS is a free tool that allows you to display a RSS feed on your web site. RSS can be converted to HTML, PHP, ASP, or JavaScript widgets and easily customized to match the look and feel of the web site. Embedding on social media is not supported, and OPML files cannot be imported into WebRSS.
http://www.webrss.com/- Optimal Widget Generator
Optimal Widget Generator is a very essential tool to build a widget that displays a RSS feed of your choice, and embed it on any web page. Completely free to use, Optimal Widget Generator can customize only the dimension of your widget but not the appearance. Widget can be embedded using IFRAME tag. OPML file importing is fully supported, but social media integration is not possible.
http://optimalbrowser.com/widgetwiz.php- Yourminis
Yourminis provides a free, web-based tool to create a Flash widget out of a single RSS feed. You can then embed the widget on any web page or social media site copying and pasting a piece of code. You can freely customize appearance and dimensions of your widget, but not importing an OPML file.
http://tinyurl.com/5jfvaz- FeedForAll
FeedForAll is a software available for Mac and Pc that lets you create, edit, and syndicate RSS feeds and podcast right from your machine. RSS feeds are displayed in HTML format and are easily customizable and embeddable on any web page or social media. OPML importing is not supported. FeedForAll costs $34.95 for a single license on both platforms.
http://www.feedforall.com/free-php-script.htm- CaRP Evolution
CaRP is a PHP script that lets you generate RSS feeds for your web page. CaRP comes in two different versions: LE (basic) and Evolution (enhanced). The LE version allows no control on the appearance of your feeds, while the Evolution version comes with sixteen free bonus plugins to let you customize your RSS-generating experience: auto-update feeds, add images, embed videos, select which part of the text you want to show, sort your feeds, and much more. CaRP LE is free and CaRP Evolution is priced at $47. Registration required for both.
http://www.geckotribe.com/rss/carp/- RSS2HTML
RSS2HTML is a free tool that allows you to publish a RSS feed on your web site. Just customize the JavaScript widget RSS2HTML will create for you, paste the URL of a RSS feed of your choice, and then copy the code to your web pages. Embedding on social media sites or importing OPML files are not supported.
http://www.rss2html.com/- RSSinclude
RSSinclude is a free tool from RSS-Info.com that allows you to create a widget and display the content of a RSS feed inside it. Widget can be embedded with JavaScript code, PHP code or using an IFRAME tag on any web site or social media. OPML importing facility is not available but feed customization is supported.
http://www.rss-info.com/en_rssinclude-simple.html- Free RSS to HTML PHP Script
The free RSS to HTML PHP script is a tool from FeedForAll that allows you to embed a RSS feed inside a web page or social media site for viewing with a regular browser. The advantage of such solution is having pure, auto-updating HTML code which is indexed by search engines. Installation instructions included in the .ZIP file available for free download.
http://www.feedforall.com/free-php-script.htm- Shyftr
Shyftr is a brand new RSS-to-HTML tool that allows you to create, embed and display a RSS feed on a web page through a JavaScript-based widget. The widget is fully customizable and brandabale. Shyftr lets you also merge multiple RSS feeds into a customized one, which you can later syndicate or embed on your web site. OPML importing and social media integration are unsupported for the time being.
http://www.shyftr.com/
Best Tools To Merge Multiple RSS Feeds Into One Comparison Table
Best Tools To Merge Multiple RSS Feeds Into One
- Feed Mix
Feed Mix is a RSS editor for Pc that lets you create, edit, and publish an unlimited number of RSS feeds and podcasts. Feed Mix can also create a new RSS feed or podcast by merging existing feeds. Thanks to a visual preview editor you can work as-you-type and immediately preview the output of your feed right inside the service window. Once your feed has een created you can easily customize its appearance and syndicate it through a built-in FTP upload and publishing facility. Feed Mix is priced at $34.97 for a single license.
http://www.extralabs.net/feed-mix.htm- RSSmesh
RSSmesh is a service provided by FeedForAll to produce a RSS feed by taking the latest items from multiple feeds, and then embed and display your personalized feed onto any web page or social media site. Rssmesh is free to use for registered FeedForAll users. Otherwise you can use RSSmesh after purchasing the RSS Scripts Directory with other utilities for $29.95
http://www.feedforall.com/rssmesh.htm- Shyftr
Shyftr is a brand new RSS-to-HTML tool that allows you to create, embed and display a RSS feed on a web page through a JavaScript-based widget. The widget is fully customizable and brandabale. Shyftr lets you also merge multiple RSS feeds into a customized one, which you can later syndicate or embed on your web site. OPML importing and social media integration are unsupported for the time being.
http://www.shyftr.com/
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on April 13th, 2009 as “How To Embed And Display RSS Feeds On Any Web Page: Best RSS-To-HTML Publishing Tools“.
Visual thinking is about leveraging our innate ability to see – both with our eyes and with our mind’s eye – in order to discover ideas that are otherwise invisible, develop those ideas quickly and intuitively, and then share those concepts with other people in ways that make them grasp those ideas at a glance.
Treasure map by Peter Morville – Download free PDF map now
But which is the most appropriate visual deliverable to use? A flowchart, a diagram, or a wireframe mock-up? Obviously it all depends on what you need to communicate and on who you want to communicate it to as visual communication solutions which may be best under certain conditions, could be totally inappropriate for other situations.
If a visual communicator could see, like on a classy illustrated sushi japanese restaurant menu, all of the visualization routes and solutions available to her , she would be greatly facilitated in choosing, crafting and delivering such a visual message.
User experience guru, Peter Morville, offers in this unique visual resource collection, a wide range of visual thinking and communication solutions, inspiring thoughts and examples, ranging from simple visual stories, to reports, mockups, prototypes and concept designs.
Explore:
User Experience Deliverables
by Peter Morville
Peter Morville
Introduction
It’s an exhilarating time for the user experience community. Rising awareness of our value plus emerging technologies and transmedia trends have created conditions for a step change in our practice.
As an information architect, I’m enjoying the new challenges immensely, even as they sweep me outside my comfort zone. I’ve designed social software and rich user interfaces. I’ve sketched scenarios for the future of mobile search. I’ve mapped the user experience across channels and applications. And, I’ve increasingly found myself striving to clarify ideas for folks in the executive suite.
Consequently, I’m rethinking my role, redefining my deliverables, and embracing new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration.
For instance, I’ve ensnared Jeffery Callender as co-author of Search Patterns, a new book (in process) about design for discovery and the future of search. Together, we’re hoping to bring search to life with colorful, compelling stories, maps, and illustrations, which brings us back to deliverables.
Tools for Thinking
Two books have inspired me to think differently about discovery, communication, and design.
First, Made to Stick challenged me to think simple. This book reveals the power of short phrases and surprising, personal stories to change minds and shape memories:
“Proverbs are the Holy Grail of simplicity. Coming up with a short, compact phrase is easy. Anybody can do it.
On the other hand, coming up with a profound compact phrase is incredibly difficult [yet] enduringly powerful.
We need to open gaps before we close them. Our tendency is to tell people the facts. First, though, they must realize that they need these facts.
This realization – that empathy emerges from the particular rather than the pattern – brings us back full circle to the Mother Teresa quote: “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”
The story’s power, then, is twofold: It provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).“
Second, The Back of the Napkin encouraged me to think visual.
This book shows how sketching can help us discover and sell ideas: Visual thinking means taking advantage of our innate ability to see – both with our eyes and with our mind’s eye – in order to discover ideas that are otherwise invisible, develop those ideas quickly and intuitively, and then share those ideas with other people in a way that they simply “get.”
These two books are gems, and yet their simple ideas are surprisingly difficult to apply.
Making things easy is hard. But, for our projects and our book, we’re convinced it’s worth the effort. So, building on Dan’s garage-sale principle: “everything looks different when we can see it all at once,” Jeff and I have begun collecting user experience deliverables, and laying them all out, so we can look, see, imagine, and show.
The Deliverables
This list describes twenty user experience deliverables with links to relevant resources and examples.
Clearly, these artifacts of the process are not the whole story. We must also think about the relationship between goals, methods, and documents. And yet, for many of us, deliverables are the coin of the realm and merit special attention.
1. Stories
A good story about a user’s experience can help people to see the problem (or opportunity), motivate people to take action, and stick in people’s memories long after we’re gone.
- Stories Storytelling in Business
- The Secret Language of Leadership by Stephen Denning
- Articles by Dave Snowden
2. Proverbs
High-concept pitches, generative analogies, and experience strategies invoke existing schemas to put the world in a wardrobe.
- Experience Strategies by Jesse James Garrett
- High Concept Pitches for Startups
- English Proverbs (Wikiquote)
3. Personas
Portraits and profiles of user types (and their goals and behaviors) remind us all that “you are not the user” and serve as an invaluable compass for design and development.
- Personas (Dey Alexander)
- Personas are NOT a Document by Jared Spool
- Personas (Wikipedia)
4. Scenarios
Positioning personas in natural contexts gets us thinking about how a system fits the lives of real people.
- What is a Scenario?
- Scenarios by Shawn Henry
- Use Cases and User Scenarios (IxDA)
5. Content Inventories
Reviewing and describing documents and objects is a prerequisite to effective structure and organization. The artifact (often a spreadsheet) is a sign of due diligence.
- Doing a Content Inventory by Jeff Veen
- Why You Shouldn’t by Leisa Reichelt
- The Rolling Content Inventory by Lou Rosenfeld
6. Analytics
We learn by wallowing in interaction, search, and navigation data. And, we teach by uncovering and charting the most pivotal landmarks, portals, paths, and patterns.
- Web Analytics (Wikipedia)
- Web Analytics and IA by Hallie Wilfert
- Search Log Analysis (Dey Alexander)
7. User Surveys
Asking the same questions of many users across multiple audiences can reveal existing gaps and common needs, and show how they map to customer satisfaction.
- When to Use Which by Christian Rohrer
- American Customer Satisfaction Index
- Pew Internet & American Life
8. Concept Maps
In the territory of concepts, a good map can help us see where we are and decide what to do by establishing landmarks, clarifying relationships, and identifying true north.
- Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
- What is Your Mental Model? (Indi Young)
- Flickr User Model by Bryce Glass
9. System Maps
A visual representation of objects and relationships within a system can aid understanding and finding for both stakeholders and users. Shift gears from “as-is” to “to-be” and you have a blueprint for structural redesign.
- Map – Territory Relationship (Wikipedia)
- London Underground Maps (Ask Edward Tufte)
- Developing Taxonomy by Christian Ricci
10. Process Flows
How do users move through a system? How can we improve these flows? A symbolic depiction can enlighten desire lines and show the benefits of (less) chosen paths.
- User Flows (Google Images)
- Improving User Task Flows by Austin Govella
- Desire Path (Wikipedia)
11. Wireframes
Sketches of pages and screens can focus us on structure, organization, navigation, and interaction before investing time and attention in color, typography, and image.
- Where the Wireframes Are by Dan Brown
- Real Wireframes by Stephen Turbek
- Wireflow Trading Card (nForm)
12. Storyboards
A series of sketches with narrative displayed in sequence can tell a story and paint a picture by showing interaction between users and systems in context over time.
- Comics by Rebekah Sedaca
- Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (Video)
- Swimlane Diagram (nForm)
13. Concept Designs
Interface designs and composite art invoke an emotional response and capture people’s attention by presenting a high-fidelity image of how the product could look.
- Concept Designs (Flickr)
- Concept Design Tools by
- Victor Lombardi
Found Futures (Stuart Candy)
14. Prototypes
From paper prototypes to pre-alpha software and hardware, working models drive rapid iteration and emotional engagement by showing how a product will look and feel.
- Paper Prototyping by Shawn Medero
- Prototyping with XHTML by Anders Ramsay and Leah Buley
- WineM (Technology Sketch)
15. Narrative Reports
Writing is a great tool for thinking and organizing. And, it’s hard to beat a written report for presenting detailed results and analysis or formal recommendations. Reports can serve as a container for most other deliverables.
- Style by Joseph M. Williams
- Strategy Report by Morville & Rosenfeld
- Business Brief (Adaptive Path)
16. Presentations
Be Your Own Boss!View more presentations from RobinGood.As the lingua franca of business, slideshows (and videos) can be great for telling a story or painting a picture. They can also be dead boring, unless you present in person, hit the highlights, and beware the bullets. Presentations can serve as a container for most other deliverables.
- The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint by Edward Tufte
- In Defense of PowerPoint by Don Norman
- IA Summit Presentations (SlideShare)
17. Plans
Project plans, roadmaps, and schedules guide design and development activity by clarifying roles and responsibilities.
- Gantt Charts
- Project Management (Wikipedia)
- The Deadline by Tom DeMarco
18. Specifications
An explicit set of requirements describing the behavior or function of a system is often a necessary element in the transition from design to development.
- Usable Software Specifications by Brian Krause
- Painless Functional Specifications by Joel Spolsky
- Just a Fairy Tale? by Dan Willis
19. Style Guides
A manual that defines a set of standards for identity, design, and writing can promote clarity and consistency.
- Guidance on Style Guides by Chauncey Wilson
- Web Style Guide (University of Pennsylvania)
- Web Style Guide by Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton
20. Design Patterns
A pattern library that shows repeatable solutions to common problems can describe best practices, encourage sharing and reuse, and promote consistency.
- About Patterns by Jenifer Tidwell
- Yahoo! Design Pattern Library
- Implementing a Pattern Library
Organizing the Deliverables
Of course, compiling a list is only the first step. For each project, we must strive for the optimal mix. Since our deliverables resist a taxonomy, asking questions may help derive their folksonomy.
- Audience. Who must you reach?
- Content. What is the message?
- Context. Where is the conversation?
- Process. When is the message?
- Problem. Why are you communicating?
And, the questions never end. Should your argument be simple or elaborate? Quantitative or qualitative? We can organize and describe these deliverables until the end of time. We’ve made a start.
Perhaps you can help.
Will you tag a few in our collection on Flickr?
Treasure Map
If you’ve made it this far, you deserve a reward. That’s a lot of words about a lot of deliverables. And, that’s the problem. It’s hard to find the best trees when we can’t see the forest. So, we often fall back on old habits. We churn out wireframes when a story may be worth its weight in gold.
Some great visual deliverables stay hidden in plain sight. That’s why we have created this treasure map for our wall (and yours).
Download now – The User Experience Treasure Map
Good luck exploring! And, please let us know what you discover!
Originally written by Peter Morville and first published on January 27th 2009 as “User Experience Deliverables”