EXTRANET NEWS * Week of
Editors: Joel Orr and N'omi Orr
http://www.extranetnews.com
1. A SYNDICATED BLOG FOR YOUR EXTRANET: PORT41 PUBLISHER
2. THE LIST
3. TIDBITS
4. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
1. A SYNDICATED BLOG FOR YOUR EXTRANET: PORT41 PUBLISHER
Joel Orr
The skinny: You can add a Web log--"blog"--to your extranet for free.
More detail: Say "port four one" to sound like an insider; go to http://www.port41.com, and set up a free blog right away. Grab the automatically generated two lines of Javascript, insert them in your Web page, and voila! Your blog is now on your Web page. In fact, it can be on any number of Web pages, using the same steps.
Want "comments," so that people can comment on your blog entries? Go back to Port41 and sign up for the added feature for a tiny monthly fee. Other features you can add (on an a-la-carte basis for now): Polls; the ability to allow anyone to post; a search box for the blog; removal of all Port41 branding; and an "email this article to a friend" box.
Port41 was founded by James Malach
and two partners. The company has a programming team in
Malach wrote the Web mail system
for FreeServe, the immensely successful ISP founded in
1998 that captured the entire
"We offer Port41 Publisher in several ways," said Malach. "It's a great way for a national organization to have its news automatically updated on regional sites. We sell it for installation behind your organization's firewall. And of course, we offer a free branded blog or a nominal-cost unbranded one."
"It's being used for press releases, part catalogs--anything that needs constant updating, where you don't want to have to have a programmer in the loop."
I found Port41 several months ago, and even signed up for a free blog, to try it out, but hadn't remembered its special syndication capability. A couple of weeks ago, I spent several hours trying to install a blog on my professional site, http://www.joelorr.com. I felt frustrated.
(Geek alert: This paragraph is full of technical stuff. Skip it if you are not a Web programmer. I investigated server-side includes and php, learned that my ISP supports both--but found that my site maintenance software, CuteSITE Builder, would not let me give anything but an htm or html extension to my files. So the ISP php and ssi apps would not know to parse my pages for the special commands.)
Then I got a marketing email from Malach. "We notice you set up a blog, but haven't used Port41 Publisher lately. Can we help you?" It mentioned syndication--and five minutes later, I was up and running. "James, you are truly a 'malach'!" I wrote him. "Malach" is Hebrew for "angel."
A new version, with many updates, called "TongueWag," is imminent.
Pro's: Simplest blog syndication in existence; free blog; WYSIWYG editor; selectable add-on features.
Con's: No "blog this" applet. You surf to Port41, enter username/password, go to the "add content" page, and copy anything you want into the window. Then you must log out. Too many steps; I like Blogger.com's "blog this" applet in my browser, that grabs a url and lets me add comments, without even opening the blog. (Malach said they will be adding many new features in the "TongueWag" release.)
Our take: A lifesaver for us. Simple, just works. The price is right. Check it out.
2. THE LIST
Total companies: 257 (see who's on The List at http://www.extranetnews.com)
ADDED:
* Availl - "anti-portal." Patented use of mirroring, sending only file differences to keep everyone in synch.
* Port41 - see above.
3. TIDBITS
* Excellent case study of InQuest
extranet use by Staples in AEC Vision Web magazine: http://www.aecvision.com/vision.php?article=200208/case_study_1.html
* MPS User Conference 2002: Connecting with Customers
will be held September 18-20, in
* COLLABORATE WEST Conference -
*
* EXTRANETS III -
* Interested in blogs and blogging? John Hiler has compiled a wonderful annotated survey of available software. Read it at http://www.microcontentnews.com/articles/blogware.htm
* A good feature comparison table of blogging tools can be found at http://www.urldir.com/bt/
* Now get CADwire.net as a personalized daily or weekly newsletter! CADwire has up-to-the-minute nuggets of well-organized news, press releases, and commentary from Joel and his associates in Cyon Research Corporation. http://www.cadwire.net/ is the place to go to find out what is going on in the world of engineering and architecture automation. And now you can have it customized to your taste, and emailed direct to you!
4. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"There is genius in persistence. It conquers all opposers. It gives confidence. It annihilates obstacles. Everybody believes in a determined man. People know that when he undertakes a thing, the battle is half won, for his rule is to accomplish whatever he sets out to do."
- Orison Swett Marden (1850-1924)
American author