OPML Editor support:

Now, welcome -- For real! ;->

Well, we got over the hump, it was a bit of a panic at first, but I had made a change on the server at 5AM yesterday and didn't test it properly, and when the 25 new users showed up, well, that's the condition that failed. And my Internet access at home has been really flaky during the day, so it was down when we hit the problem, so I had to quickly drive to Starbucks to get online. The good news is that I am actually able to get work done this way, so when I it the road again on July 1, I will be able to continue to move forward on this software, by programming in hotel rooms, Starbucks, public libraries, etc. Internet access is really starting to get ubiquitous.

How to do a bug report

Since we're starting to get them, and that's cool, let me provide a basic template, to keep the follow-up question-asking to a minimum. When submitting a report, always include these three bits of info, at a minimum:

1. This is what I did.

2. This is what I expected to happen.

3. This is what actually happened.

Include the URLs of any OPML files, web pages, whatever, that are involved. Imagine that the person at the receiving end is neither clairvoyant nor very smart, and you'll be more likely to get what you want.

The art of Instant Outlining

Be sure to read the docs. I've seen a few people puzzled by things that are answered in the little how-to I put together.

Share your successes

I'm looking for ways to tell the story of the software, and personal stories are always more interesting.

Ed Alkema illustrated one of the key features in the software, and posted a note about it on the mail list, and I talked about it on Scripting News.

Andy Rhinehart is writing about using Instant Outlining in a newsroom (he's the system manager at a newspaper in Spartanburg, SC). Let me know if you discover something, or have an idea related to the software. You can post a note here, as a comment (the text will automatically be posted to the mail list), or on the mail list itself.

That's about it for now, I think. The first day in Round 2 has been a success, thanks for volunteering to be a pioneer, and let's have fun!

# Posted by Dave Winer on 6/17/05; 1:25:26 AM - --