digg

Ajax Edit Comments 1.1.1.0 Released

Reader Appreciation LogoRonald Huereca has released a new version of his plugin, Ajax Edit Comments, which gives users and guests the ability to edit their comments similar to the way that comments can be edited on Digg.com The latest version includes a couple of bug fixes, most notably dealing with UTF-8 encoding.

The following issues were addressed in this release:

  1. Admin were able to edit, but non-admin couldn’t. This was caused by the timer offset in the WordPress admin panel.
  2. MySQL errors resulted in the comment unable to save. This was caused my blogs and MySQL database not in UTF-8.
  3. Some characters were being screwed up when saving to the WordPress database. This issue was caused by non-UTF-8 back-ends.
  4. The blog would be inoperable in Internet Explorer due to multiple session headings being called.
  5. Random loading comment failure on WP 2.2.2 installs.

The issues (with the exception of issue number 4) can occur on a case-by-case basis depending on blog configuration and character set.

Be sure to visit The Readers Appreciation Website to pick up the updated version or to grab it for the first time.

Project Creative Sends Out First Newsletter

Project Creative Logo

I received the first news letter from Project Creative today. The newsletter contained information about a LIVE, interactive podcast which was produced last week. To listen to the show click this link. Project Creative hopes to continue producing these sorts of podcasts via Talkshoe on a monthly basis. This gives users the opportunity to ask questions regarding the site. The podcast producers are actually the owners of the site and although I have yet to listen to their first show, I have to wonder what kind of questions were asked and which ones were answered considering project creative is not even in its invite-only stage.

Their full newsletter which is in PDF format does offer some more details about their service. Project Creative will have something to do with iLife Portal. PC has also chosen the open-source CMS Pligg to act as their content manager. I speculate that there will be some sort of main page where users will be able to vote things up or down, considering Pligg is the open source version of Digg.

If you want to read the newsletter for yourself, click the following link. Make sure you have a PDF reader installed such as Acrobat or my personal favorite FoxIT.

Web 2.0 Startup Movie Comparisons

EverybodyGoTo.com Logo

Ali J from everybodygoto.com has published a humorous blog post which compares a few different web 2.0 startups to Hollywood movies. Some of the comparisons include:

  • The YouTube Project – Blair Witch Project
  • The MySpace – The Matrix
  • The Facebook – The Graduate
  • Flickr – One Hour Photo
  • The Digg – The Godfather

What movies can you think of that would compare well with a web 2.0 company?

Digg Like Comment Editor For WordPress

http://www.raproject.com/wordpress/wp-ajax-edit-comments/How many times have you published a comment, realizing just a few seconds later that you misspelled something, or your URL was incorrect. Usually, you would have to create another comment which would dismiss the previous comment.

Ronald Huereca of the Reader Appreciation Project has released a WordPress plugin which gives administrators and regular users the ability to edit their own comments within a given time frame. The plugin pretty much works in the same way that the Digg commenting system works.

The plugin uses Ajax so the entire page never needs to reload. Once a comment is published, a timer starts to count down the remaining time available to edit the comment. Once the timer reaches zero, only the administrator can edit the comment. Users can also edit their email address, or their URL by clicking on the text that needs to be edited. This will open the comment editor window allowing you to make the necessary changes.

Plugin Features

  • Utilizes the jQuery library.
  • Comment editing times out after 15 seconds.
  • Better error handling.
  • Graceful deletion for compatible themes.
  • A hook for other plugin authors to tap into.
  • Compatible with many plugins, including Akismet, WP Cache, Better Comments Manager, WP Grins, TinyMCEComments, and many more.

I have installed this plugin on this blog so now you’ll be able to edit your own comments. We need every WordPress blogger to install this plugin, or something similar so that users can edit their comments. Why this functionality is missing from WordPress by default is beyond me, but the solution provided above works out very nicely. Please visit The Reader Appreciation Project and grab your copy today and install it as soon as possible so people can edit their own comments.

Special thanks to the guys who host the WordPress Podcast for tipping me off on this plugin.

Pownce Users Soliciting Diggs

Pownce.com Kevin Rose's New Startup

Here is an interesting story I came across via Mashable Apparently, Pownce users are beginning to use their accounts to solicit diggs. It’s interesting because, Digg.com has recently implemented features that try to prohibit lobbying such as removing the top digg users list. The tactic being used on Pownce seems to be working and it will be interesting to see if Kevin Rose allows it to continue.

The last thing I would want to see on Pownce is pages and pages full of PLEASE DIGG posts. What do you think of the situation?

DiggLabs Wins MashupAward

http://mashupawards.com

MashupAwards is a hand-picked showcase of the best web mashups with awards served on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis.

The criteria involved with judging each Mashup capable of winning an award consists of: Uniqueness, Creativity, User Experience, Utility, and Content. Users also have the ability to nominate a mashup of their choice which will be reviewed by the staff of MashupAwards. MashupAwards also contains a page of information describing how to create a mashup, which contains suggestions, tips, as well as a list of the ten most popular APIs.

The winner for June 23, 2007 goes to DiggLabs.

The labs provide a broader (and deeper) view of Digg. A lot of stuff gets submitted to Digg every day, so good things can sometimes fly right past you. Labs projects look beneath the surface of the Digg community’s activities and display them in fresh and unique interfaces.

To view more information about mashups or to view all of the winners that have won an award, visit http://mashupawards.com

Thoof: Another Digg Clone?

Appscout has put together a detailed preview of a new user-generated content service which promises to provide relevant, useful information but without the users. Thoof uses an algorithm that will discover a reader’s interests while tailoring the stories to an individual’s tastes. Commenting on Thoof will be non existent as well as the ability to rank stories. The only means of interacting amongst each other is the “SEND TO A FRIEND BUTTON” which will email a selected news story to a friends inbox of your choice.

The thing that makes Thoof stand out from the crowd is that it allows its members to submit news and headlines, and rather than rank those stories, the stories are immediately posted to users’ homepages. There’s no ranking, no commenting, and no burying of stories. Stories are automatically rated by the system to only be displayed on the homepages of Thoof users who have previously clicked on or indicated interest in other stories of the same type or topic. In fact, the only items that a user can click on when viewing a story are the “send to a friend” button to email the story to someone else, or the “improve” button that allows users to correct story blurbs for accuracy, or immediately report and flag duplicates. When I tried the “improve” button, it returned a 503 error, reinforcing the fact that Thoof is still very much a beta. Some features aren’t completely implemented, and others may yet come. – Source Appscout

Thoof is still invite-only, and there is no time table as to when Thoof will become publicly available. Click here to check out Appscout’s preview of Thoof