IMPORTANT: Rules for posting affiliate links in this forum

[copyrite]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I tried google reader but I like how Live Bookmarks works. I just mouse over the bookmark and it gives me a list of title posts then if I mouse over one of them I can read the first paragraph. I use it with another extensions that highlights the new ones in orange and does a few other things.

It looks like when you click on a folder in your bookmarks and it shows what links are in that folder that's what Live Links looks like only they are RSS posts not bookmark links.

I use that for some of my guilty pleasure livejournal sites, but for best multi platform use for me Google Reader wins.

[DiapDealer]

I used to use Live Bookmarks, but then I got fed up with Firefox.
Plus, I have scads and scads and scads of blogs and websites set up in various organized folders in my feed reader. I won't even begin to mention all the various podcast feeds.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by copyrite

I use that for some of my guilty pleasure livejournal sites, but for best multi platform use for me Google Reader wins.

Me too! I use LJ for Sims 2 downloads, stories and stuff like that.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I used to use Live Bookmarks, but then I got fed up with Firefox.
Plus, I have scads and scads and scads of blogs and websites set up in various organized folders in my feed reader. I won't even begin to mention all the various podcast feeds.

Okay you got me curious what is the name of this Feed Reader?
No Firefox? Chrome? Tell me not IE9.

[Loosheesh]

I love my Google Reader, especially for the folders - it suits my little OCD heart perfectly. I have folders for food blogs, writing blogs, reading-related blogs, podcasts etc etc. It's wonderful

I'm already subscribed to Karen's blog (among a few others) but it was more convenient to use the forum, as sometimes I'd see the deals she and others posted here first before they showed up in my Reader, which was very helpful, as some deals/freebies expire very quickly.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Okay you got me curious what is the name of this Feed Reader?
No Firefox? Chrome? Tell me not IE9.

No, no... no IE. Chrome.

I'm back to using FeedDemon right now. It synchronizes with Google reader for when I'm on the go and can also be configured to automatically download podcasts. But I've been eyeballing Awasu, for a while now. Might be time for switch.

[Nyssa]

1. I never learned how to use/set up RSS Feeds
2. I don't use Twitter.
3. I have so much stuff coming through various e-mail addresses now, I'd hate to add to the lot if I don't have to.
4. I too have a LIveJournal account. I bought a permanent one a few years ago.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I did actually like someones suggestion that the forum software just munges every product link to an affiliate link for MobileRead.

I wasn't seriously for serious about that; not much more than I was about temporarily deleting the Deals forum* entirely if people kept complaining.

But it should be a relatively easy regexp type modification for at least the Amazon links, which seem to be the ones causing the most problems, what with their ability for linkers to potentially get a big payout 89 days down the line if they can just get a total stranger to click a tagged redirect to some random product said stranger may not even be interested in after seeing the actual description before going on to put in their Cart that $$$ deluxe turkey deep-fryer for Grandma's 69th birthday within the next 24 hours.

That kind of set-up rather encourages future random link-spam from hit-and-run newbies†, IMHO.

Anyway, if it really does come down to forum software modification, perhaps the mods could keep a list of the tag keywords used by any of our regulars who'd be willing to register theirs as an officially allowed affiliate so that they don't get auto-edited out?

And you could probably kill two orders of Dinosauria with one asteroid impact if the software also automatically looked for common ad-redirect link domains and url obfuscating link-shorteners, which I understand are strongly discouraged here on MR, and gave the poster an error message when posting with a big "It looks like you're using a link shortener or redirect. Here at MobileRead, we prefer to see the full original URL, even if it may seem rather long. Please post the full original link if you can." above the reply box.

* Although I still kind of think the mods should do that for the lulz because I live in an area with very poor on-air TV reception and have to find my own entertainment.

† Bad affiliate! No cookie for you!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

1. I never learned how to use/set up RSS Feeds
2. I don't use Twitter.
3. I have so much stuff coming through various e-mail addresses now, I'd hate to add to the lot if I don't have to.
4. I too have a LIveJournal account. I bought a permanent one a few years ago.

I don't have a clue about RSS feeds either, and I don't do Twitter or Facebook. Never even heard of LiveJournal or Google Reader before.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I don't have a clue about RSS feeds either, and I don't do Twitter or Facebook. Never even heard of LiveJournal or Google Reader before.

If you go to Karen's Books on the Knob site, she has an RSS feed button. You click it and tell the thing where you want to look at the posts. All RSS feed is is a way to grab all the blogs you want and list the blog name and usually first paragraph. So I have my sent to my yahoo front page (not a good choice--pick google or one of the others.) Anyway, when I want scan all the blogs I like, I go to ONE page and there they are. I can quickly see if anyone has posted something of interest.

But. I like the email better. Sometimes I don't get to my blog page.

Another place you can follow DailyCheapReads is goodreads (Karen, I don't know if you are on GR. Need to check.)

I LOVE goodreads. GREAT place to keep track of your books. SHelfari is pretty good too and with Shelfari when you set up an account it gives you the option of adding all your books to your shelf if you bought them from Amazon. You can create lists of books (to read, thoughts, stars or no stars, where you bough them and so on) or not. There are some good reading groups too.

Goodreads has a lot of book giveaways, but mostly I like it because I can keep track of my books. IT has "friends" sort of like facebook, and that is very handy for lending of ebooks and also reviews or bugging my good friend about what she is reading (we read a LOT of the same things. She marks 10 books as reading at the same time and I know she's only reading one.) But anyway, that's just friend's and war and books.

I really like GR and Shelfari. There's an active sci/fi group at Shelfari and a VERY active (6 or so groups) cozy group at GR. I find some EXCELLENT reads through the comments people make on those sites.

I find them both easy to use.

Oh--to see the daily bargains from DailyCheapReads, you "friend" Daily. Then you go to your "home button" and every time a bargain is posted, it's cross posted on that home page. So if you follow both Karen and Daily, you'd see both of those posts.

I love having a "bookshelf" there. I keep track of a wish list and books I hear about that I might want to check out later.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I think this is a very bad idea and an overreaction, and should be reconsidered.

It means duplication and confusion for members looking for the deals and freebies. Now I'll have to look through posts in numerous threads, instead of being able to quickly scan the deals section by book titles or devices.

I think it would be better to have the individuals who post affiliate links include a sentence in each post disclosing their affiliate relationship, if the powers-that-be think some kind of disclosure is truly necessary.

Hear, hear. My sentiments exactly.

[pilotbob]

You can also subscribe to threads on Mobile Read with email notification. You could subscribe to Koland or Ana's threads. You will get an email about the new messages.

This might actually be better than subscribing to the section.

MR also has RSS almost everywhere. I think you can subscribe to any forum section as well. I don't think you can RSS subscribe to individual threads, but you might be able to. I never dug into it to much.

Oh, and for those that don't "do" RSS most browsers have RSS readers built into them now. But, I personally use Google Reader.

BOb

[Catlady]

BearMountainBooks, thanks for the info.

I don't have a personalized home page, just whatever the default is on the browser--on one computer it's Google, and though for a while I did personalize that with Google gadgets for headlines and weather and whatnot, it periodically lost all the personalization, so I gave up on it.

I have a place to add feeds from the toolbar, but I don't quite get the advantage of clicking on that instead of simply going to the page directly to check what's new. (I feel like the whole feeds thing happened when I wasn't paying attention, so now I'm clueless.)

pilotbob, I recall that when I joined I would get e-mail notifications every time a thread I'd posted in got a new message--I think that was the default--but I turned that off. Seems just as easy to come over here and look at the thread myself as to wade through e-mail.

The one thing I would like to know how to subscribe to--and I've been vaguely looking around trying to figure it out--is new books uploaded to the MR library. I see the feed option in the drop-down menu for the e-books section, but is there a way to get e-mail notifications for new books?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Catlady

The one thing I would like to know how to subscribe to--and I've been vaguely looking around trying to figure it out--is new books uploaded to the MR library. I see the feed option in the drop-down menu for the e-books section, but is there a way to get e-mail notifications for new books?

You could use something like http://www.feedmyinbox.com/ and then you could subscribe using that to the eBook upload sections RSS feeds.

I don't think the forum system has a way to subscribe to a section by email, that is only for threads.

BOb

[Loosheesh]

One con of subscribing to the RSS feed of a particular section is that, going forward, you only get updates for new threads. So, when a thread is started for a deal on book XYZ at Amazon, I'll get that. But say, later, someone posts in that same thread that the deal for book XYZ is now available at B&N, I won't get that.

To get updates for a particular thread, you'll have to subscribe to the thread via email (where you have the options of instant, daily, or weekly notifications).

This scenario will apply to the affiliates' threads. I'm using a combo of RSS subscription for the Deals Forum and email subscription for particular threads.

[gospelebooks]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I think this is a very bad idea and an overreaction, and should be reconsidered.

Agreed. It makes things a lot more complicated and a lot less user friendly and for someone such as myself, I'd just rather just not post our finds here.

Let me know if you ever reverse this.