RSS feeds for my ATS subscribed threads?

what are the chances something like this could be implemented? i dunno, maybe i'm just being ultra lazy here, but i just discovered RSS feeds and i'm looking for any way to utilize the function.

I've thought about that myself, but the reason I haven't asked is that it would place an extra strain on the server to generate the individual lists, without the benefit of the person coming to the site. Each time an RSS reader wants to refresh the feed, the server needs to make a trip to the database and get the data for that particular user. At least with the forum-wide RSS feeds, the data can be somewhat cached--saved in a form the server can return without hitting the database again--for a short amount of time.

I could be completely wrong though, but that made enough sense to me to make me keep my mouth shut, so...

hmm. i hadn't thought about that. if that is true, then i can fully understand why the option hasn't been extended.

To do what your asking you would have to create an rss feed with every possible scenario possible. Since this is out of the question you'll have to approach it at a differnt angle. Simply get a good rss reader and subscribe to your favorite forums. All forums have an rss feed already. Here's a screenshot of the one I use called SharpReader. I can set it to update an the interval I choose for each forum. Bold text indicates an unread post, and italic bold means you've seen the thread but it's been updated.

For extra coolness, you can have a small window pop-up near the taskbar to alert you to a new post. I get notified by looking at the icon in the system tray. It changes from blue to yellow when there's an update. Try it out and see what you think. It's completely free software.



EDIT: Yes, runway models are too skinnny.

[edit on 3-11-2006 by dbates]

i'm using google ATM. once i learn a bit more about this stuff i'll likely be upgrading the whole thing.

Originally posted by dbates
To do what your asking you would have to create an rss feed with every possible scenario possible.

Just to nitpick, you wouldn't have to do this. Instead of the RSS feed going to a static XML file, it'd go to a script (PHP, PERL, ASP, whatever) that pulls from the database. A real simple query or set of queries (depending on how the database is broken up) would generate the XML file no problem. Lot of extra hits on the database server though that way.

Keeping it with a static XML file though, whenever a forum has a new post in it, you could do a query to see which users are subscribed to it and then update their personal RSS feed as necessary. Main drawback there though is that you'd need a separate file for every member, which would probably take up a big chunk of real estate on the server, not to mention the extra processing time required to generate the files (it'd be fun to see that work out on a forum with a couple thousand subscribers...)

Originally posted by MCory1
Keeping it with a static XML file though, whenever a forum has a new post in it, you could do a query to see which users are subscribed to it and then update their personal RSS feed as necessary. Main drawback there though is that you'd need a separate file for every member, which would probably take up a big chunk of real estate on the server, not to mention the extra processing time required to generate the files (it'd be fun to see that work out on a forum with a couple thousand subscribers...)

not every user. just the ones who were interested enough to spend the points.

Can someone help me setup an rss feed to my comp for R.A.T.S. thread? What software do I need? When I click on the rss link in the thread, my comp does nothing.

As I mentioned you can use Sharp Reader or try one of these other rss readers. To subscribe to a feed you should copy the URL of the feed into your aggregator (rss software). In my case I click a "subscribe" button after I enter the URL.

The rss feed for RATS is www.abovetopsecret.com...

Done and done.

Thank yo lots my ATS friend.