May 2021

There were 2 posts published in May 2021 (this is page 1 of 1).

Getting started with Federated Bookshelves

Some time ago, I read a post from Ton Zijlstra on the concept of federated bookshelves. His original post was riffing on an idea by Tom Critchlow called Library-JSON. Recently, Ton revisited this topic, and in a short period of time created a working prototype OPML file and a XSL stylesheet to view the OPML file.

I finally had some time this weekend to play around with this. Here is my work so far:

I had some problems using Ton’s XSL file. On my server, when I entered the URL of the OPML file, all that was displayed was the OPML file. However, I found a tool to apply the XSL transformation, and the resulting file was a valid HTML page (the “transformed file” above). I will continue to investigate this and also reach out to Ton to see if I did something wrong.

My new book – coming soon!

After my work on setting up Portland Protest News, I spent a lot of time documenting the tools and processes I used to create the site and its enhancements. This work will soon be available in paperback from Lulu.com! Here is the back cover copy for “Set Up Your Own Platform: How to create and own your website, newsletter, and social media presence”, more news coming soon…

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Wouldn’t you like to have your own platform for your personal or business website instead of depending on Facebook or other website creation services? This manual is a complete step-by-step guide on how to create and launch a WordPress website, create a newsletter for your site using a WordPress plugin, and manage your social media presence. By using this guide, you will be in control of your presence on the World Wide Web!

You will discover how easy it is to:

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  • How to set up a Linux virtual server for just $5/month
  • Use a virtual server to run applications to enhance your site

Andy Sylvester is the author of four books on microblogging, using and creating web applications, and web server setup. He has worked in software development for over 36 years in the aerospace industry, academia, and government research and development.

This guide shows you how to make your place on the Web. What are you waiting for?