Wednesday, July 2, 2008

4. Try Voyage RSS feed reader

Play MP3 Play audio introduction for this task

For this task we look at a familiar product with a non-traditional interface: an RSS feed reader called Voyage which employs a visual display to structure and depict information.

Voyage RSS feed reader

Voyage is an unusual example of an RSS feed reader. You might remember feed readers from last year's 23 Things. If you haven't

Here is what Andy Biggs, the designer, says about Voyage:
'Voyage is an RSS Reader with a difference. It’s been carefully designed around the content it displays. Add RSS feeds from your favourite sites and let voyage pull all the information together for your reading pleasure.

'How do I use it? It’s simple. Posts are organised by date; to scroll through them just use your mouse, or the up and down keys on your keyboard. Add and remove RSS feeds using the management pane at the bottom.’
Your task

First, play with Voyage.

You can maximise a topic by clicking on the pink and blue '+' signs. Click on a web address to load up an article or post.

Then, find an RSS feed and add it to Voyage.

How do I find RSS feeds?

Many sites have news feeds that you can subscribe to. Almost all blogs have a news feed; that even includes your own blog. More and more library databases now also have feeds. Look for the orange feed icon. For more information, take a look at these instructions from last year's 23 Things.

Some popular news sites with RSS feeds
Add your own feed

To add a feed, click on the orange 'Add an RSS Feed' link at the bottom of the screen, paste the feed url into the box and click on Add. Can you meet the challenge of finding it again?

Tell us what you think of Voyage on your blog!

3 comments:

Mishalleneous said...

Is Voyage a public space or is the view I have of it visible to me only? Who sees the feeds I add? Just me or the world?

Kim said...

I have found that when you add your feeds it has to be the RSS feed address not the URL of the website. Sometimes they are not the same thing.

So if it takes absolutely ages to load your feed check the address you are adding.

Kim said...

Also I deleted most of the default feeds so I could more easily track my own...