From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Bristol, ME ([email protected])

I had a brainstorm the other day that may be of interest to the giant pumpkin community as a whole so I thought I'd throw it out here and see if there would be any interest.
My idea is to display news from as many clubs, associations and organizations as possible through the use of an RSS feed. This would display the news headline(s) from a group that is linked back to the actual news article, paragraph, announcement or whatever, on the groups website. Lots of sites are now using RSS, it's best to look it up if your not familiar with it as I only have 2000 characters here..:)
If we could get as many groups as possible to put this feed on their own websites, the average visitor to the site could browse news from all the groups that participate in one place and the news is updated automatically. It would allow people to read news headlines from different pumpkin groups all over the world in one spot. Every participating group would have the same feed so you could read it off your favorite or home club site. The hard part would be to get the club webmasters to add the news clip to their site and update the simple required file. There are a few details that would need to be worked out, but this may be a fairly easy and efficient way for each group to get the word out on happenings with their group.

So, that's the idea. I probably could have worded it better but hopefully we can discuss it on this thread and see if this is something people might find useful. If it is, ideas on how to get groups onboard and the best way to operate the feed are welcome. Maybe Ken and John might want to get in the mix. I know we have quite a few folks here who know of better ways to make this work than I.
Any and all thoughts and ideas are welcome.

5/24/2005 10:57:06 AM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Sounds like a good idea to me. I can see about adding something like that to the GVGO website. In the next couple of months we'll be updating the site pretty often. So, this would be a good way for us to alert folks when we have something new to offer.

5/24/2005 1:24:47 PM

Illinois

I think this is a great idea. I am the webmaster of the IGPGA site (www.igpga.org), and I would be willing to start using this on the site. I would also be willing to help out with the central news page.

5/24/2005 1:35:24 PM

New Jersey

Stunner, I have already created this at Giant Vegenetics...
http://www.giantvegenetics.com/Giant_Vegetable_News_Network/news.php

I called it the Giant Vegetable News Network... I sent emails out to many clubs, websites, etc. and recieved minimal response. The only club which responded was the newly formed Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario, however it is a slow time of year for Giant Vegetable News. If anyone is interested in acting as a reporter for this endeavor please feel free to get in touch. All clubs, contests, websites, and giant vegetable related businesses are free to join in the effort.

Contact me: [email protected]

You can read the news in your RSS News reader, here is the link to the RSS feed:

http://www.giantvegenetics.com/Giant_Vegetable_News_Network/gvnn.rss


Webmasters if you are interested in including the Giant Vetgetable News Network content on your site you may do so with a simple javascript inclusion.
To see an example of what you will see on your site, scroll down to the bottom of the page at:
http://www.giantvegenetics.com

Contact [email protected] for the code snippet which can be easily formatted to the style of your website.

All contributions to the Giant Vegetable News Network are released under the GNU Free Documentation License and may be reused, republished, and redistributed under the terms of the license.
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#FDL

5/24/2005 4:06:57 PM

New Jersey

Here is the javascript to Include the Giant Vegetable News Network on your website: (If you have any problems with the way it's formatted here, contact me via email.)

<script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.giantvegenetics.com/Giant_Vegetable_News_Network/feed2js/feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.giantvegenetics.com%2FGiant_Vegetable_News_Network%2Fgvnn.rss+&desc=1&date=y" type="text/javascript"></script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://www.giantvegenetics.com/Giant_Vegetable_News_Network/feed2js/feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.giantvegenetics.com%2FGiant_Vegetable_News_Network%2Fgvnn.rss+&desc=1&date=y&html=y">View RSS feed</a>
</noscript>





Include it in a table formatted to the design of your website and your set.

For Example:

<div align=center>
<table width="95%" border=1>
<tr><td class="tfoot"><a href="http://www.giantvegenetics.com/Giant_Vegetable_News_Network/news.php">Giant Vegetable News Network</a></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="#FDFDDB" >
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.giantvegenetics.com/Giant_Vegetable_News_Network/feed2js/feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.giantvegenetics.com%2FGiant_Vegetable_News_Network%2Fgvnn.rss+&desc=1&date=y" type="text/javascript"></script>

<noscript>
<a href="http://www.giantvegenetics.com/Giant_Vegetable_News_Network/feed2js/feed2js.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.giantvegenetics.com%2FGiant_Vegetable_News_Network%2Fgvnn.rss+&desc=1&date=y&html=y">View RSS feed</a>
</noscript>
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>

5/24/2005 4:12:05 PM

New Jersey

For those who don't know, BigPumpkins.com already uses RSS technology. But the source of the News isn't quite tailored to the real subject at hand.

An interace like that used at BP.com can easily be created using the RSS feed from the GVNN...

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/news/

5/24/2005 4:17:09 PM

New Jersey

Stunner, Did you get my email I sent on March 25 on this same subject? (If so I don't know why it took a brainstorm to come up with the idea... But maybe I got spamfiltered or something. If I got spam filtered that might explain why I got such a small response...) I included the account information for the Maine Pumpkin Growers Organization in there so the organization could post it's news events, if you need it resent for some reason get in touch...

(Sorry for so many posts, just so much to say with a 2000 limit.)

5/24/2005 5:05:28 PM

Utah

as soon as we (UGPG) can procure a web site and a web master, get a page up and running ...then we'll think about all this other stuff. right now we're just working on getting a weigh off set up.

g.v.
maybe it's your extra subtle & sweet replies that caused such an over whelming response to you email? just something to thing about.
I never recieved an email from you ... but it could have been filtered ? ! ?

Gordon Tanner
UGPG President

5/24/2005 5:37:08 PM

Long Island,New York

I thought I saw something like that scrolling along the BP screen the other night....and yes Gordon...replies go up positively when the message comes across nicer, I agree.

5/24/2005 6:07:03 PM

New Jersey

I had not sent an email out to the UGPG but I will, to this date that organization has not been on my radar at all, likely since it doesn't have a web presence yet.

You don't need to include the news on your website to be able to post articles on GVNN, in fact you don't even need a website at all. (Sound attractive yet?) I'll set the UGPG up with an account, (Expect an email later today on your yahoo account.) then when you get your weighoff finalized or launch your website, you can inform people through the GVNN.

To anyone who has ever been annoyed with my abrasive personality you have my apologies. Sometimes my humor doesn't make it through the ASCII code, and sometimes I'm just a jerk but aren't we all. I assure you it's all in good fun, I wish noone harm. Well maybe I wish a few people harm but that's not really relevant to pumpkins.
Sharing content freely through RSS will reduce the duplication of efforts across the community and keep individuals more informed, whether that has anything to do with my personality I dunno.

5/24/2005 6:08:49 PM

Bristol, ME ([email protected])

I apologize for the post, the idea, the thought and the fact that I thought I could squeeze a productive thread out of here. I should not have been so foolish.

5/24/2005 7:04:37 PM

New Jersey

???

Stunner - It's a good idea, in fact a fantastic idea. I am not the inventor of Web Services, Al Gore probably deserves more credit for that LOL. ;)

Whatever the venue it is good technology and people should embrace it and not shy away because of personality or politics. If you wish I can point you in the direction of an open source solution that can manage such a system with minimal customization.
Or just continue on status quo...

5/24/2005 7:12:03 PM

Connecticut, USA

Yes, I agree. I just have not had the chance to hook this up yet. I will get to it just have been too busy lately.

5/24/2005 8:08:38 PM

Roselle, IL [email protected]

you go Mr. Mad!

5/24/2005 9:53:44 PM

Utah

g.v.
g... is correct ! i apologize ... my reply was a weak attempt at sarcasm ... I should have worded reply differently. it is sometimes hard to convey intent via words alone.
I appriciate your kind reply. The UGPG is a new organization and has not been mentioned on this (or any other site) except for a couple of times.
I apologize to Bill too for high jacking his post.
and also to Ken and John (and Dave :) at BP for my stupid behavior on their wonderful site.
respectfully

Gordon

5/25/2005 8:40:05 AM