How to Make Your Own Custom Version of Active Web Reader
As the World Wide Web has
evolved, relevance, personalization
and customization have become increasingly important. Web surfers want to feel that they're getting an
experience that is tailored to their needs and desires. Whether for information distribution, content
delivery or promotion, businesses can no longer afford
to rely on traditional on-line marketing methods like
mass e-mail and expensive ad campaigns, due to the increasing
uproar about intrusive marketing tools like spam, pop-ups
and telemarketing. Today, customers and viewers want
information that is relevant to their needs, and they
want it under their control.
This is where RSS or
‘Really Simple Syndication’ comes in. It
is simple, inexpensive, non-intrusive, and most importantly,
a technology that gives the end user the power of choice.
These advantages have led to the
phenomenal growth of RSS. You can see the
importance of RSS by counting how many media companies,
technology companies, and web-based businesses have at
least one blog or other RSS feed.
Most web sites create a separate web page for
listing their RSS feeds. Usually there will be a link to download
an RSS Reader, like the FREE and popular
Active
Web Reader on this page. Simply providing feeds does not guarantee successful
regular content updates.
You can use the FREE Active
Web Reader Customizer to prepare a custom version
of Active Web Reader with your feeds built in.
Then all you have to do is have link on your web site to download
this custom version. Anyone using the custom Active
Web Reader has instant access to the pre-loaded feeds. He will also be able to add
other RSS feeds and enjoy the complete feature set of
Active Web Reader, including an integrated web browser,
pop-up blocker and Auto Discovery tools. Because
Active Web Reader is so useful, providing it will earn
you customer "good will," and because many people will
continue to use the program, they'll always see your
updated content when they read blogs or other feeds.
A customized Active Web
Reader containing your RSS feeds is a win-win for you and your customers. You get a platform to display your feeds, and they enjoy
the feature-packed Active Web Reader.
Most importantly, you can
send updated information to your customers via the feeds
to deepen your relationship with
them.
Preparing a Custom RSS
Reader:
To prepare a custom
version of Active Web Reader
- Download and Install the Active Web Reader Customizer.
- Start Active Web Reader Customizer.
- Click on Next on the Welcome Screen.
- Click on Add
RSS, and enter the URL of the feed you
want to add to the list. The feeds you add will
be available in the Active Web Reader when it’s
installed.
- Alternatively, if you have a list of RSS
feeds stored in an OPML
(Outline Processor Markup Language) file, you
can import the list directly by clicking on the Import OPML button.
- Click Next.
- If you want to preload your website’s
web pages into the custom version of Active Web
Reader along with your feeds, click on Add in the Add Web
Pages window. Specify the URL and title
to be displayed.
Click on Next.
The setup file of Active Web Reader will be
downloaded automatically from DeskShare’s website. The
feeds and web pages that you added while
designing the custom version are incorporated
into the downloaded setup.
NOTE: Any personal feeds that you had in your previous
version of Active Web Reader will be replaced
by the feeds in the custom version.
- Specify a name and destination path for the
setup you have created.
You are free to distribute this custom setup to your customers.
A final word
The opportunities presented
by RSS are too important to ignore. Using RSS
feeds helps you keep your audience informed and attracts traffic to your website. With
the Active Web Reader Customizer, you can not only jump
onto the RSS bandwagon, you can actually drive it!