There ought to be a standard format for interchange between IMC codebases. Ideally, each IMC codebase can export and import articles in this interchange format. This would make it easy to switch between codebases.

Another approach would be to create a reference database table structure, that each codebase could generate by a SQL query (ie, select FROM webcast INSERT INTO reference_article_table blah) on demand. Then someone making a new codebase would only have to support loading from / generating the reference implementation, rather than every codebase out there.

Right now each IMC codebase is a one-way street, only supporting an upgrade from Standard Active that nobody uses any longer. We should change that...

Discussion/Coordination

This is discussed and developments announced on the SyndicationMailingList

The syndication listings and some instructions for IMCs are on ImcDatabaseEn

Requirements

• Importing the full text of articles and features
• Link to media
• Keep article / comment relationships
• Keep category relationships
• Article Language
• Article Region

Categorization

Is it possible to build a standard set of categories (something extendable like mime-type maybe?), and allow each local IMC to implement just a subset of them? This must allow translations of the category names into the local language or idiom, but allow people to share articles in the various categories.

Perhaps use an existing standard, such as Library of Congress Subject Headings? That would possibly be quite silly, but neat that we wouldn't have to maintain it ourselves.

Discussion moved to the topic ImcStandardCategorization.

Exchange Formats / relevant standards

• Dublin Core metadata specification
• RFC2822 - standard email -- with extra Dublin-Core inspired headers. See also NntpHeaders
• RSS / RDF
• Atom
• Plone
• Samizdat
• Backslash (Slashdot, mostly deprecated)
• NewsML NewsML XML standard -- used by wire services incl. Reuters and AFP.

Transports

• NNTP
• SMTP
• HTTP
• Trackback
• XML-RPC
• SOAP
• Freenet
• Atom API

Starting Points

• Get all existing codebases to import RDF/RSS, since they all already export it
• Evaluate various transport mechanisms -- SOAP or XML-RPC are current standards. See this IBM Developerworks article about how you can send an RDF file directly using SOAP.

Possible feed article import process

step one: select feed (maybe enter RSS URL in a textbox, which would allow drag-and-drop from another browser window)

step two: pick which item to import

step three: make any final edits (maybe use a normal contribution page)

step four: send notification (trackback? email?) to the feed owner

Current Support Status

RSS / RDF + Dublin Core

Codebase	Level of Support
MiR	Import (MirPullSyndication) + Export
SF-Active	Export Only
DadaIMC	Export Only
Activismo	Export Only
Oscailt	Import + Export
phpbb	Export (PhpbbRss)

XML-RPC

Codebase	Level of Support	Notes
MiR	?
SF-Active	Some export ability	Uses backslash format?
DadaIMC	?
Activismo	Export	Uses export for notification/filing daemon
Oscailt	?

NNTP + Dublin Core

Codebase	Level of Support
MiR	No
SF-Active	No
DadaIMC	No
Activismo	Export/import (developing)
Oscailt	No

A list of site feeds and validators is at http://contact.indymedia.org/xml_table.php

Tools for producers

The beginning of a list is at http://www.alug.org.uk/contrib/?SyndicationTools but more user-friendly applications are needed.

-- QuintenSteenhuis - 18 Oct 2004

-- MjR - 09 Dec 2004, 06 May 2005 (Mir Import, feed list), 02 Jun 2005 (Phpbb export), 28 Sep 2005 (link to listings)

-- ShayneOneill - 01 Nov 2004