Helpful Education/College Class Management tools

[Robert Hudson]

My biggest beef with Ning right now is that I can't download a FULL RSS feed containing all members' blog posts for grading purposes.

 

I backed up my entire Ning site to JSON files and have written a program to parse them into HTML/Excel, but I face the further problem of getting not only the blog entries but also previously saved versions that appear to be in the archive I download.

 

Seriously, this isn't hard. Just give me full RSS to my blogs and I'll do the rest. 

[Patrick Chappelle]

You could always use Google Reader and download your network's feed that way.

[Robert Hudson]

Ning limits the RSS feed to the 30 most recent items. Even the API only permits the last 100. Downloading the archive is the only way to get them all - and then some. If only I could filter out the earlier posts for the same blog entry. Looks like I'm doing date conversions again. C#

[Evan]

Hey Robert,

 

It sounds like you're asking us to show more items in the feed. That would present serious performance concerns, especially on larger networks, where there could be thousands, or hundreds of thousands of posts. And not just performance concerns on our end, but on the user's end, where they're suddenly downloading all the posts.

 

We don't have plans to change this for the reasons above, so I suggest either continuing to use JSON (if you explain the duplicate problem with JSON I'm happy to look into it) or pulling the RSS feed now, so you have all future posts.

/Evan

[Robert Hudson]

I'd be the one downloading the posts, and a simple download would be sufficient for me. Your backup utility does that; I'm not sure why you couldn't offer them in CSV format as well. JSON parsing is pretty much the domain of programmers, unless you want to shell out for Altova XML-Spy, which can parse it into grids.

 

The duplicate problem presented itself on this particular blog entry (JSON below)

 

 {
        "id": "6309472:BlogPost:156",
        "contributorName": "2lkh2cx33jugi",
        "title": "library",
        "description": "<div>This last Tuesday I have spent about an hour in the HACC library learning about its features assisting me in research. It has been quite some time since I have had to do such a task so the information was refreshing. Showing me websites to find articles relating to a topic is not entirely new to me but the sites themselves were. For the most part they have a similar structure to one another but vary in the way they present themselves and the particular fields they cover. The biggest thing I noticed as a change was how a few of the sites had the citation of each article on the same page or not far from the page you were viewing. Citing my sources in MLA is a chore but now it is as easy as a copy and paste. This will certainly make thing move fast for me.</div>\n<div><br/></div>\n<div>I understand the concept of a library throughout my life. Sign the book out, read it, return or renew. This procedure is simple and easy to grasp. Never before have I had a problem with the library not having what I look for. Now that I am using it for college research though I may not be so lucky all the time. But from what I learned yesterday, the library web directory can send books from other HACC campuses and allow me to read them at home without all the driving back and forth. It is like having several libraries in one! All I have to do is find the title and click on the link 201crequest this title201d then wait for it to find its way to my Lancaster campus. Doing this requires some additional time to wait before I can read it but nonetheless it is a useful tool.</div>\n<div><br/></div>\n<div>I think the key to improving my experience in the library would be to actually use it. Most of the time I have ever done any research I would do so in my own home. This worked out for me fairly well. Still I know I could gain further insight on my topics should I exercise my right to the books and resources in our library. On top of the increased ability to find out what I need to know, I think using the library more could very well enhance my research abilities.</div>",
        "createdDate": "2010-10-06T18:29:41.156Z",
        "updatedDate": "2010-10-06T18:29:48.156Z",
        "isPrivate": true,
        "approved": "Y",
        "publishStatus": "publish",
        "publishTime": "2010-10-06T18:29:41.000Z",
        "publishWhen": "now"
    },
    {
        "id": "6309472:BlogPost:154",
        "contributorName": "2lkh2cx33jugi",
        "title": "library",
        "description": "<div>This last Tuesday I have spent about an hour in the HACC library learning about its features assisting me in research. It has been quite some time since I have had to do such a task so the information was refreshing. Showing me websites to find articles relating to a topic is not entirely new to me but the sites themselves were. For the most part they have a similar structure to one another but vary in the way they present themselves and the particular fields they cover. The biggest thing I noticed as a change was how a few of the sites had the citation of each article on the same page or not far from the page you were viewing. Citing my sources in MLA is a chore but now it is as easy as a copy and paste. This will certainly make thing move fast for me.</div>\n<div><br/></div>\n<div>I understand the concept of a library throughout my life. Sign the book out, read it, return or renew. This procedure is simple and easy to grasp. Never before have I had a problem with the library not having what I look for. Now that I am using it for college research though I may not be so lucky all the time. But from what I learned yesterday, the library web directory can send books from other HACC campuses and allow me to read them at home without all the driving back and forth. It is like having several libraries in one! All I have to do is find the title and click on the link 201crequest this title201d then wait for it to find its way to my Lancaster campus. Doing this requires some additional time to wait before I can read it but nonetheless it is a useful tool.</div>\n<div><br/></div>\n<div>I think the key to improving my experience in the library would be to actually use it. Most of the time I have ever done any research I would do so in my own home. This worked out for me fairly well. Still I know I could gain further insight on my topics should I exercise my right to the books and resources in our library. On top of the increased ability to find out what I need to know, I think using the library more could very well enhance my research abilities.</div>",
        "createdDate": "2010-10-06T18:29:40.154Z",
        "updatedDate": "2010-10-06T18:29:41.154Z",
        "isPrivate": true,
        "approved": "Y",
        "publishStatus": "publish",
        "publishTime": "2010-10-06T18:29:40.000Z",
        "publishWhen": "now"
    },

 

 

[Robert Hudson]

It's been a while since I posted my concern, and I haven't heard back, so I'll post again.

I've had to write code to filter out posts for blog entries that were revisions/republishes or had the names changed.

 

Could you include a field that identifies a blog entry uniquely even when it changes, if it's the same entry? I find the version history in the backup to be difficult to discern from the very *latest* post without parsing the dates as well.

 

 

[Phil McCluskey]

Hi Robert,

 

The id field is the blog's unique identifier.

 

Thanks,

Phil