Back in April, a gentleman by the name of Ronnie posted a discussion here, comparing Paper.li to RebelMouse. I had been using Paper.li for some time, and I was quite satisfied. However, further inspection proved RebelMouse the better product. Not only do they provide a better product, but better service as well (I’ll explain later).
Both Paper.li and RebelMouse curate content from all of your social accounts, but RebelMouse is so flexible, you can use it in an almost infinite number of ways. You can use it for your Ning 2.0 networks, but it will work better with your Ning 3.0 (when groups are released for 3.0, the possibilities will be even greater). I’m using RM in two ways:
1) As a standalone “digital newspaper” (www.kingdomzx.info)
2) Homepage for my Ning 3.0 network
Ronnie (the aforementioned Ning network creator who first posted a discussion here on RebelMouse), uses his as a newspaper of sorts as well, but has it iframed into a custom page at his Ning 2.0 site, Dutch RoadRunners. When you look at both our RebelMouse pages, you’ll notice lots of content outside of our Ning networks, and that may not appeal to you, since you’d basically be driving traffic away from your site. The content on my page is being pulled from my Ning 2.0 site, Facebook fan page, Tumblr, Youtube, Instagram, and Pinterest (you can also pull in feeds from your Twitter, Flickr, Google+, StockTwits and LinkedIn). Once we are able to migrate our members from our 2.0 to our 3.0 Ning sites, I intend to feature mostly feeds from my network. But you can use RebelMouse any way you like.
RebelMouse has a variety of templates to choose from, and other customization options for the CSS savvy (I’ve been assured that more are on the way). You can use your RebelMouse as a landing page, standalone news page, blog feature page, or whatever else you can imagine. Your page can pull in content from a variety of sources. Use the RSS feed to pull in your Ning features, e.g. videos, blogs, photographs, etc. Each module on your RebelMouse page can be moved around, and you can “freeze” any post you like, which will keep your post in one place, even when your page updates. You can set the length of time you want your post frozen, and you can freeze as many as you like.
One of the features I really like is the ability to have a splash post at the top of my RebelMouse page. You can use this to feature a really big story, photo, or video. This may come in handy should you choose to use your RM page as a landing for your site.
Each post on your page can be edited within the module itself. Click the “edit” button, and make your changes. You can also add content directly to your RM page. Their text boxes can accommodate photos, links, videos, slideshow, and HTML. Content modules each have a share widget and “like heart”, and you can view the statistics of each post.
One of the more fascinating things about RebelMouse is its responsive design, which works exceedingly well with Ning 3.0’s responsive grid. You could choose to embed a RebelMouse sidebar into one of your columns, but I learned the RebelMouse page will resize to fit small (think cell phone size) columns anyway.
Lastly, you can get more from your RebelMouse account should you choose to “power your site”, by adding premium features (use your own domain, branding). If you ever have questions, or need help with a problem, they are quick (thank you again, Jack Duhamel)! I had a serious problem at Paper.li, and it took them a week to figure out what was going on with my account. RebelMouse responded to me and resolved my problem within minutes!
There’s so much more to RebelMouse than I have time to outline, you’ll have to check them out for yourself for more details. I’m about to run out to see the big fireworks display here in New York, but I wanted to share this with you all before I head out.
With Ning 3.0’s responsive design, Ning networks never need look alike ever again. Now, with the added power of your RebelMouse pages, you can take it a step further.
Replies
Great post Patrick! I've been using Rebel Mouse as a way to pull in members blog content (from outside blogs) pinterest relevant posts from Rss boards, twitter feeds and, rss feeds from relevant sources. Once the new groups get rolling on 3.0, I plan to incorporate this featuring each groups relevant info. The beauty of this is that it can be automated or controlled as to what posts. Outside of figuring out the keywords & hashtags I've found it very simple to maneuver as a rookie. You can see mine here: www.artisanwhimsy.com Thanks for sharing the post!!
Thanks Melinda!
Wow! Very nice, your RM page! Your site is awesome too, sweet layout, great color scheme, etc.
RebelMouse is an awesome tool. I am anticipating the new customization options I am told will be coming soon. Once the entire Ning 3.0 product is complete, we will have the perfect marriage between the two companies, I think.
Very cool. This site that runs RM: http://www.dutchroadrunners.nl/page/nieuws-1 seems to go on to infinity if I scroll to the bottom. Do visitors ever have a choice to shut this off so the bottom can be reached?
Also, do you know if a site like http://www.dutchroadrunners.nl/page/nieuws-1 is indexed well by the search engines or is it looked at as a duplicate content site and penalized for it? Could it be accepted into Google as a news site if using it in curator mode?
Thanks for any feedback on these questions. I know I unloaded here, so happy to contact them directly if I'm picking your brain too much.
Nelson
You don't have to use infinite scroll. I did in the beginning, then decided against it. Mine is used for primarily my content, mixed with items from my Instagram, and a affiliated site.
No, you will not be penalized by Google (or any search engine for that matter). Content curation is popular and is used by companies big and small. RebelMouse is SEO friendly.
If you have any other concerns about it, you can contact them, They are quick to answer questions, even if you're not using their service.
liking it! thanks again!
You're welcome.
Still loving RM and I am also considering to integrate RM further with our network!
Ronnie, same here, man! Can't wait to launch my Ning 3.0 network. I've got some more ideas for my RM as well.
I recently implemented RM in te right column of my network, you can see it at work here: http://www.dutchroadrunners.nl/
You're welcome, Jamie.
I love what you've done with your RebelMouse/Ning homepage!
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