rootly Archive

Over the past few weeks I have been testing a new version of Rootly. When I reviewed Rootly in December 2006, I defined it as, "Rootly is a news aggregator at its most basic definition." While Rootly is still a news aggregator, it has some very cool and useful new features. Mark Daher, Rootly founder, is very excited about the new updated version and I think its worth a look as well. All of the details on the new version are listed on the Rootly blog.

It's almost as if Rootly is now a hot news start page. You can customize just about everything on the page including the tabs to make them the way that works best for you. You can set what is the default view for the site so you see the news that matters most for you.  

There is a much more friendly look with the new version (this was something I gave Mark a hard time about) which has lots of Ajax and Javascript to keep everything "live". The home page has a scrolling box of news that will keep you up-to-date on the latest.

Rootly is tracking over 1,000 news feeds and Mark says they are updating quicker than any other news site. In the RSS space, you can now combine feeds together to create master feeds along with the new trusted feeds. Basically there are feeds that are considered trusted to begin with and then as users set feeds up in their profile, those feeds will move into a queue to be verified to be trusted.

And to make Chris Messina happy, they have added OpenID support to the site.  Lastly, Mark is reading this thread so if you have comments about Rootly, feel free to post them and Mark will reply.

MTM (Marshall the Man) has more commentary about his work with Rootly.

Editor's note: Rootly is a former advertiser on CenterNetworks.

Thanks for another great week, I sure do appreciate all the emails and comments about our posts and the tips and post ideas! Keep 'em coming! Here are some updates from our sponsors who help keep the rabbits spinning the wheels here! Seems we have a bit of widget news today.

yourminis – This past week yourminis launched the ability to use the yourminis widgets anywhere. Check out all the details on the yourminis blog and our other yourminis coverage.

Rootly – Rootly has launched a new widget that allows you to place news on your page quickly and easily. Very easy to use and setup. Check out the widget and our review.

AdaptiveBlue – The team over at AdaptiveBlue just released version 3.1 of the BlueOrganizer. Check out the details on their blog. We will be reviewing the tool in about a week or so.

WingSix – WingSix provides the hosting and server support for CenterNetworks. Read my full review of their service on HTMLCenter. They have the absolute best support in the hosting business. I left 2 horrible hosts for support, and each and every time I need something from the team at WingSix they have helped me. They don't outsource their support, the team really takes the time to know you and your sites. Chris and Joe run the show and just do a rocking job.

We still have several openings for sponsors. Send me an email and let's discuss how CenterNetworks can help you maximize your marketing investment.