Software

A novice wrestles with Yahoo Pipes

By // February 12, 2007, 2:46 AM PST

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  • Yahoo Pipes invites me in

    Yahoo Pipes is feed aggregator that lets you mix and match RSS feeds. According to the early reviews, the big advance is that Yahoo Pipes has a user interface that even novices--that would be me--can follow. The first screen looks easy enough. Maybe I'll become Mr. RSS-mixer too. Here's a walkthrough.

  • Create a pipe: Why not?

    After a few clicks--and a few errors--Yahoo Pipes asks me if I want to create a Pipe. Sure why not?

  • Slow going...

    So now what? Things are a bit slow. I want instant gratification.

  • Handy helper

    Ah an little helper appears. Lovely.

  • Pop ups along the way

    Now I'm on my way. Little pop-up helpers walk me through.

  • Aggregating components

    Ok, now I have my components (still not completely sure what I'm doing though).

  • Picking data sources

    The general idea is I want to search for all tech news and monitor Techmeme and ZDNet's blogs.

  • Doh!

    Well I thought I was on the right path (all I really wanted to do is draw the pipes together anyway). Error time.

  • Another attempt

    So I swap a few URLs. This time of RSS feeds. Still can't get these pipes to connect. Again that's all I want to do anyway.

  • Trying again

    Back to the drawing board. I try some of the basic sources. Google Base and Yahoo Search for instance. The good news: I did connect a pipe. Communication failures abound.

  • Where is that manual?

    I give up. Maybe I should have read the directions (that mistake again).

  • Novice or idiot? Do not answer that.

    I click Ok and this is what I get. In summary: I don't know what I'm doing because I'm a novice or idiot. (I prefer the former.) I'll leave the Web revolution to someone else.

Yahoo Pipes invites me in

Yahoo Pipes is feed aggregator that lets you mix and match RSS feeds. According to the early reviews, the big advance is that Yahoo Pipes has a user interface that even novices--that would be me--can follow. The first screen looks easy enough. Maybe I'll become Mr. RSS-mixer too. Here's a walkthrough.

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By Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of TechRepublic.