Metablocks Wiki - Widgets, Facebook & Social Media

Merch RSS

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:22:34 -0600

Merch RSS

“Merch RSS” Specification Version 0.9.0

An RSS module that supplements the <enclosure> element capabilities of RSS 2.0 to allow for more robust merchandising ecommerce syndication.

Change Notes

02/15/2010 - Concept developed

02/26/2010 - Initial draft

02/28/2010 - Minor Changes

namespace schema url change to “http://www.merchrss.com/rss”

03/01/2010 - Changes based on feedback from Warner Music Group

Added <merch:shortdescription>, <merch:longdescription> and <merch:cartlink> optional elements

“Merch RSS” is a new RSS module that supplements the enclosure capabilities of RSS 2.0. RSS enclosures are already being used to syndicate audio files and images. Merch RSS extends enclosures to better handle ecommerce, specifically as it applies to selling and promoting merchandise online, as well as provide additional metadata with the merchandise. Merch RSS enables content merchandisers, retailers, labels and bands to better syndicate merchandise and other ecommerce offerings.

Primary Elements

<merch:thumbnail>

Allows particular images to be used as representative images for the merchandise. If multiple thumbnails are included, it is assumed that the images are in order of importance. It has 1 required attribute and 3 optional attributes.

<merch:thumbnail url="http://www.foo.com/keyframe.jpg" width="75" height="50" />

- url specifies the url of the thumbnail. It is a required attribute.

- height specifies the height of the thumbnail. It is an optional attribute.

- width specifies the width of the thumbnail. It is an optional attribute.

<merch:price>

Pricing information for merchandise.

<merch:price type="rent" price="19.99" currency="USD"/>
<merch:price type="subscription" info="http://www.artist.com/info" price="19.99" currency="EUR"/>

- type values are: “purchase” or “subscription”.

- info if the type is “subscription”, then info is a url pointing to subscription information. This is an optional attribute.

- price is the price of the merchandise. This is an required attribute.

- currency - use ISO 4217 for currency codes. This is an optional attribute, otherwise USD is assumed.

Optional Elements

<merch:longdescription>

Optional tag with long description of the merchandise

<merch:longdescription>This is a shirt that is available in S, M, L an XL sizes. It is also availabe in the following colors: red, black, white and blue.</merch:longdescription>

<merch:shortdescription>

Optional tag with short description of the merchandise

<merch:shortdescription>This is a shirt</merch:shortdescription>

<merch:cartlink>

Optional tag with link to add item to the shopping cart

<merch:cartlink url="http://www.artist.com/addtocart.php"/>

- url specifies the url to add item to the shopping cart

<merch:status>

Optional tag to specify the availability or status of the merchandise - whether it's still available or out of stock.

<merch:status state="not in stock" reason="http://www.artist.com/out-of-stock.htm"/>

- state can have values “available”, “not in stock” or “pre-order”. “available” means merchandise is currently available for sale, “not in stock” means merchandise is out of stock, “pre-order” means merchandise is available for pre-order.

- reason is optional and provides a reason explaining why merchandise is either “not in stock” or available as a “pre-order”. It can be plain text or a url (and should provide information on when merchandise will be available or when pre-order is expected to ship).

<merch:shipping>

Shipping option information for the merchandise. Multiple shipping options are supported.

<merch:shipping type="Standard" price="3.99" currency="USD"/>
<merch:shipping type="Overnight" price="9.99" currency="USD"/>

- type is the type of shipping option. Examples include: Standard, Overnight, 2nd Day

- price is the price of the merchandise. This is an required attribute.

- currency - use ISO 4217 for currency codes. This is an optional attribute, otherwise USD is assumed.

<merch:category>

Allows to provide category information for piece of merchandise. Future versions of this specification may introduce a categorization scheme that provides a industry wide standard-based taxonomy of product categories.

<merch:category name="CD"/>
<merch:category name="Hats"/>

- name is the human readable label for the category that can be displayed in end user applications.

<merch:upc>

Universal Product Code (UPC) number for the merchandise

<merch:upc number="0-12345-6789-5"/>

- number is the UPC number.

<merch:sku>

Internal SKU or product number for the merchandise

<merch:sku number="PN-123-123"/>

- number is the internal SKU or product code or number.

Best Practices

The following are encouraged “best practices” when using Merch RSS:

1. Use the RSS title element to provide a title or name for the piece of merchandise

2. Use the RSS link element to provide a direct link to purchase the merchandise

3. Use the RSS description element to provide a description of the merchandise

Examples

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <rss version="2.0" xmlns:merch="http://www.merchrss.com/rss/" >
      <channel>
         <title>Sanctus Real Products</title>
         <link>http://www.sanctusreal.com/sanctus-real/productsByCat</link>
         <description>Sanctus Real Products</description>          
         <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Tote Bag]]></title>
            <pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:43:55 -0800</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Tote Bag with band's Logo]]]></description>
            <link>http://www.sanctusreal.com/sanctus-real/product/?prodID=2061</link>
            <guid>http://www.sanctusreal.com/sanctus-real/product/?prodID=2061</guid>
            <merch:thumbnail url="http://www.sanctusreal.com/images/bandfarm/sanctusreal/totebag.jpg"/>
            <merch:price type="sale" price="19.99" currency="USD"/>
         </item>
      </channel>
   </rss>

Acknowledgements

Thank you to organizations who have reviewed, commented and contributed to this specification, and to all those that sent suggestions and corrections.

For Warner Music Group: Tim Holt (Word Label Group)

For Metablocks: Jason Nachsen (Widgetmatic), Oliver Muoto

For BandFarm: Adam Gillespie, Chris McGreal

Music Industry

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:31:51 -0600

Music Industry

Resources

Projects

Widgetmatic 600 Production Guide v2 - created

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:29:16 -0600

Widgetmatic 600 Production Guide v2

OVERVIEW

The Widgetmatic 600 is a prefabricated XML-based widget platform. Producing content for the platform is simple and straight

EXAMPLES

Here are some examples of W600 widgets:

http://www.widgetmatic.com/demo

ASSETS - SLIDESHOW

Slideshow images rotate on the front of the widget and are the most important branding components associated with a W600 widget. Images should be sized to 300 x 300 pixels as HIGH QUALITY jpg's. Depending on the the background color of the widget and the color of slideshow images, you may need to add a black gradient at the bottom (and/or top) of the images so they more seamlessly fade into the background

Examples (with BLACK gradient at the bottom):

- notice that the date is in the same location on all 3 slides

Examples (with WHITE gradient at the bottom):

- notice that the title is in the same location on all 3 slides

ASSETS - TABS BACKGROUND

Widget tabs measure 300 x 29 pixels as HIGH QUALITY jpg's. The need to match or at least represent well the brand identify.

Examples:

TABS- PHOTO GALLERY

Images for use in the photo gallery must be no wider than 300px and no taller than 300px. Please resize pictures to meet this specification.

TABS- AUDIO PLAYER (BASIC)

Audio files for the player must be in mp3 format with short names (track1, track2, ie.) Unless we have received special permission from the client, the “sound clips” should be no longer than 30 seconds.

Creating Widget Concept Drafts

When creating widget concept drafts you are using creating just the front face of widget (Widgetmatic W600 Front Face Designs). You want to make sure that your widget draft represents and matches the artists or brands existing site. Here are a couple of guidelines and recommendations when mocking up a front face design for a widget concept.

Visit the artists/brands site and become familiar with the colors/backgrounds and fonts
When possible try and match the site background in the widget (so if the site has a black background, design the widget with the idea that it will reside on a black background)
Be sure to match the artists fonts whenever possible

wordpress:notes - created

admin — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:05:27 -0600

Wordpress Development

admin — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:02:29 -0600

Wordpress Development

Metablocks designs and develops custom Wordpress themes, add-ons and integrations to allow companies to build and manage dynamic sites and blogs on the Wordpress platform.

Example Wordpress Sites:

Widgetmatic
- Customized theme
- Custom SEO add-ons (Redirect URL)

SocialGrub
- Customized theme
- Custom CMS add-ons (Get Page Contents)
- Other UI customizations (page titles from custom fields)

Development Notes

Facebook Page Components (Standard)

admin — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:34:54 -0600

On Home Page

Project W Assets

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:13:33 -0600

Project W Assets

Adding Tracks/Managing Tracks Concepts

XML/Module Feed Design and Development

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:40:22 -0600

XML/Module Feed Design and Development

Here are examples of module that use xml feeds. There are usually 4 types of widget feeds.

Link-based Widgets

Used for RSS, news feeds, and other text-based resources

Pictures Widgets

Used for photo galleries

Chart Widgets

Used for rankings or charts (such as top 10, music charts, ie)

Badget Widget

Graph Widget * Used for graphs or trend data

Widgetmatic Development, Design and Production - created

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:25:00 -0600

Widgetmatic Development, Design and Production

Widgetmatic W600 Front Face Designs

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:24:19 -0600

Widgetmatic W600 Front Face Designs

NOTES

Tabs do not have to all be uniform (they have to be 300×29 but can be different (so you can have a different graphic for each tab)
Slideshow images must be the same size (300×300). Make sure the bottom and the overall slide works well with the background/design of the widget
At the bottom of the widget we usually have the record label or management logo (use record label by default)
The “Get It” button/graphic should match design and an say other things like: Grab This, Get Widget, Copy HTML..choose one that reflects brand/mode of the artist

Metablocks Widget Development

admin — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:03:02 -0600

Metablocks Widget Development

Widget Platforms
- Check out the list of available widget platforms..
- Widget Examples

Widget Marketplaces, Builders and Distribution Platforms
- ClearSpring
- Gigya
- iWidget
- SpringWidgets
- Sprout
- WidgetBox
- MuseStorm

Widget Examples
- ClearSpring Widget Samples
- Gigya Widget Samples

Widget News
- Widget News and Trends

Vertical Industry Widget Resources
- Widgetmatic - Vertical Industry widget content management and distribution solutions

Radio Station Database Project

admin — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:01:52 -0600

Radio Station Database Project

Examples - Usage Scenarios
- Ashley Tisdale - Warner Music
- Phil Ayoub - Independant
- Susan Sailor - Independant
- Ramiel

Request Page Examples
- XM 20 on 20

Resources
- SMS requests

Widget Examples

admin — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:51:45 -0600

Widget Examples

MUSIC WIDGETS

Clearspring

Coming

Gigya

Sprout Builder

FILM WIDGETS

Clearspring

Wigget #1
Wigget #2
Wigget #3

Gigya

Sprout Builder

SPORTS WIDGETS

Gigya Examples

SERVICE WIDGETS

Clearspring

Wigget #1
Wigget #2
Wigget #3

Gigya

Sprout Builder

Wigget #1
Wigget #2
Wigget #3

PRODUCT WIDGETS

Clearspring

Wigget #1
Wigget #2
Wigget #3

Gigya

http://gigya-inc.blogspot.com/2008/05/fj-mini-bulletin-widget-toyota.html http://gigya-inc.blogspot.com/2008/04/dove-go-fresh-widget-unilever.html http://gigya-inc.blogspot.com/2008/03/daily-serenade-sprint.html http://gigya-inc.blogspot.com/2008/03/simian-mobile-disco.html http://gigya-inc.blogspot.com/2008/02/corolla-help-toyota.html

http://gigya-inc.blogspot.com/2008/02/23501-drop-levisnike.html

Sprout Builder

Wigget #1
Wigget #2
Wigget #3

Caja CSS and Javascript Issues

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:27:42 -0600

Caja CSS and Javascript Issues

Date: April 17, 2009 / Project: GS

A list of known Caja limitations maintained by Yahoo! are available at: http://developer.yahoo.com/yap/guide/what-are-cajas-limitations.html

1. Spelling/grammer errors in Javscript and CSS will cause the application not to render
- Example: .main {font-size:4p} - should be '4px' not '4p'

2. Using numerical characters in CSS class names is not supported
- Example: .5_start {..} - does not work
- Solution
  - .five_star {..} - works

3. XML Object returned using AJAX cannot be manipulated
- Solution
  - Write your own XML parser (as we did)

4. Set innerHTML cannot be used with IMG tag that has a non-empty SRC attribute
- Solution
  - Use CSS to represent the images and use innerHTML to set the item to a DIV with a classname

Yahoo Open Application Development - created

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:04:08 -0600

Yahoo Open Application Development

Known Caja Javascript and CSS Issues

Widget News and Trends - created

admin — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:22:53 -0600

Widget News and Trends

* a

Facebook Asset Sizes - created

admin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:14:55 -0600