I had a little free time tonight so I fixed some issues with Grittr.
I fixed the issue with the Sun Times - I was not grabbing a date for the articles, so it kept indefinitely grabbing links. They had a weird way of putting together a date for each link.
The main page (grittr.com) now lists out all the sites with their corresponding feeds.
Features that I am working on (or at least day dreaming about at work):
- Calendar feature - Select a day and check out what the news stories were on that day.
- Search - duh.
- Ability to combine feeds from different newspapers.
- Ability to save a layout.
Any feedback? Any requests for other newspapers? I am trying to keep the number of newspapers down till I work out functionality issues, but if anyone has a special request, please let me know.
I’ve been kind of following along with the news about Grittr, but I’m not a huge fan of newspapers in general, so I haven’t visited on a regular basis. But I’m always interested in new web projects and like to hear what you’re working on.
I’ve been working on an all new site for District 186, which we plan on launching over Christmas break. I’ve been working on the calendar for a few days now, and it’s coming together, but there’s still a lot more work to do (download events, subscribe to feed, etc). Check it out at:
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/calendar/3/
I’d love to see how you implement a calendar on Grittr. Calendars on the web have a unique set of problems, and it’s always interesting to see how people solve them.
I absolutely LOVE Grittr … I’ve shared it with friends at work and they think it’s great too.
My only request would be … and I’m not morbid, I swear … could we add the SJ-R’s obituaries to Grittr? If it weren’t for that, I’d never have to visit the SJ-R site again … 
HUGS
30What, thanks for spreading the word! Your enthusiasm might make this hobby of a side project turn into something successful (or at least profitable). Remember, I am not trying to snub out the sj-r’s site, I am trying to make it ridiculously easy to get to their content. As for the obits, the SJ-R will have to include that information in their RSS feeds. You can always email Jason Piscia and request that information be made available. I’ve never met Jason, but I hear he’s a nice guy.
D to the Heinzel,
Yes, calendars have their own little conundrums. I worked on one for a while for hunting lodge but that never panned out because they never forked over any money. People find it funny that you don’t work for free. I am planning on taking advantage of some stuff already built in the scriptaculous javascript library when I put the calendar together. It is only going to be used to select a date, and then pull back links for that day. Nothing special like you’re working on.
I do like the updated version though. D186 parents and staff don’t know how lucky they are in having such a great online resource. Kudos to the 186 crew.
30What, The Pantagraph has a list of obits: http://grittr.com/site/pantagraph
Oh I agree … Grittr only adds to SJ-R because you can find all their information in one easy to read format. I’m going to e-mail Jason and ask him if they would consider adding obits to their RSS feed … I’ve only talked with him once about adding TW to their blog listings … and he did seem really nice. I hope this catchs on and puts some extra cash in your pocket.