OPML: the format
- OPML stands for Outline Processor Markup Language.
- The format stores lists and hierarchical outlines in XML.
- Here is the current spec (1.0),
and a proposed new spec (2.0)
is in review.
Morning Coffee Notes
podcast about how anyone (not just programmers) can understand the draft
spec and how it differs from 1.0.
Mar. 1, 2006 11MB 32 minutes
MP3 only| Read the spec while you listen - The OPML format was developed by Dave Winer in 2000.
Beta validator
Caveat: Because it's a beta, you shouldn't depend on the results.
Tools that understand OPML
Adoption of OPML is growing almost too quick to keep up with it.
- Directory of software and online tools that do something with OPML files.
Some of the ways OPML is used
- Reading lists [probably need a separate page about reading lists]
- Subscription lists [maybe the separate page covers both and draws the distinction between them]
- Blogrolls
- Distributed directories
For people who have ideas
"First, you must have more than one idea."
[Has Dave's dad started his outliner book? If so maybe get a sneak preview excerpt.]
History
Dave Winer has been writing outliners for close to 30 years.
He gives some background on the first one in this video clip from an October 11, 2005, interview on Nerd TV.
- 4:30 How did the outliner come about?
- 9:00 What's an outliner?
[draft page]