Feature: Frictionless onboarding

[genmon]

Problem: tapping on a Feed URL leads to a baffling XML feed. Tapping on the "Help" link (to AboutFeeds.com) leads to a site that has no call to action to subscribe.

Could this site have a subscribe CTA at the top which is customised depending on a Feed URL passed in the query string?

Could this site auto-discover installed newsreaders, and present a relevant subscribe link by the Feed URL?

Ultimately, what would it mean to have a "Subscribe" button that walks a new user through all the steps required to get set up with the origin Feed URL in their newly-downloaded newsreader?

[j-f1]

NetNewsWire on the Mac is able to register itself as the default feed reader so clicking on a link to an RSS feed (at least in Safari) will automatically open it in the app.

[genmon]

NetNewsWire on the Mac is able to register itself as the default feed reader so clicking on a link to an RSS feed (at least in Safari) will automatically open it in the app.

This works only after installation which is the challenge... And because websites can't register themselves as the feed: or RSS mime-type handler, it's not a universal experience even once you've got yourself a newsreader.

So the question is, what's the ideal experience for new users... Hm...

[genmon]

One idea: There's a hurdle in finding the Feed URL for a new user, even where there's a "Feed" link on the page.

Could there be a page in which you paste in the URL of the website, and it discovers the Feed URL for you (either from auto-discovery, or from hunting for relevant link text on the page). And then the page presents a list of the various newsreaders you might have, with links to subscribe? (e.g. for NetNewsWire it uses feed: but if you're a Inoreader user then it would be an x-url-callback link on iOS and a POST on web). There would also be a "Copy to clipboard" button.

This makes use of the auto-discovery feature of feeds, but doesn't have the same issues (see #13 for detail) as it doesn't attempt to pass the Feed URL directly to a reader (which may or may not work) and it can be explicit about not finding a feed if one isn't present.

[genmon]

Related: SubToMe is a "Universal Follow Button." It's code installed by site owners, and clicking the "Follow" button opens a popover with various popular newsreaders listed.