Web Slice Explained

Web Slice
Owner:Microsoft
Latest Release Version:0.9
Genre:Web syndication, Screen scraping
Extended From:hAtom Microformat
Open:Yes, As part of Microsoft Open Specification Promise
Url:Web Slice Format Specification - Version 0.9

Web Slices are a web feed technology based on the hAtom Microformat[1] that allows users to subscribe to portions of a web page.[2] [3] [4] [5] Microsoft developed the Web Slice format, and published a specification under their Open Specification Promise. The specification is not published by any independent standards body. Introduced in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, Web Slices can be previewed in a fly-out window.[6] Internet Explorer 8 and 9 were the only browsers to support Web Slices natively, although Mozilla Firefox had support via an add-on called webchunks.[7]

Implementation

A Web Slice has 9 properties: the Web Slice id, entry title, entry content, end time, alternative display source, alternative navigation, alternative update source, and time to live.The 3 required properties are: the Web Slice id, entry title, and entry content.

To disable Web Slices on a web page, add:[8]

To specify the default web slice on a page with multiple web slices, add:

Sample Webslice

Title goes here

<-- The title -->

360

The content goes here

Support

Mozilla Firefox

While Firefox does not have built in support for web slices, extensions have been created to give the ability to read web slices.

WebChunks

WebChunks is a Mozilla Firefox 3 implementation of Microsoft Webslices. It allows you to "follow" an area of a web page through a dedicated feed bookmarked in a new toolbar. With Greasemonkey, WebChunks can insert webchunks or webslices markup into any web page so the Webchunks extension handles it.[7] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Fireclip

Fireclip is a Firefox addon that lets you "clip out" parts of a website and watch them for changes. It lets you track specific parts of a website in a similar manner to web slices.[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

PageSlices

Pageslices was another Firefox addon that allowed not only storing parts of websites but also organizing them by adding on custom pages.[20]

Google Chrome

Google Chrome, like Firefox, does not have built in support for web slices. However, the extension API new to Chrome 4 allows extensions to be created to give the ability to relatively simply create arbitrary webslices[21] of any content from any page.

Opera

Although it was rumored that Opera 10 would have support for web slices, this did not come to pass.[22] [23] Opera does have a "widgetize" feature likened to web slices which allows web pages to be displayed on a user's desktop.[24]

See also

External links

Development

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Web Slice Format Specification - Version 0.9. 7 February 2010. MSDN. Microsoft.
  2. Web site: Microsoft shows IE8 Activities, 'WebSlices'. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2008-03-05. 2010-02-11. Todd. Bishop.
  3. Web site: IE 8 to feature WebSlices, Activities. https://web.archive.org/web/20080306234410/http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1241. dead. March 6, 2008. ZDNet. 2008-03-04. Mary Jo. Foley. 2010-02-11.
  4. Web site: Web Slices. Internet Explorer 8: Features. Microsoft. 7 February 2010.
  5. Web site: Internet Explorer 8 Readiness Tollkit - Web Slices. Microsoft. 9 February 2010.
  6. Web site: Konigsburg. Eitan. 4 February 2009. Internet Explorer 8: Web Slices. 7 February 2010. First Look. The New York Times.
  7. Web site: WebChunks. glazou. September 4, 2008. Mozilla. 15 February 2010. 12 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121012021423/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/webchunks/. dead.
  8. Web site: Subscribing to Content with Web Slices. Microsoft. 7 February 2010.
  9. Web site: Nice try IE8, but Mozilla slices better. LiveMint. Sidin. Vadukut. 2009-01-28. 2010-02-11.
  10. Web site: WebChunks: even better than the real thing. Mozilla Links. Mozilla. 2008-09-08. Percy. Cabello. 2010-02-11.
  11. Web site: IE 8 Activities and WebSlices for Firefox. Mozilla Links. Mozilla. 2008-03-11. Percy. Cabello. 2010-02-11.
  12. Web site: WebChunks Puts Dynamic Information from Any Web Site in Your Toolbar - Firefox Extensions. Lifehacker. Adam. Pash. 2008-09-08 . 2010-02-11.
  13. Web site: IE8 Activities & WebSlices for Firefox. Cybernetnews.com. 2008-03-11. Ryan. 2010-02-11.
  14. Web site: How To Add 20 Best Features Of Other Browsers to Firefox | The Best Article Every day. Bspcn.com. Varun. Kashyap. 2009-12-07. 2010-02-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20100214105032/http://www.bspcn.com/2009/12/07/how-to-add-20-best-features-of-other-browsers-to-firefox/. 2010-02-14. dead.
  15. Web site: Fireclip. Han. Ming. January 8, 2009. Mozilla. 15 February 2010. 12 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121012191225/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireclip/. dead.
  16. Web site: Fireclip - Take back the web. Piece by piece . Fireclip.awardspace.info. 2010-02-11.
  17. Web site: Fireclip Brings Mac-Like Web Clipping to Firefox - Downloads. Lifehacker. 2009-01-13. 2010-02-11. Kevin. Purdy.
  18. Web site: Track Specific Portions of any Web Page with FireClip. Labnol.org. 2009-01-13. Amit Agarwal. 2010-02-11. 2009-09-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20090917065018/http://www.labnol.org/software/track-web-page-portions-with-firefox/6518/. dead.
  19. Web site: Buildling Better Webs. Slideshare.net. 2010-02-11.
  20. Web site: Pageslices homepage. 2011-10-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20111031211852/http://www.pageslices.net/. dead.
  21. Web site: Arbitrary Web Slices.
  22. Web site: Rumor: Opera 10 to Include Web Slices. Lipskas . Vygantas . March 17, 2009. FavBrowser.com. 12 April 2010.
  23. Web site: Opera 10 to Include Web Slices?. Andrew. 17 March 2009 . WebUpd8. 12 April 2010.
  24. https://web.archive.org/web/20110613205709/http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=296156 Prism-like widget creator - Opera Widgets - Opera Community

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