How to make your own custom version of AWR

Articles

1.	Making your first RSS feed
2.	Marketing and promoting your RSS feeds
3.	How to make your own custom version of Active Web Reader

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Active Web Reader Customizer v1.24

How to Make Your Own Custom Version of Active Web Reader

As the World Wide Web has evolved, relevance, personalization and customization have become increasingly important. Web surfers want to feel that they're getting an experience that is tailored to their needs and desires. Whether for information distribution, content delivery or promotion, businesses can no longer afford to rely on traditional on-line marketing methods like mass e-mail and expensive ad campaigns, due to the increasing uproar about intrusive marketing tools like spam, pop-ups and telemarketing. Today, customers and viewers want information that is relevant to their needs, and they want it under their control.

This is where RSS or ‘Really Simple Syndication’ comes in. It is simple, inexpensive, non-intrusive, and most importantly, a technology that gives the end user the power of choice. These advantages have led to the phenomenal growth of RSS. You can see the importance of RSS by counting how many media companies, technology companies, and web-based businesses have at least one blog or other RSS feed.

Active Web Reader Customizer - Flow for creating your own custom version of Active Web Reader

Most web sites create a separate web page for listing their RSS feeds. Usually there will be a link to download an RSS Reader, like the FREE and popular Active Web Reader on this page. Simply providing feeds does not guarantee successful regular content updates.

You can use the FREE Active Web Reader Customizer to prepare a custom version of Active Web Reader with your feeds built in. Then all you have to do is have link on your web site to download this custom version. Anyone using the custom Active Web Reader has instant access to the pre-loaded feeds. He will also be able to add other RSS feeds and enjoy the complete feature set of Active Web Reader, including an integrated web browser, pop-up blocker and Auto Discovery tools. Because Active Web Reader is so useful, providing it will earn you customer "good will," and because many people will continue to use the program, they'll always see your updated content when they read blogs or other feeds.

A customized Active Web Reader containing your RSS feeds is a win-win for you and your customers. You get a platform to display your feeds, and they enjoy the feature-packed Active Web Reader.

Most importantly, you can send updated information to your customers via the feeds to deepen your relationship with them.

Preparing a Custom RSS Reader:

To prepare a custom version of Active Web Reader

1.	Download and Install the Active Web Reader Customizer.
2.	Start Active Web Reader Customizer.
3.	Click on Next on the Welcome Screen.



4.	Click on Add RSS, and enter the URL of the feed you want to add to the list. The feeds you add will be available in the Active Web Reader when it’s installed.
5.	Alternatively, if you have a list of RSS feeds stored in an OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) file, you can import the list directly by clicking on the Import OPML button.



6.	Click Next.
7.	If you want to preload your website’s web pages into the custom version of Active Web Reader along with your feeds, click on Add in the Add Web Pages window. Specify the URL and title to be displayed. Click on Next.
	The setup file of Active Web Reader will be downloaded automatically from DeskShare’s website. The feeds and web pages that you added while designing the custom version are incorporated into the downloaded setup.
	NOTE: Any personal feeds that you had in your previous version of Active Web Reader will be replaced by the feeds in the custom version.
8.	Specify a name and destination path for the setup you have created.
	You are free to distribute this custom setup to your customers.

A final word

The opportunities presented by RSS are too important to ignore. Using RSS feeds helps you keep your audience informed and attracts traffic to your website. With the Active Web Reader Customizer, you can not only jump onto the RSS bandwagon, you can actually drive it!