Thursday
Tech : Duncan RileyRegator: smart, well implemented, directory 2.0
Regator is a new blog directory service that offers partial content and social interactions.
The closed beta service looks and feels like an RSS aggregator when you first log in. Content is pre-packaged, categorized and waiting to be consumed, and registered users can mark their favorite blogs and customized their view. Where this stops being a RSS reader such as Google Reader is that Regator doesn’t allow for feeds to be added to a custom view, although users can suggest blogs to be included.
Beneath the surface (and via a link on the sidebar) is an old style categorized blog directory, and this goes to the heart of what Regator is: a directory 2.0. All the content available to be browsed comes from blogs in the directory, and smartly they’ve gone with part feeds (extracts) as well to get around any copyright issues when they eventually start showing ads.
There’s social aspects built into Regator as well. Like ReadBurner, users can comment on the content shown, although they’re using their own local commenting platform. Users can vote items up or down Reddit style, presumably affecting the position of that content across the board.
Frederic over at ReadWriteWeb compares it to RSS aggregators, but I think it’s an unfair call to make. This is a really smart blog directory with social features that also shows content, and I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like this before. On that criteria alone, I love it. Really, really smart lateral thinking on a traditional idea, presented in a user friendly accessible manner.
We don’t have invites, but if we do get any we’ll let you know. Screenshots as follows:
Update: the Regator blog here has a video. They also appear to be Australian, no idea where from though as the URL details are hidden.
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I didn't think of it too much as a directory, simply because the interface looks so much like an aggregator (and, I guess, because they use that term themselves...). Still, you're making a good point about it also being a great blog directory.
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We are really happy that other people are seeing Regator as unique and interesting as we do. That said, it's early days still and we are looking to add more functionality based on what we are hearing. The trick is trying to add the *right* stuff and keep it simple so the average non-tech geek user can still have fun on the site and keep it really fast.
It's funny you that you describe it as a directory of sorts, as the first idea for the site was a directory for real estate blogs for worthwhile blogs but the idea kind of grew somewhat...
btw, I am from Sydney. Chris and Kimberly are American. We are baking in Atlanta, Georgia right now. We hid the domain details because our office is our home and we didn't want that everywhere.