Get addon updates via Twitter or RSS
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 19th 2009 at 5:00PM
I am pretty notorious for not updating my addons often enough (I think some of the versions I have must be years old by now), but maybe with this, I'll be better: Reader Fin runs a website that tracks RSS updates of addons from most of the database sites, so all you need to do is hook that feed up to your reader of choice, and then whenever a new addon drops (either one that you're waiting for, or all of them, if you just want to watch them go by), you'll see it pop up in your reader, ready for inspection or a download or whatever you like.He's also hooked it right up to a Twitter feed, so you can also tune in on Twitter and watch the new addons go past. I thought there might be too many going out, and that all those addons might spam up your Twitter feed, but actually if you've got a full slate of follows already (I've got about 200 talkative folks), it's not bad at all -- enough to keep you interested, but not so many that you feel flooded.
Of course, this probably still won't help me get my addons updated -- only putting an extra hour or two of free time in the day will help me accomplish that one. But it'll nice, at least, to know they're out there.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Add-Ons, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pietrex Jun 19th 2009 5:16PM
I don't understand how updating addons could be a problem. I simply have my Curse Client running in the background and check it once a day or two. The whole updating process doesn't take longer than 2 minutes.
Bobson Jun 19th 2009 6:06PM
I do the same thing. It took a bit of setup time to get it to know what addons I had (I ended up re-downloading most of them via the client), but sinc ethen it's been trivial to update. I hit the "update all" button right before logging in every day.
ChiperSoft Jun 19th 2009 7:04PM
Seconded, CC has been very useful since they worked all the kinks out of it. Granted, I got grandfathered into a premium account, but even if I didn't it's still an invaluable tool (you just have to update each addon one at a time instead of all at once).
Even the mac version of the client isn't that bad compared to having to do it by hand. Sure it's not very maclike, but it still does the job.
wildwynd Jun 19th 2009 5:18PM
This is real good for seeing which addons are updated, you cant update individual addons this way though. If some brave soul would make a page that allowed AddOn authors to upload addons and each one had its own RSS feed the need for updaters would be obsolete because ever feedreader available would be just that.
Just like a podcasting listing site except for AddOns.
Fin Jun 20th 2009 9:48AM
Heya. I've been meaning to do this for a while, but your comment prompted me to add it: addons now have their own individual RSS feeds, eg:
- http://fin.instinct.org/wowmods/rss/addon/295:fishing-buddy
Ryan Jun 19th 2009 5:38PM
Nifty, though the noise of seeing addons I don't even have makes it useless.
Fin Jun 20th 2009 12:30PM
You can always subscribe to an RSS feed of your favourites on the site - and if you want to see them on Twitter, http://www.twitterfeed.com/ is what I use to post the updates for all addons.
Misha Jun 19th 2009 6:06PM
I agree with pietrex that updating addons is not a problem. I preferred Wowmatrix, forced to Curse Client. Refuse to pay for their updater, but just clicking Reinstall when the addon is flagged is all it takes. I only check the curse client once or twice a week. Not a big deal.
Ne0nguy Jun 19th 2009 6:23PM
The article says there is a twitter feed, however the link is pointing to: http://fin.instinct.org/wowmods/
Ne0nguy Jun 19th 2009 6:35PM
Found it:
http://twitter.com/wowmods
Narune Jun 20th 2009 1:58PM
It would be very cool if someone created an updater that would let you subscribe to these add-on feeds, and then auto-update based on the feeds you had. I guess until then I'll stick to CC.