Movable Type Action Stream Plugins

I thought that the whole concept of the Action Streams plugin for Movable Type was pretty cool, so I put together some plugins for using it. You can see these in use at JohnEckman.com

Installation in each case is pretty straightforward - just drop the files in the appropriate places inside /mt/plugins/ and /mt/mt-static/, configure the “Other Profiles” appropriately, and wait for stuff to show up in your stream.

This assumes, of course, that you’ve got the basic Action Streams plugin up and working.

Identi.ca Updates

Identi.ca is a new microblogging system based on the open source Laconica platform. Ultimately, this should lead to a federated microblogging system which will replace the need to rely on single sources like twitter.

For now it is just fun to play around with. Go to identi.ca and set up an account, then download and install this plugin to add your updates into your action stream.

Download Identi.ca Plugin 1.0

TripIt Activity

Updated 5/29/08. Takes advantage of the new “profile” page introduced by TripIt. For the activity stream to work, you will need to edit your profile settings to allow “everyone” to see your activity stream. Profile link will also link directly to your profile.

Added 4/10/08. TripIt now offers an Atom feed of your activity: when you start trips, when you complete trips, and when you start planning a trip. This takes that info and spits it out on the appropriate days. Since TripIt does not offer a “profile” page, the profile link just points to www.tripit.com.

Download TripIt Plugin 1.1

Amazon Wish List

UPDATE 5/30/08:Done - version 1.1 now uses the Amazon Generated RSS feeds. This does mean you have to get your “SubscriptionId” for your wishslists - see the README.txt included in the plugin. (And please do let me know if this does or doesn’t work for you!).

UPDATE 5/29/08: Seems like the format changed again, and now Amazon offers a true Atom feed for the things in your list. I plan to re-implement soon as an Atom feed - will post update here when complete.

UPDATED (3/31): Amazon’s format for wishlist seems to have changed and the Web::Scraper wasn’t matching anymore. You may need to delete and re-add your profile after installing the updated yaml file in the zip archive.

This one requires one update to the existing Action Stream plugin - there is a patched Events.pm file (thanks to Mark Paschal at SixApart for the code there) which should replace your existing Events.pm file in /mt/plugins/ActionStreams/lib/Events.pm. Remember that this may get overwritten by other updates, so there is some chance this will break in the future. Consider yourself warned.

You give it your wishlist id, which you can find by going to your wishlist and choosing “Tell people about this list” - notice the code at the end of the “unique url for this list” - that’s the wishlist id you will need.

I’m using this for music purchases, so the text by default refers to a purchase, not a wish - but you can edit that line of the config.yaml to change the text pretty easily.

Download Amazon Plugin 1.1

Last.Fm

Updated 9/12/08 Thanks to Ken Edwards at BGViews.com I tracked down an issue with the release of this version, which used an underscore character in the ‘key’ which links the action stream to the profile. Download 1.1 below. Note: You will no longer need to remove the Last.fm item from the default ActionStream config.yaml - if you’ve done so, you’ll need to put it back to vanilla.

The existing Action Stream plugin ships with a Last.fm profile, but no action stream. This plugin provides an alternative profile - which does provide a service for recently played tracks.

Once the plugin is installed, you may need to delete the last.fm profile item from your “other profiles” page and then re-add it, to be able to enable the action stream.

Download Last.fm Action Stream Plugin 1.1

Meetup

This one’s ultra simple for now - it only adds a profile, and doesn’t provide an action stream. I wasn’t happy with any of the available options for scraping data from Meetup.com. What I’d like to do is have it add a notice in the stream whenever an event occurs to which I’ve rsvp’d yes - and have the time be when the event occurs.

If you find some way to get that info in a structured format or feed, let me know and I will see if I can make a plugin for it.

Download Meetup Action Stream

YourBlog

This one is really a template for a blog action stream - you will need to edit parts of the config.yaml to point to your blog’s url (for the profile) , Blog name, and blog feed (for the action stream). You should also change the image - note the folder names are significant in associating the action stream with the icon - so if you change the name of the plugin, also change it inside the mt-static path.

I use variations of this for the OpenParenthesis, Goatless, Optaros, and EOS Directory profiles and feeds on JohnEckman.com - it’s really pretty flexible since you can point it at any url.

Download Your Blog Action Stream