CaRP Rss is the ideal "middle-ground" solution between the 97 dollar-and-above software, .. and the free (but techie-requirement) of MagpieRSS

I first heard about Carp while listening to an Internet Marketing MP3 audio featuring an interview of an expert on RSS. It covered blogs and RSS, but it specifically the RSS technology that I was interesed in. Talk about a head-spinning experience.  But the one thing that stood out for me was his endorsement of Carp, and the fact that there was a free version that was fully functional.

Using the free version, I first placed some feeds on this site, for my favorite topics such as PHP, Python, Web Development. I felt out of control for awhile with this stuff, but then I got my bearings back. It was just too easy. 

Being organized seems to be key. It's good to have a central folder where you download your software and your various Zip files (whether for Carp or anything else). It's important to set aside some folders, both on the local side, and on the ftp server. Try to plan it out now instead of getting caught up in the excitement of seeing your web page display you're first Feed.

(I have to usually create a brand new text file, like in UltraEdit, and summarize the instructions so that I could understand and follow it.  Retyping it in a 'format' that my brain could follow saves me so much time... from then on, I follow my own checklist of how to install something.  And this is for every software.)

It basically involves, more or less:

- Unzip files,  -Open Ftp program,  -Copy the PHP Files Over,
-Paste some code into web page,  -Insert the RSS feed link Where it Belongs, -Upload Web Page

I decided it was a no-brainer to purchase the commercial version because I wanted the extra stuff.

The three ways I've put it so use so far:

I placed the Amazon Scroller on the left panel. Both Carp and Tetra are required for this.

The Amazon box can actually look better if you've got more space for it. I kind of shoved it in it's own little space as you can see to the left.

You can control the height and width of the box, and colors, and speed of scroll, whether you want it to move sideways or top to bottom, etc.  ( being a control freak, this was a thumbs up for me )

(The scrolling stops when you move the mouse over it, which is perfect)

Click to see the original example - the code for this comes with Tetra when purchased

One of many examples on this site:  Best Selling Programming books

Note: If you purchase CARP from this link , I'll give you a PHP Script  I wrote that makes it easy for you to check that your live site will actually display what you want to display, with regards to the Amazon.com products.  Just email me at after purchasing.

My Home Page, The "News" links, or the "Latest Articles" links.

This may be overdoing it, to say the least.  It may be enough to just have a couple of pages that are continuously changing and gets spidered by the engines. Once a user lands on this page, they also obviously see your menu on the left and can click on another page.