Joyride
03-30-2008, 12:27 AM
I discovered something a while back about Craig's List that I hadn't seen before.
If you use RSS at all for monitoring forums, blogs, etc., then you'll probably find this tip helpful (assuming you're not doing it already).
It turns out that you can setup a custom search feed pretty easily, then drop that URL into your favorite RSS reader.
For example, I use the following URL (http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/search/for?query=aquarium&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&format=rss):
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/search/for?query=aquarium&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&format=rss
There are a couple of key parts to the URL.
The location is in the first part. For me, I use the Orange County, CA Craig's List, so the "orangecounty.craigslist.org" is what works for me. If you live in Kalamazoo, MI, then "kalamazoo.craigslist.org" is what will work for you. Find your local Craig's List site and customize for yourself.
Next is the query part. I just put in the search term "aquarium", so that's pretty simple. In the URL above, you can replace "query=aquarium" with something else of your choosing. However, I've found that this query works well with a minimum of false hits. Also note that if you want to use "fish tank" as your query, it would look like "fish%20tank". You use "%20" for spaces.
If you care about min and max prices, you can set those values too. I personally leave that part alone.
The last, and most important, part for making this an RSS feed is the "format=rss" at the end of the URL.
Put your URL together from mine above. Probably the only thing you'll have to change is the "orangecounty" part to your locale, then open up your RSS reader and put it in. I personally use Safari on the Mac as my preferred RSS reader, but there are tons of them out there (free and cheap) for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
What's nice about this for me is that my RSS reader (Safari) tells me whenever there are new listings on Craig's List in my area for aquarium stuff. There are a lot of good deals to be had on equipment, full tank setups, lighting, corals, etc.
If all of this was over your head as super geeky computer stuff, don't worry about it. Most of the stuff you guys talk about on the board is over my head, so I guess this is my little payback. :)
Enjoy,
-Chris
If you use RSS at all for monitoring forums, blogs, etc., then you'll probably find this tip helpful (assuming you're not doing it already).
It turns out that you can setup a custom search feed pretty easily, then drop that URL into your favorite RSS reader.
For example, I use the following URL (http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/search/for?query=aquarium&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&format=rss):
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/search/for?query=aquarium&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&format=rss
There are a couple of key parts to the URL.
The location is in the first part. For me, I use the Orange County, CA Craig's List, so the "orangecounty.craigslist.org" is what works for me. If you live in Kalamazoo, MI, then "kalamazoo.craigslist.org" is what will work for you. Find your local Craig's List site and customize for yourself.
Next is the query part. I just put in the search term "aquarium", so that's pretty simple. In the URL above, you can replace "query=aquarium" with something else of your choosing. However, I've found that this query works well with a minimum of false hits. Also note that if you want to use "fish tank" as your query, it would look like "fish%20tank". You use "%20" for spaces.
If you care about min and max prices, you can set those values too. I personally leave that part alone.
The last, and most important, part for making this an RSS feed is the "format=rss" at the end of the URL.
Put your URL together from mine above. Probably the only thing you'll have to change is the "orangecounty" part to your locale, then open up your RSS reader and put it in. I personally use Safari on the Mac as my preferred RSS reader, but there are tons of them out there (free and cheap) for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
What's nice about this for me is that my RSS reader (Safari) tells me whenever there are new listings on Craig's List in my area for aquarium stuff. There are a lot of good deals to be had on equipment, full tank setups, lighting, corals, etc.
If all of this was over your head as super geeky computer stuff, don't worry about it. Most of the stuff you guys talk about on the board is over my head, so I guess this is my little payback. :)
Enjoy,
-Chris