Editing UserLand Software

{{short description|U.S. software company}}
{{redirect|UserTalk|user talk pages on Wikipedia|Help:Talk pages|selfref=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox company
  |name = UserLand Software
  |logo = Userland logo.gif
  |type = Private
  |foundation = 1988
  |location_city = [[Los Altos, California|Los Altos]], California
  |location_country = US
  |caption =
  |key_people = '''[[Dave Winer]]''' <small>(founder and former CEO)</small>, [[Jean-Louis Gassée]] <small>(former board member)</small>, [[John Robb (GG theorist)|John Robb]] <small>(former president)</small>, [[Robert Scoble]] <small>(former Director of Marketing)</small>
  | industry      = Internet, software
  |products = Web [[content management]] and blogging software packages and services
  |revenue =
  |net_income =
  |num_employees = fewer than 10 at any time
  |subsid =
  |homepage = [http://www.userland.com/ www.userland.com]
}}
'''UserLand Software''' is a US-based software company, founded in 1988,<ref>{{cite web
 |last         = Winer
 |first        = Dave
 |title        = Outliners & Programming
 |work         = Userland
 |access-date  = August 15, 2008
 |year         = 1988
 |url          = http://davewiner.userland.com/outlinersProgramming
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080512022120/http://davewiner.userland.com/outlinersProgramming
 |archive-date = May 12, 2008
 |url-status   = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}} (official site)</ref> that sells web [[content management]], as well as blogging software packages and services.

==Company history==
[[Dave Winer]] founded the company in 1988 after leaving [[NortonLifeLock|Symantec]] in the spring of 1988. [[Jean-Louis Gassée]], who resigned in 1990 as chief of [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s product development, came to serve on UserLand's board of directors.<ref name="macworld91">{{Cite news| edition = Final| page = C3| last = Siegman| first = Ken|author2=Don Clark | title = MacWorld Expo ‒ New Products, Heavy Traffic| work = The San Francisco Chronicle| location = San Francisco| date = January 10, 1991}}</ref>

==Frontier==
UserLand's first product release of April 1989 was UserLand IPC, a developer tool for [[interprocess communication]] that was intended to evolve into a cross-platform [[Remote procedure call|RPC]] tool.<ref>{{Cite news| volume = 89| issue = 4| pages = 4 ‒ 6| last = Dyson| first = Esther| title = Userland: Plumbing for the Mac| work = Release 1.0| date = April 1989}}</ref> In January 1992 UserLand released version 1.0 of Frontier,<ref>{{Cite news| page = 20| title = Userland launches Frontier scripting tool for Macintosh| work = InfoWorld| date = January 20, 1992}}</ref> a scripting environment for the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] which included an object database and a scripting language named ''UserTalk''.<ref name=miller>{{cite news |work=InfoWorld| title=Frontier lets Mac users build scripts across applications|first=Michael J.|last=Miller|date=May 13, 1992|access-date=February 23, 2012|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/4506841410/sizes/l/in/photostream/}}</ref><ref name=macuser-swaine>{{cite news |work=MacUser| title=Frontier:UserLand's scripting tool lets you write your own utilities for automating your desktop|first=Michael|last=Swaine|author-link=Michael Swaine (technical author)|date=September 1992|access-date=February 23, 2012|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/4506175795/sizes/l/in/photostream/}}</ref> At the time of its original release, Frontier was the only system-level scripting environment for the Macintosh,<ref name="neuburg" /> but [[Apple Inc|Apple]] was working on its own [[scripting language]], [[AppleScript]],<ref>{{Cite news | last = Zachary | first = G. Pascal | title = Apple enlists small company for software | work = Wall Street Journal | location = New York | date = 1992-05-01|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/sets/72157623810854912/ }}</ref> and started bundling it with the System 7 system software. As a consequence, most Macintosh scripting work came to be done in the less powerful, but free, scripting language provided by Apple.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Hill| first = Brian| title = UserLand's power trio makes net.waves| work = Slack Magazine| access-date =February 3, 2011| year = 1996| url = http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~lorax/old-slack/feedingthegeeks.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19970512004345/http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~lorax/old-slack/feedingthegeeks.html |archive-date = May 12, 1997}}</ref>

UserLand responded to Applescript by re-positioning Frontier as a Web development environment,<ref>{{cite web| last = Winer| first = Dave| title = The Story of Frontier| work = Userland| access-date =August 8, 2008| year = 1997| url = http://davewiner.userland.com/historyOfFrontier}}</ref> distributing the software free of charge with the "Aretha" release of May 1995.<ref>{{cite web| last = Winer| first = Dave| title = Being Free| work = DaveNet| access-date =August 9, 2008| date = May 9, 1995| url = http://www.scripting.com/davenet/1995/05/09/beingfree.html}}</ref> In late 1996, Frontier 4.1 had become "an integrated development environment that lends itself to the creation and maintenance of Web sites and management of Web pages sans much busywork,"<ref>{{Cite news| last = Crabb| first = Don| title = Webmasters get welcome relief with Frontier 4.1.| work = MacWEEK| date = November 18, 1996}}</ref> and by the time Frontier 4.2 was released in January 1997, the software was firmly established in the realms of website management and [[Common Gateway Interface|CGI]] scripting,<ref name="neuburg">{{Cite book| publisher = [[O'Reilly Media|O'Reilly]]| last = Neuburg| first = Matt| title = Frontier: The Definitive Guide| access-date = January 31, 2011| date = January 1998| url = http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mattneub/frontierDef/ch00.html| archive-date = April 20, 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100420102542/http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mattneub/frontierDef/ch00.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> allowing users to "taste the power of large-scale database publishing with free software."<ref>{{cite web |last=Veen |first=Jeffrey |title=Object-Oriented Publishing on the Web |work=Webmonkey |date=November 24, 1997 |url=http://www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/templates/print_template.htmlt?meta=/webmonkey/97/47/index0a_meta.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990828211300/http://www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/templates/print_template.htmlt?meta=%2Fwebmonkey%2F97%2F47%2Findex0a_meta.html |archive-date=August 28, 1999 |access-date=April 9, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Frontier's NewsPage suite came to play a pivotal role in the emergence of [[blogging]] through its adoption by [[Jorn Barger]],<ref>{{Cite book| edition = eBook| publisher = Crown| isbn = 978-0-307-45138-5| page = 75| last = Rosenberg| first = Scott| title = Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters| chapter = They shall know you through your links: Jorn Barger, filters| location = New York| date = June 16, 2009}}</ref> [[Chris Gulker]], and others in the 1997–98 period.<ref>{{Cite conference| publisher = ACM| doi = 10.1145/1557914.1557962| isbn = 978-1-60558-486-7| pages = 279–288| last = Ammann| first = Rudolf| title = Jorn Barger, the NewsPage network and the emergence of the weblog community| book-title = Proceedings of the 20th ACM conference on hypertext and hypermedia| location = Torino, Italy| access-date =July 15, 2009| year = 2009| url = http://tawawa.org/ark/p/jorn-barger-community.html| url-access = subscription}}</ref>

UserLand launched a [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] version of Frontier 5.0 in January 1998<ref>{{cite web| last = Userland| title = Frontier 5.0 is shipping!| work = Frontier News| access-date =August 8, 2008| date = January 30, 1998| url = http://frontier.userland.com/news/1998/01/30}}</ref> and began charging for licenses again with the 5.1 release of June 1998.<ref>{{cite web| last = Walsh| first = Jeff| title = UserLand releases Frontier 5.1, drops freeware model | work = InfoWorld| access-date =August 9, 2008| date = June 29, 1998| url = http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?980629.wifrontier.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19990915175718/http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?980629.wifrontier.htm |archive-date = September 15, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| last = Morgenstern| first = David| work=MacWeek| title = Frontier blazing Internet trail| access-date =May 29, 2010| date = June 26, 1998| url = http://macweek.zdnet.com/1224-0627/nw_frontier.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000618090720/http://macweek.zdnet.com/1224-0627/nw_frontier.html| archive-date = June 18, 2000}}</ref>

Frontier subsequently became the [[Kernel (operating system)|kernel]] for two of UserLand's products, Manila and Radio UserLand, as well as [[Dave Winer]]'s [[OPML]] Editor, all of which support the UserTalk scripting language.

UserLand eventually placed Frontier under the [[Open-source license|open source]] [[GNU General Public License]] with the 10.0a1 release of September 28, 2004.<ref>{{cite web| last = Winer| first = Dave| title = Introducing Frontier 10.0a1| url = http://kernel.scripting.com/2004/09/28 | work = Kernel Scripting| date = September 28, 2004|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041009163113/http://kernel.scripting.com/2004/09/28 |archive-date = October 9, 2004}}</ref> Frontier is now maintained by the Frontier Kernel Project.

==Early Web building applications==

Userland developed two pioneering Web building applications, AutoWeb in early 1995 and Clay Basket later that year.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Duncan
| first = Geoff
| title = Frontier Justice
| work = TidBits
| access-date =May 6, 2009
| date = May 29, 1995
| url = http://db.tidbits.com/article/01471
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| last = Engst
| first = Adam C.
| title = More Bookmarks than Books, Part III
| work = TidBits
| access-date =May 6, 2009
| date = April 29, 1996
| url = http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-326.html#lnk5
}}</ref> Both applications went through a free public beta period, yet neither was ever released in a 1.0 version. In 1996 Clay Basket was abandoned in favor of improved Web publishing functionality built into Frontier.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Winer
| first = Dave
| title = The Art of Moving Forward
| work = DaveNet
| access-date =May 6, 2009
| date = December 31, 1996
| url = http://www.scripting.com/davenet/1996/12/31/TheArtofMovingForward.html
}}</ref>

==Manila==
Launched as part of Frontier 6.1 in November 1999, Manila is a [[content management system]] that allows the hosting of web sites and their editing through a browser.<ref>{{cite web| last = Winer| first = Dave| title = Frontier 6.1 has been released!| work = Userland Frontier| access-date =March 7, 2009| date = November 29, 1999| url = http://frontier.userland.com/news/default$1999/11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Wendy J.|last=Mattson|title=UserLand unfolds Manila| work=MacWeek|date=December 3, 1999| access-date=January 24, 2011 |url=http://macweek.zdnet.com/1999/11/28/userland.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000302031219/http://macweek.zdnet.com/1999/11/28/userland.html |archive-date = March 2, 2000}}</ref> Within days of releasing Manila, UserLand set up a free Manila hosting service, EditThisPage.com, which quickly became a popular [[weblog]]ging service.<ref>{{cite web| last = Winer| first = Dave| title = EditThisPage.Com| work = DaveNet| access-date =March 7, 2009| date = December 8, 1999| url = http://www.scripting.com/davenet/1999/12/08/editthispagecom.html}}</ref>

==Radio UserLand==
{{main|Radio UserLand}}

Radio UserLand is a client-side weblog system that hosts blogs on UserLand's servers for an annual software license fee. The software includes  an [[RSS (file format)|RSS]] aggregator and was one of the first applications to both send and receive audio files as RSS enclosures (see [[podcast]]ing). UserLand was an early adopter of the [[RSS (file format)|RSS]] syndication method, merging Winer's [[Scripting News]] XML format with [[Netscape]]'s RSS.

First released as a [[Software release life cycle|public beta]] under the name Pike in March 2000,<ref>{{cite web
| last = Winer
| first = Dave
| title = What is Pike?
| access-date =November 3, 2008
| date = March 25, 2000
| url = http://pikebeta.userland.com/whatIsThis
}}</ref> the software came to be released in synch with Manila version numbering: the initial release of 2001 was named Radio UserLand 7.0<ref>{{cite web
| last = Userland
| title = Radio Userland is shipping!
| work = Frontier News
| access-date =March 7, 2009
| date = March 9, 2001
| url = http://frontier.userland.com/news/2001/03/09
}}</ref> and its only major upgrade in 2002 Radio UserLand 8.0.<ref>{{cite web|last=Winer |first=Dave |title=Estimated time of arrival: 6:30PM Pacific |work=Scripting News |access-date=March 7, 2009 |date=January 11, 2002 |url=http://archive.scripting.com/2002/01/11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206172215/http://archive.scripting.com/2002/01/11 |archive-date=February 6, 2009 }}</ref> The software is no longer considered to be under active development.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Winer
| first = Dave
| title = Twitter as coral reef
| work = Scripting News
| access-date =March 7, 2009
| date = April 28, 2007
| url = http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/04/28/twitterAsCoralReef.html
}}</ref>

==XML-based protocols and formats==
UserLand counts among the earliest adopters of [[XML]], with first experiments made in late 1997.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Winer
| first = Dave
| title = Scripting News in XML
| work = DaveNet
| access-date =March 7, 2009
| date = December 15, 1997
| url = http://www.scripting.com/davenet/1997/12/15/scriptingNewsInXML.html
}}</ref> The company was involved in the development, specification and implementation of several XML formats and was noted for its commitment to openness.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Dumbill
| first = Edd
| title = XML Inter-Application Protocols
| work = XML.com
| access-date =June 3, 2009
| date = October 13, 1999
| url = http://www.xml.com/pub/a/1999/10/open/index.html?wwwrrr_rss
}}</ref>

===XML-RPC===
{{main|XML-RPC}}

Created in 1998 by UserLand Software and [[Microsoft]],<ref>{{cite web
 |last         = Box
 |first        = Don
 |title        = A Brief History of SOAP
 |publisher    = [[O'Reilly Media|O'Reilly]]
 |date         = April 1, 2001
 |url          = http://webservices.xml.com/pub/a/ws/2001/04/04/soap.html
 |access-date   = October 9, 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080915090248/http://webservices.xml.com/pub/a/ws/2001/04/04/soap.html
 |archive-date = September 15, 2008
 |url-status     = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref> XML-RPC is a [[remote procedure call]] protocol that uses [[XML]] to encode its calls and [[HTTP]] as a transport mechanism.<ref name="book1">{{cite book|author1=Simon St. Laurent|author2=Joe Johnston|author3=Edd Dumbill|title=Programming Web Services With Xml-Rpc|url=https://archive.org/details/programmingwebse00stla|url-access=registration|access-date=11 June 2012|year=2001|publisher=[[O'Reilly Media|O'Reilly Media, Inc.]]|isbn=978-0-596-00119-3}}</ref>

UserLand first included a stable XML-RPC framework with its 5.1.3 release of Frontier in August 1998<ref>{{cite web
| last = Userland
| title = Frontier 5.1.3 Change Notes
| work = Userland Frontier
| access-date =March 13, 2009
| date = August 16, 1998
| url = http://frontier.userland.com/changes/513
}}</ref> and subsequently made extensive use of XML-RPC in its Frontier-based products, Manila and Radio UserLand. XML-RPC is also used in the [[MetaWeblog]] API.

===SOAP===
{{main|SOAP}}

SOAP evolved from XML-RPC and was designed as an object-access protocol by [[Dave Winer]], [[Don Box]], Bob Atkinson, and Mohsen Al-Ghosein in 1998, with backing from [[Microsoft]], where Atkinson and Al-Ghosein worked at the time.

SOAP 1.1 was submitted to the [[W3C]] by [[Microsoft]], [[IBM]], and UserLand, amongst others, on May 9, 2000.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Userland
| title = UserLand Submits SOAP 1.1 to World Wide Web Consortium
| work = Userland
| access-date =March 7, 2009
| date = May 9, 2000
| url = http://www.userland.com/stories/storyReader$66
}}</ref> Version 1.2 of the proposed standard<ref>[http://www.w3.org/TR/soap12-part1/#intro SOAP Version 1.2 specification]</ref> became a [[W3C]] recommendation on June 24, 2003.

===RSS===
{{main|RSS}}

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a family of [[Web feed]] formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.<ref>{{cite web
 | url= http://my.netscape.com/publish/formats/rss-spec-0.91.html
 | title=RSS 0.91 Spec, revision 3 | author=Libby, Dan
 | date=July 10, 1999 |publisher=[[Netscape|Netscape Communications]]
 | access-date=February 14, 2007
 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20001204093600/http://my.netscape.com/publish/formats/rss-spec-0.91.html
 | archive-date= December 4, 2000 }}</ref> An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed",<ref name="GuardWF">
  "Web feeds | RSS | The Guardian | guardian.co.uk",
  ''The Guardian'', London, 2008, webpage:
  [https://www.theguardian.com/webfeeds GuardianUK-webfeeds].
</ref> or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus [[metadata]] such as publishing dates and authorship.

Between 1999 and 2003, UserLand contributed various versions of the RSS specification. For an overview of the process see the [[History of web syndication technology]].

Using RSS, UserLand also ran one of the first Web aggregators, My.UserLand.Com, which allowed users to follow numerous weblogs from a single web page.

Userland's RSS advocacy led them to develop RSS feeds for the [[New York Times]] company.<ref>[http://backend.userland.com/2003/06/16 Accessing the NY Times archive through their RSS feeds – Backend.Userland.Com]</ref> The original feeds used a variation on standard RSS, and the feeds were only publicized to UserLand Radio bloggers.

===OPML===
{{main|OPML}}
[[Outline Processor Markup Language]] (OPML) is an [[XML]] format for outlines.  Originally developed in 2000 as a native file format for [[Radio UserLand]]'s [[outliner]] application, it has since been adopted for other uses, the most common being to exchange lists of [[web feeds]] between web [[feed aggregator]]s.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.userland.com/ Official website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Userland Software}}
[[Category:Software companies established in 1988]]
[[Category:Software companies based in California]]
[[Category:Software companies of the United States]]