*Filter

March 31, 2003 4:59 AM

So we've all seen BookFilter and WarFilter, but have you seen MusicFilter or KittenFilter? With FreeFilter 0.3 coming soon, one can't help but wonder what this will mean for the ancestor... Furthermore, Could the MetaFilter interface become the "killer app" in community weblogging?
posted by kaibutsu to MetaFilter-related at 4:59 AM (43 comments total)

[I wasn't really sure whether this should be in the blue or the grey... after noting the use of the 'filter' suffix a full six times in the post, I figured it was a MeTa sort of thing.]
posted by kaibutsu at 5:07 AM on March 31, 2003

KittenKillerFilter?
posted by Space Coyote at 5:09 AM on March 31, 2003

I have to admit installing FreeFilter on my server today. I'm planning an AussieFilter.
posted by Jimbob at 5:34 AM on March 31, 2003

Let a thousand flowers bloom.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:46 AM on March 31, 2003

The question that interests me is whether anyone will be bothered to go to these spinoff sites.

BookFilter is doing well, but currently there is a massive debate here on MetaFilter about the number of IraqFilter posts ... while across the way at WarFilter even the war talk is relatively modest.

It strikes me that a lot of users would prefer to stay here on MetaFilter and clog up/ improve [delete as appropriate] the site with their kitten/music/war links rather than go to the subject-specific L'il Filters.
posted by skylar at 5:53 AM on March 31, 2003

I see the *Filter sites as cheap knockoff -- sort of lke the fake rolex watches being sold on the street corner.
posted by birdherder at 6:12 AM on March 31, 2003

I hope all of the nichefilter sites do well - good luck to them. I do dread the inevitable comments to the effect of "that belongs on kittenfilter" or "shouldn't you have posted that on musicfilter?" and that sort of thing; I think one of metafilter's charms is the variety of goodies linked to, and I hope people continue to post book and music and kitties and sports here.

You know what would be a really cool nichefilter? NicheFilter. Nothing but posts about nooks and crannies and architectural recesses in rooms, and the things that people put in the niches.

CoffeeFilter would also be nice.
posted by iconomy at 6:21 AM on March 31, 2003

that last one definitely is a cheap knockoff.

I know this, because I made it. ;-)
posted by angry modem at 6:32 AM on March 31, 2003

CoffeeFilter.com is taken, but .net and .org are still available as of 9:35 a.m. EST. You enterprising FOOFilter knockoff artists better get on that quick.

P.S. 5 points to the first one who starts a site and doesn't give it a FOOFilter name.
posted by briank at 6:40 AM on March 31, 2003

Oh. There already is a NicheFilter.com. Only they weren't the kind of niches I was talking about (I wouldn't investigate that further if I were at work, unless you're twine42 ;)
posted by iconomy at 6:52 AM on March 31, 2003

I can't speak for the other *filter admins, but I hope no one ever says "that belongs on ____filter."

BookFilter was not created to siphon off MetaFilter posts. I created it because I wanted to talk a lot more about books and publishing. Posting a book a day on Metafilter would get as tedious as FPPs based on three-paragraph Washington Post stories.

Metafilter, as far as I understand, was created to feature the best on the web. Most books don't have web sites. You'd have to reach to make a Metafilter post. That kind of reaching is acceptable on Bookfilter.

I think some *filters will do well: Musicfilter for example. The audience is there. The beauty of the various filters is we can have our general site and specific sites coexisting without damaging either.

Information and discussion are boundless resources.
posted by ?! at 7:05 AM on March 31, 2003

Looking at Whois Source I see there are 3,169 sites that are *filter. (This includes current sites and former sites recently made available.)
posted by ?! at 7:07 AM on March 31, 2003

Don't forget Mojofilter, for people who like the idea of online investigative journalism more than the reality of doing it.
posted by crunchland at 7:08 AM on March 31, 2003

If I was going to make a *filter, I'd use holloway's Phpilfer, as can be seen from it's demo, it's a very nicely written software.
posted by riffola at 7:22 AM on March 31, 2003

www.ponyfilter.com is still available -- a page devoted to feature requests for that page.

This whole thing could implode.
posted by arco at 7:39 AM on March 31, 2003

I think that this piece of software could be used for completely *filter-unrelated undertakings, though. Not sure what, but I think the strength of this format is how simple the prospect actually is.

Personally, I just wanted a little spot to post stuff that I found interesting, or to just post random chuddings, and have other people get in on the action. I was running some weblog software before that for such a task, but I'd rather have it more open-ended.

Oh, and I wanted to use a yellow and black checkerboard pattern.

(reminds self to check out PHPilfer later)
posted by angry modem at 7:41 AM on March 31, 2003

The Metafilter simple interface is doing a lot better than the other community/portal interfaces such as postnuke and phpnuke and their forks like gnuheter uses... "killer app" might be just the word to describe it. :)
posted by dabitch at 7:50 AM on March 31, 2003

I have some ideas about using the technology to get some collaborative creative work going. Fairly simple ideas, but the whole thing is predicated on logins, which is something mefi appears to handle very simply and effectively. Everything else, I can get from a piece of software like MT.

I get the feeling the *filter clones are daunting to set up and get going though. Apparently it takes days of effort to even work out how to do something like adding a simple link to the front page. I have no clue what the backend to mefi proper is like, but I get the feeling it's probably quite a bespoke affair. I want something as easy to install and configure as MT but as simple to actually use as mefi. With logins. Perhaps the free filter clones will get there eventually. They seem to be well on the way ...
posted by walrus at 7:52 AM on March 31, 2003

Also, there's a lot going on "under the hood" of mefi, which makes it appear simpler than it really is. None of the free ones appear to approach its depth and extensibility yet.
posted by walrus at 8:11 AM on March 31, 2003

I think we need a filter just to talk about other filters...weekly.
posted by Dennis Murphy at 8:13 AM on March 31, 2003

5 points to the first one who starts a site and doesn't give it a FOOFilter name.

Mathowie with blogroots?

I really feel like the success of the *Filters will have a lot to do with the usefulness, responsiveness and commitment of their moderators. SportsFilter really seems to have found an audience and I am enjoying my early days with BookFilter. The barebones freefilter set up still needs a lot of attention, loving and primping to be as full featured as what we have here, so it will be interesting to see how people run with it.
posted by jessamyn at 8:35 AM on March 31, 2003

Don't forget about MetaPhilter.
posted by machaus at 8:44 AM on March 31, 2003

Ooh, that looks interesting. Thanks machaus.
posted by walrus at 9:26 AM on March 31, 2003

Matt: howzabout a link to warfilter added to the post a link page? After this, perhaps:

If you're going to make a post related to Iraq and the impending war, please reconsider, as the topic has been discussed previously many times.

posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:31 AM on March 31, 2003

Or even better, but in a temporary block on any post containing "gulf war" and "iraq".
posted by KirkJobSluder at 9:54 AM on March 31, 2003

I think that this piece of software could be used for completely *filter-unrelated undertakings, though. Not sure what, but I think the strength of this format is how simple the prospect actually is.

I use FreeFilter to run my regular blog.

I also know that one user (a teacher) is using it as a private discussion board for his students to discuss what was covered in lessons, but in greater extracirrucular detail.
posted by wackybrit at 10:24 AM on March 31, 2003

MateFilter.com, your source for geeky personals.
posted by riffola at 10:41 AM on March 31, 2003

I'll throw my two MeTooFilters into the ring: Geekfilter and Humorfilter.

(Give me a break, I'm self-employed. I need something to do.)
posted by mmoncur at 10:55 AM on March 31, 2003

How about MetaFilter switches to a wholly "meta filter" position, and only aggregates content from the other filter sites via trackback pings, categorizing and displaying content as per users' interests.

j/k
posted by VulcanMike at 11:09 AM on March 31, 2003

Back off you devils! I'm registering filterfilterfilter.com immediately!
posted by Pinwheel at 1:47 PM on March 31, 2003

metametafilter.com - where you can post posts from metafilter.com that you find interesting. or would that be metafilterfilter? /headexplodes
posted by Nauip at 2:24 PM on March 31, 2003

retliffilter: Only palindromes semdronilap ylnO.

I just received an email from someone who thought BookFilter was too general. He has started alphabetfilter.com.
posted by ?! at 4:27 PM on March 31, 2003

Crunch: It is unfortunate that nothing is happening on MojoFilter these days, but I wouldn't be so quick to criticise the people there. Surely you should say it's 'for people who like the idea of online investigative journalism more than those who don't at all'? It'll take time, but I'm sure that things will happen eventually.
posted by adrianhon at 5:23 PM on March 31, 2003

BookFilter looks great, and so does MojoFilter. But I barely have time to read MetaFilter and MetaTalk, plus the blogs that I really like and (try to) read every day, not even mentioning the blogs that I like and mean to read more often. If I didn't have to work, I'd be all over the BoFi and MoJoFi...but groceries don't buy themselves, and I don't sleep enough as it is.
posted by Vidiot at 5:42 PM on March 31, 2003

metametafilter.com - where you can post posts from metafilter.com that you find interesting. or would that be metafilterfilter? /headexplodes

MF Distilled. Please clean up your head pieces on the way out.
posted by PrinceValium at 6:24 PM on March 31, 2003

Another cheap knockoff in the making here, but it will not be called *filter, so where do I collect my prize?

Riffola, I will be using FreeFilter, mainly because Phpilter is not yet fully ready for implementation, according to its creator.
posted by dg at 6:53 PM on March 31, 2003

Specifically, Phpilfer lacks user management and user groups (though I guess you could use phpMyAdmin and mess around with the 'rights' field of each user manually). Thats the only reason why I tell people not to use it. If anyone wants to get a feel for what Phpilfer does do try reading the release notes.

get the feeling the *filter clones are daunting to set up and get going though. Apparently it takes days of effort to even work out how to do something like adding a simple link to the front page.

I've received a few emails from people saying they liked the Phpilfer installation (I guess because the database setup is automated?). Phpilfer uses template files that are fragments of HTML so you can add a link by editing the appropriate text files. Posting a link in a story requires knowing HTML.

I've been busy the last few weeks on work, but I'll get back to Phpilfer and put out another release out soon. My dev version has trackback and textile support.

Must dash.
posted by holloway at 8:20 PM on March 31, 2003

the *filter clones are daunting to set up and get going though

Actually it took me about 30 minutes to set up Freefilter and customize geekfilter to fit my needs. Another half hour or so to set up the 'mini-blog' in the right column and customize its appearance.

Of course, I've got lots of MySQL experience and the server was all ready to go. Your mileage may vary.
posted by mmoncur at 9:54 PM on March 31, 2003

Riffola, I will be using FreeFilter, mainly because Phpilter is not yet fully ready for implementation, according to its creator.

Depending on what you want to do, neither is FreeFilter. Of course, FreeFilter is running on at least 10 active sites now, but if you want to get hardcore into the customization angle, you need SQL experience. FreeFilter 0.3 will be curing this, and allowing anyone with the abilities to install something like Movable Type to get in on the full action. That said, FreeFilter 0.2 is fine for general use.

Once 0.3 is out, the choice between FreeFilter and PHPilfer is simple. You either pick who you like the best, which language you like the best, or what obscure differing features you like the best.

Of course, to up the stakes on the first point, I'm going to rename FreeFilter as 'MiguelCardosoFilter' which should mean you'll mostly pick it out of love and appreciation. I am currently in negotiations with Miguel for image rights.
posted by wackybrit at 8:45 AM on April 1, 2003

I like Phpilter better for its elegance in design and for a few features such as e-mail authentication of users.

I like FreeFilter because it is simple to use, but that could be because of the familiarity angle, which could also explain why people find it easy to set up - they know what it is supposed to look like from the start.

Still undecided, but concerned that royalties could make MiguelCardosoFilter too expensive for my budget. The fact that Phpilter originates from NZ makes it more attractive too :-)

My head hurts.
posted by dg at 2:28 PM on April 1, 2003

you forgot the most craptastical one of them all .... zfilter. (which at least seems to have a different layout)
posted by h0ney at 6:22 PM on April 1, 2003

oh and sportsfilter.com.
posted by h0ney at 6:24 PM on April 1, 2003

I like FreeFilter because it is simple to use, but that could be because of the familiarity angle, which could also explain why people find it easy to set up - they know what it is supposed to look like from the start.

I think you've hit on my entire intention, dg. A lot of people have written far better systems that FreeFilter, technically. There are better features out there, better content management systems, better commenting systems.. but my entire intention was to make something that could just.. replicate MetaFilter, and.. do it easily.

It (mostly) succeeds in this regard, but people want to try and push it into shapes and styles that I didn't originally think about. Can't blame em for that, but that's not part of the original spec. Originally, it was just because I wanted to make a site using the MeFi 'feel'.

In comparison, holloway has a great script there, but doesn't even mention MeFi on the front page of his site. I think the angles of our respective projects are different enough to mean that you might find PHPilfer more useful in some situations, and FreeFilter more useful in others.
posted by wackybrit at 11:25 PM on April 1, 2003