Dolly Parton and IE8 Web Slices

Yes, it’s really Dolly Parton, one of the most honored country performers of all time! In conjunction with the international release of her new CD/DVD set, Live From London, Dolly has added a Silverlight-based IE8 web slice to her web site, www.dollypartonmusic.net. Dolly has even created a video about IE8 web slices.

Dolly’s web slice provides access to these content:

• Video Diary – see Dolly’s latest thoughts on video, with the beauty of Silverlight
• News – see the latest news, fan club announcements, and Dollyisms (like "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap”)
• Buy Now – view the latest deal from Dolly’s online store, Trinkets & Treasures

This is a great example of leveraging Web-oriented technologies to improve connections with visitors. IE8 Web Slices represent one way to add sticky content for users even when they’re not viewing the website directly. And based on our observations, these out-of-browser content channels can significantly improve user retention and return visits to the websites.

In addition, IE8 Web Slices are actually pretty simple to create; all based on existing technologies, such as RSS, HTML, XML, etc. Real briefly -

Implementation:

• Enabled by adding HTML annotations
• Use a combination of hAtom Microformat and WebSlice format
• Refresh interval configurable via “ttl” (Time-to-Live) property
• Supports page-level and individual feed integration
• Supports HTTP authentication and persistent cookies

Sample HTML Annotations:

<div class="hslice" id="1">
<p class="entry-title">Item - $66.00</p>
<div class="entry-content">high bidder: buyer1
…
</div>
</div>


To find out more, visit:

• Features – http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/features/easier.aspx
• Documentation – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc956158(VS.85).aspx 
• Gallery – http://www.ieaddons.com/en/webslices/
• eBay’s IE8 extensions (including Web Slices) – http://ie8.ebay.com/

Cross-posted from my blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/dachou