Soda Red

Frequently Asked Questions

I’ve tried to design Soda Red to be simple and easy-to-use but I do know people have questions and things don’t always work right.

Below are the most common questions and answers. If you don’t see your question/answer listed here, please let me know.

Help!

  • My Services aren’t working!!
  • Sorry about that! The steps below should help get things back in order.
    1. Uncheck the ones you’re having problems with
    2. Click the “Save Services” button
    3. Re-check those same services
    4. Click the “Save Services” button again
    5. Click the “Reload Soda Red” button
  • I can’t log in! Can you help?
  • 99% of the time you’re not entering your password correctly. Passwords are caSe senSitive and can be tricky to type since you can’t see what you’re actually typing. Also, copying and pasting passwords isn’t a good idea as this can add unwanted, hidden characters into the password field.
  • I’ve forgotten my password. What should I do?
  • Please visit the Having Problems page for help.
  • Can you just send me my password?
  • No, Soda Red cannot and will not send you your password. If you ever visit a site that does, be scared.
  • Soda Red is all messed up in my web browser. What gives?
  • This is a modern website and so you need to use a modern browser. Chrome, Firefox, MSIE, Opera, Safari – if you have the latest version of any of these you should be fine. If you wanna surf around in a browser made 5 years ago, your mileage will vary across the whole web.
  • What about Blackberies?
  • Sorry, I don’t have a Blackberry to test with.
  • I don’t get any emails from Soda Red. Why not?
  • Please check your Spam or Junk folder. It’s also a good idea to add anybody@sodared.com to your email’s address book. This helps your email program recognize us to be a good guy vs. a spammer.

Facebook

  • What’s up with these kinds of Facebook messages?
    Unfortunately [fill in the blank] may not be visible due to privacy settings.
  • The particular person probably has their security settings set to high on their Facebook account. Not much I can do.
  • Why can I only read Facebook messages and not reply to them?
  • Facebook currently doesn’t support this but when they do, I’ll be sure to add it.
  • Why doesn’t Facebook do XYZ?
  • Either it’s on my list or Facebook doesn’t allow 3rd party developers to do it.

Twitter

  • Where are my Direct Messages?
  • On my list!
  • Why doesn’t Twitter do XYZ?
  • Either it’s on my list or Twitter doesn’t allow 3rd party developers to do it.

LinkedIn

  • Why don’t I see things I’ve shared on LinkedIn?
  • LinkedIn currently doesn’t support this but when they do, I’ll be sure to add it.
  • Why don’t my shares show up immediately on LinkedIn?
  • It can often take up to 30 minutes for a network update posted to appear on LinkedIn.com. Not much I can do.
  • Why can I only send LinkedIn messages and not read or reply to them?
  • LinkedIn currently doesn’t support this but when they do, I’ll be sure to add it.
  • Why doesn’t LinkedIn do XYZ?
  • Either it’s on my list or LinkedIn doesn’t allow 3rd party developers to do it.

RSS Feeds

  • What exactly is a feed?
  • This Wikipedia entry on RSS will help explain. In a nutshell, a feed is content that the website chooses to publish in a portal format that other applications and websites can use.
  • Why do some feeds appear as being updated but they really aren’t?
  • When the feed is cached for performance, the latest title and date/time of the feed recorded. If either of those change, the next time it’s fetched, it’s flagged as changed. This can happen when feed owners update the content in the feed but don’t add new entries.
  • Can you keep track of which feeds I’ve read?
  • Yes, but I’m not sure if I’m going to do that. What you see is the “live” feed from the respective site. I do realize there is value in this though and am seriously considering it.
  • Can I import my Google Reader feeds?
  • On my list!

About Soda Red

  • Soda Red getting all my data bubbles in one place?
  • The Internet has so many pockets of data, my data, and I grew tired of logging in to check something, logging in there to check something else. Then I’d click a link, click another and be 10 miles from where I started.

    I wanted a social data mining website of sorts, something that would bring all this data under one roof. I checked out a few different aps and sites and while they were close to what I wanted, they still lacked a must have feature.

    And so several months later, we have Soda Red, a full featured webapp.
  • A webapp? What exactly is that?
  • A webapp is a regular website but instead of being informational, it’s way more functional and interactive. Apple also has a web page which might explain a little more.
  • Does Soda Red run on desktop top computers and mobile smartphones?
  • You bet! Soda Red will pretty work the same on your iPhone/Palm Pre/Android phone as it does on your Windows PC, Mac, Amazon Kindle, Nintendo Wii and geeky Linux distro. When you visit the site on your desktop or laptop computer, the site will be a little more robust.
  • Is Soda Red free to use?
  • After sign-up, you’ll get an “unrestricted” 30 Day Free Trial. This gives you plenty of time to check everything out.

    After 30 days, you must purchase a yearly membership for the low introductory cost of $19.99 USD.
  • I have to pay? There are lots of other sites that do this all for free. And some do it better.
  • Companies that don’t have a business plan for cash flow are seldom around long-term. Some are bought by big companies and then fizzle out. Others overload you with ads or sell your personal information when money gets tight. I have a different vision for Soda Red.
  • Do you take corporate funding?
  • No. Soda Red is entirely self-funded through membership purchases. Electra Labs, my personal company, tries to do business the old fashioned way by providing a decent service and charging a reasonable price.
  • I need more features, more design, less headaches.
  • That’s not really a question but.. I’m only one person and work another full-time job. I prioritize work on Soda Red as time allows and add new features that I want or that enough people ask for. I fix bugs regularly and always welcome your input.
  • How secure is this site?
  • Secure enough that I use it! Passwords are, of course, hashed or one-way encrypted each with their own salt. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn "tokens" and “token secrets” use AES encryption and each key is unique to you. All communication between Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and Soda Red is done over SSL. And finally you can only stay logged in for a month before re-entering for your password.
  • I’ve read your Privacy Policy, but what personal data of mine do you actually store?
  • Soda Red keeps most data you enter in forms For instance your email address is saved, encrypted password and the feeds you’re subscribed to. But I don’t store which feeds you’ve read. We know about your Twitter account but don’t save any tweets, etc.
  • Does Soda Red have a Twitter account or Facebook page?
  • You bet! Follow twitter.com/traviscremer (that’s me).

    And for Facebook fans please visit facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=115233141838487

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