Really Simple Syndication:

By Jenna Moore

Creating and Reading RSS Using Editors and Aggregators

What We’re Going to Cover

What is RSS?Why Should You Care?Reading News FeedsCreating News FeedsEmbedding News Feeds into Your Website

What is RSS?

Really Simple Syndication is an easy way to:distribute a list of headlines or updates to a large number of users.simplify Web browsing by notifying you when changes occur. eliminate the need to check each site regularly.

What used to take an hour to check, can be done in a few minutes.

Business Application

Save time getting the latest news in the industryPush out information about new products to customersKeep customers informedIncrease customer return to your website

Used by many top companies including Microsoft, ESPN, and others

Terms to Know

Aggregator: A reader or service that displays RSS outputChannel/Feed: A list of headlines for a particular topicItem: A headline with a link to more informationRSS 0.91, 1.0, 2.0: Versions of RSS, similar to HTMLATOM: A weblog syndication format that is incompatible with RSS. Not widely supported by readers.

List of Channels

Click a Channel

An online aggregator

Now we see the list of available headlines from this channel

Click an item or headline. Let’s try “Save My Game”.

Reading RSS

Online Services: These services let you view all of your subscribed channels via one website

Email Aggregators: Send your channels to your email

Stand-Alone Clients

Online Services

BloglinesMyYahoo RSS Headlines ModuleNewsGator

Email Readers

you subscribe: An aggregator for Microsoft Outlookhttp://www.yousoftware.com/subscribe/

email.about.com: A list of email aggregators for various

platforms http://email.about.com/od/rssfeedreaders/

Stand-Alone Clients

SharpReader: Well organized, handles all RSS and

Atom. Requires .NET Framework http://www.sharpreader.net

Omea Reader: Integrates feeds and Web pageshttp://www.jetbrains.com/omea/reader/

Creating Your Own RSS Feed

Simple as 1-2-3!An RSS file is a basic

XML file1. Create 2. Validate 3. Post

Subscribe to the URL

Creating RSS Files

XML File HeaderRSS File HeaderChannelsItemsSample File

This is what our RSS file gives us here.

In Bloglines we can see the description, too

Editors

Online EditorsStand-Alone EditorsPlug-ins

Online Editor

Webreference RSS Channel Editor (http://www.webreference.com/cgi-bin/perl/rssedit.pl)– Easy to use, no code needed– Enter your data & URL– Builds and displays the XML for you, just copy

and paste into your HTML page– Update your channel from anywhere!

Stand-Alone Editors

Tristana Writer– http://www.charlwood.com/tristana/writer/– Requires IE 5.5 or higher– Creates RSS 2.0 or ATOM– Can create a new feed from a web page– Downside: Trialware- 15 days, then you pay

NewzAlert Composer– http://www.afreego.com/NewzAlertComposer.php– Creates RSS 2.0 compliant XML– Organize your feeds using categories– New Feed Wizard helps new users create feeds immediately– Very easy to use– Downside: Trialware- 15 day trial is free, after that $29.95-49.95

Plug-in

RSS Editor– http://rsseditor.mozdev.org/– This is a plug-in for Mozilla FireFox– Works with CJK (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) characters

correctly – Easy to use RSS (or live bookmark) for your homepage, that

doesn't use a CMS. – A desktop RSS 2.0 file editor – Reads RSS 0.9x/1.0 files (only supports common fields for RSS

1.0) – Simple and intuitive user interface – Automatic update of "publication date" and "last build date" when

you input data – Downside: Publishing isn’t as simple as it appears

Embedding Newsfeeds

You can embed news feeds for relevant topics into your own website.This increases the value of your website to clients, who can come to your website without needing to reference others.Adds revolving information to your site, keeping readers coming back.

Example

How Easy!

There are many ways to embed RSS feeds– ASP– JavaScript– Others

The Easiest:JavaScript RSS Box Viewer http://p3k.org/rss/?setup=true

Some Feeds to Read

STC News: The STC newsfeedESPN: A list of sports channels from ESPNWebMD: The Webhealth newsfeedNew York Times: A list of channels from NYTWired.com: A list of channels from Wired

Copy the URL for the RSS or XML page into your RSS reader.

Resources for More Info

RSS 2.0 Specification at http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssBasic RSS Tutorial http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.htmlIntroduction to RSS for Educational Designers http://www.downes.ca/files/RSS_Educ.htmInfo on Readershttp://allrss.com/rssreaders.html