Techno blog

Creating an RSS Feed

Everyday more and more websites, news services and blogs are adding RSS content. RSS is a method of syndicating content.The concept of aggregating content in one central location or repository is very appealing. Consumers have become tired of push technology, RSS allows users the flexibility to regain control of their content. RSS feed creators provide content without forcing it on consumers. In fact with RSS consumers are able to choose the content they wish to view.

How to Make an RSS Feed

RSS feeds contain what are referred to as “items”. The items are usually connected in some way and contain a common theme or other similarity.

If you want to save yourself the headache of having to hand code an RSS feed consider using FeedForAll, an easy to use software application that formats the XML for you.

At the time of writing the following feed http://www.notepage.net/feed.xml contains eight items. The items are all SMS and paging related news articles that would likely benefit someone interested in the wireless market. Each item contains:

• title
• description
• link

The title and description should be written to describe the content and the link should reference the webpage that contains that actual content.

Like html, the xml file uses open and close tags to designate the title, description and link. Tags are enclosed in brackets <>, like standard html and the close tag contains a forward slash /.

FeedForAll - will easily create feeds for you!

Feeburner will burn your feeds and provide lot of free offers to you such as Site statistics. Subscribing through Email etc.

The following is what an item in a xml file looks like:

The description goes here
http://www.linkgoeshere.com

As I mentioned earlier, an RSS feeds contains items and like the tags above, an open and close tag is used to distinguish between items. 

Now an RSS Feed is a series of items, these items are chained together to create what is called a "Channel".
The Channel appears at the top of the file and tells people how the items relate to each other. Like items channels use title, description and link tags to describe its content. The open channel tag  occurs before the first item and the close tag  occurs after the last item.
<channel>
<title>The Channel Title Goes Here</title>
<description>The explanation of how the items are related goes here</description>
<link>http://www.directoryoflinksgohere</link>
<item>
<title>The Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>The description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.linkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
<item>
<title>Another Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>Another description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.anotherlinkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
</channel>
Finally you will need to designate the file by indicating it is an XML file by inserting xml and rss defining tags at the beginning and  at the very end.The explanation of how the items are related goes here

When you save the file be sure to save it as an xml file.

The sample XML file might be look as http://object-web.blogspot.com/rss.xml

IF this feed is burned by reader, it will read these posts automatically and whenever you add any posts the RSS reader will read it and adds automatically to XML file.

For ex:- for this site the RSS feed will be http://techblog.jdkwebsolutions.com/feed/

Try this out..

Warning

If you create the file using Dreamweaver or a similar tool be careful that it does not strip out tags it feels are redundant. In order to be be an RSS feed your file needs at bare minimum that tags that were discussed above, and the file will not be valid if tags are stripped out.

I found a cool little free program that helped in xml file creation called First Object Editor http://www.firstobject.com/ Validation

As my math teacher use to say, check your work! Once your file is complete and uploaded einter it into the feed validator at http://feedvalidator.org

FAQ’s about RSS FEEDS:

Syndication / Submission

If you’ve made it this far you are in good shape it is time to “syndicate” your content! Submit your RSS feed (the xml file you created) to sites just like you would submit a web page. Some of the more popular sites that accept RSS files can be found under “Post RSS Feed”

http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/rss-feeds.html

What does RSS stand for?

RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication and Rich Site Summary.

How do I create an RSS feed?

The easiest way to create an rss feed is to use software. We suggest FeedForAll . or refer to the make rss feeds for a a detailed description of feed creation.

What can feeds be used for?

Initially rss feeds were intended for news headlines. The usage has expanded to include forum headlines, new auction listings, updated listings of houses for sale, and a number of other uses. Additional uses for RSS feeds.

How do I read a feed?

Feeds can be viewed either online using a site like my yahoo or by downloading feed reading software.

What is the difference between news aggregators and feed readers?

RSS feed readers and news aggregators are essentially the same thing; both allow for viewing RSS feeds. News aggregators are designed specifically to view news related feeds but technically they can read any feeds.

Please post your comments if you need any more clarifications