Creating Content Feeds
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:
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 /.
The following is what an item in a
xml file looks like:
<title>The Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>The description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.linkgoeshere.com</link>
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.
<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>
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 <chanel>
occurs before the first item and the close tag </channel>
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 </rss>
at the very end.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<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>
</rss>
When you save the file be sure to save
it as an xml file.
Warning
If you create the file using Dreamweaver or a similar
tool becareful 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
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
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net
a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and
wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by
Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, http://www.messaging-software.net
and http://www.monitoring-software.net
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