Creating RSS 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.htm
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage,
Inc. http://www.notepage.net
and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
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