 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:
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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