Transcript Document
RSS is an acronymn for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. RSS (noun) - an XML format for distributing news headlines on the Web. RSS Feeds This presentation will answer the following questions: What is RSS? Why use RSS? What is RSS used for? How do I create RSS Feeds? How do I view RSS feeds? What is RSS? RSS is a defined standard for syndicating headlines and other content. RSS is created using XML or eXtensible Markup Language, which is a markup language similar to HTML. All fields are defined. Tags are used to denote the field’s classification. Like HTML, proper construction requires that tags are both opened and closed. Example: <title> Title of Item in Feed </title> RSS has been around for more than a decade, but only recently the standard has been embraced by bloggers, webmasters and large news portals as a means of distributing Information, in a standardized format. Why use RSS? RSS as a means of communicating: Email is burdened with: • SPAM - messages are often deleted or are filtered because of cluttered mailboxes • Viruses – more and more legitimate messages are not reaching their destination due to the proliferation of viruses. Benefits to RSS: • Opt-In – users elect which feeds which they subscribe to. • Syndication – RSS is a defined standard for syndicating content, feeds extend reach • Content – steady stream of fresh web content • Aggregation – users can quickly scan multiple content streams and click on items of interest saving time • Traffic – increased exposure and traffic for web sites Why Use RSS? This Alexa graph represents traffic increase on Software Marketing Resource. After the beginning of July SMR began updating their RSS feed on a daily basis, the significant traffic increase is evident in the graph above. What is RSS used for? Initially RSS was restricted to News Headlines. As RSS’ popularity has increased the uses For RSS have expanded. Common uses for RSS include: • Blogs – summaries of daily blog posts • Newsletters – synopses of newsletters alerting users that a new newsletter is available • Weather Alerts – notification of severe weather • Press Announcements – new product announcements • Specials or Discounts – weekly deals or discount offers for customers • Calendars – listings of upcoming events, deadlines or holidays Common Industry specific uses for RSS include: • Service Industry – notification of viruses or security alerts • Real Estate – listings of open houses or new homes on the market • Schools – homework listings • Restaurants – lunch or dinner specials • Law Enforcement – announce sexual predators in area How do I create an RSS feed? RSS feeds can be created using : • a text editor • using desktop software In order to use a text editor you must be familiar with all of the fields and accepted formats. The following sites can be used as resources: http://www.rss-specifications.com http://www.make-rss-feeds.com How do I create an RSS feed? To create feeds using desktop software, you may want to consider FeedForAll . FeedForAll allows users to quickly and easily, create, edit and publish RSS feeds that conform to specifications. FeedForAll has a built in wizard that makes feed creation very easy. FeedForAll’s Feed Creation Wizard Feed Title – Enter the title of your RSS feed. This is the generally the theme that your Feed will follow. Similar to the title of a website’s index page. FeedForAll’s Feed Creation Wizard Feed Description – Enter the description of your RSS feed. This is a summary of theme that the RSS feed will follow. Similar to a website’s description. FeedForAll’s Feed Creation Wizard Feed Link – Enter the link of your RSS feed. This is the link of the website containing contents related to the RSS feed. FeedForAll’s Feed Creation Wizard Item Title – Within each feed is a number of items. Each item contains information related to specific topic within the theme. It could be a blog post, or a special offer. FeedForAll’s Feed Creation Wizard Item Description – Summary of item. Often this Is an overview or portion of the item. FeedForAll’s Feed Creation Wizard Item Link – Include exact url to item on web page, its best for each item to have a unique link. Feeds generally contain multiple items. These could be blog posts, news items, items on sale… FeedForAll’s Feed Creation Wizard Additional information, including images can be added to RSS feeds to enhance them. RSS Feeds Created Once a Feed is created, you have a number of options. 1. The feed can be posted on the website with a graphic signifying that a feed exists. 2. Feeds can be exported to HTML or HTML tables and included in the website as a server side include. 3. RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS search engines. There is a large list at: http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm Graphics Indicating Feed How do I read RSS feeds? RSS feeds can be read two different ways. 1. Desktop RSS feed reader or news aggregator 2. Web based RSS feed reader. Desktop Feed Readers There are a number of desktop RSS Readers available like FeedDemon http://www.feeddemon.com A large list of RSS feed readers is available at: http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-software.htm To subscribe to a specific RSS feed, simply enter the url of the RSS file into the software, the extension is usually .xml or .rss Desktop Feed Readers FeedDemon RSS Reader To add feeds, simply enter the url of the .xml or .rss file. The software will routinely check for feed updates, and maybe able to auto-detect sites that have feeds available. Desktop Feed Readers Once feeds are added they will appear in the list. In the left hand column feeds are listed, they are bolded when a feed is updated. The right hand side displays the actual contents of the feed. If a headline is of interest user simply click on the the headline. Web Based Readers Web based readers work similar to desktop clients, they are often designed to be start pages. Simply enter the urls of the feeds you wish to monitor, often they will allow you to determine the number of items that you want to see for each feed. Each time feeds are updated new items will Appear in your web browser. Popular web based readers include: FeedScout – http://www.feedscout.com Active Web Reader – http://www.deskshare.com/awr.aspx Yahoo – http://my.yahoo.com can even display RSS feeds. RSS in Summary The bottom line is that RSS makes surfers more productive and saves time it is not burdened with the problems commonly associated with e-mail and offers a great communication venue. If you have not considered using RSS perhaps its time to take a closer look at: Presentation This presentation by NotePage, Inc. developers of FeedForAll FeedForAll – http://www.feedforall.com Additional Resources: RSS Specifications – http://www.rss-specifications.com Blog Connection – http://www.blog-connection.com Thank You