Transcript RSS - SUNY Geneseo

RSS
COMN 274 Electronic Publishing
October 19, 2007
Objectives for today’s session…
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Define RSS
Understand what an RSS feed is and how it
works
Understand how an RSS newsreader
(aggregator) works
Subscribe to or download an RSS newsreader
Find and subscribe to RSS feeds
What is RSS??
Real Simple Syndication
Rich Site Summary
RSS is the format which allows websites and
blogs to syndicate or distribute their content
to users, by using XML code to describe the
content being distributed
“information about the information”
RSS includes…
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headlines
abstracts
summaries
analyses
anything which gives readers a quick
rundown of all the latest updates from a
website or blog
How RSS Feeds work…
Blog
Today’s post
Archived posts
RSS Feed
Feeds into an aggregator
or newsreader
Subscribers
Subscribers
Subscribers
Subscribers
Why XML??
XML is a logical choice for the syndication of content,
since it is the general purpose programming language for
representing information and metadata on the Web. RSS
itself is an application which uses XML to express itself.
RSS publishers use Extensible Markup Language (XML) to
describe the content of their Web sites, much the way
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) lets a web page
publisher determine the format in which content is
displayed for a browser.
Icons used to indicate RSS feeds are available
Example of XML code which makes up the Washington Post’s RSS
feed for the headlines from their daily paper...
How do I read an RSS feed?
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Must subscribe to or download something
called an RSS newsreader or sometimes
called an aggregator
Much like how an internet browser works to
translate HTML code into viewable web
pages  a newsreader “translates” the XML
file into a readable format
Newsreaders
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Plug-ins (example: Sage )
Web-based (example: Bloglines)
Standalone applications for your desktop
(example: FeedDemon or Newzcrawler)
RSS Newsreaders
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Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com
FeedDemon
http://www.feeddemon.com
NewsGator http://www.newsgator.com
Sage http://sage.mozdev.org/ (Firefox users)
FeedReader
http://www.feedreader.com/
AmphetaDesk
http://www.disobey.com/amphetadesk/
How do I find RSS feeds?
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Look for an icon marked XML or RSS on your
favorite website or blog.
It usually looks something like these 
Do a search in Google or another search engine for
rss feeds or your favorite subject followed by RSS
Use Feedster or another search engine specifically
designed to find RSS feeds
The Washington Post website:
RSS feeds are available for all sections of the newspaper
RSS Advantages
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visitors can access multiple sites without having
to go to each one
subscribe to the RSS feeds of sites you like and
the content comes to you
use a news aggregator to read the headlines and
links in one place
do not need to give out your email address to
web sites to receive updates
will need a aggregator to read content
Jardin, Xeni. “Why RSS is Everywhere.” Wired. April 2004.
19 May 2004 http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.04/start.html?pg=7.
In Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com), log in to your account, or Register
if you are a new user.
In the left sidebar will be three tabs: My Feeds, My Blog, Clippings
Click on My Feeds to open up the window with the Feeds you have
subscribed to.
In the above example, I have clicked on the RSS Feed for the Guardian
Unlimited Newspaper and in the main window on the right, you can see
all the recent postings, with the most recent at the top.
In order to read the full post, I must click on the title of the post to go
to the Guardian Unlimited blog.
To subscribe to an RSS Feed, I must have the URL of the XML file which is
created by the blog or web site owner. In the above example, I am
subscribing to the site feed created for the blog, The Book Burden. This is
where users will copy and paste the site feed URL you create in Blogger – if
they want to subscribe to your feed.
After clicking “Subscribe” you will now receive the most recent postings from this
particular blog.
After subscribing to the blog, the RSS Feed title will show up in the My Feeds
folder on the left sidebar. Click on the title to get the most recent postings
from this blog.
Appearing in the main window will be the most recent postings from this
blog. Click on the title to go to the real post in the blog.
Some reasons for using RSS on a
website…
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Draws people to your website
Users are notified by subscribing, not by
emails to individuals or by listserv
Should have a good reason  i.e. if your
website or blog is not updated frequently,
an RSS feed will let someone know whether
or not to check your site rather than coming
to it
Any Questions?
Kate Pitcher
Reference/Instruction & Web Development Librarian
Milne Library, Room 201A (behind reference desk)
SUNY Geneseo
[email protected]
http://www.geneseo.edu/~pitcher