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RSS Links and Resources
Defined in XML, the Rich Site Summary (RSS) format (aka "Really Simple Syndication"), previously known as the RDF Site Summary, has quietly become a dominant format for distributing news headlines on the Web. WebRef maintains its own RSS feeds, including our our front page, and JavaScript Tip of the Day. Here are some top resources for more info on RSS.
WebReference Articles
- Creating a Custom RSS Feed with PHP and MySQL
- RSS has become the standard technology for syndicating information to large audiences. Many people have something to say, but finding the right audience for your voice is what matters. In this article you'll learn how to syndicate your own custom RSS feeds using PHP and MySQL. By Kris Hadlock. 1101
- How to Use RSS Replay in Dreamweaver Layouts
- RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is about sharing content with new audiences. Here, you'll learn how to replay feed content in your Web pages with RSS Replay, a Dreamweaver extension created by the author. By Ronald Northrip. 1018
- The Anatomy of an RSS Feed
- RSS has become the standard data format for communicating sydicated information to a large audience. RSS is an XML format that consists of designated elements that conform to the XML 1.0 specification. This week we look at the elements in this structure. By Kris Hadlock. 0914
- How to Create RSS feeds with Dreamweaver
- RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is commonly used for distributing headlines on news websites. The challenge in using it is to integrate your content into the feed you are creating. Enter RSS Dreamfeeder, an application that allows you to reformat your content into an RSS feed within Dreamweaver. By Ronald Northrip. 0906
- Review: Developing Feeds with RSS and Atom
- Two of the fastest growing technologies on the Web today are RSS and Atom. These offer a consistent, machine-readable file that allows Web sites to provide news headlines, blog postings, notification of product updates, calendar of events, even advertising. By Lee Underwood. 0606
- Review: FeedForAll 1.0
- RSS technology is really taking off. As the demand has increased, web developers have discovered that they need to add RSS feeds to their sites. In the past, this was usually done manually or through the use of Perl scripts, but now you can choose a software program to do the job. FeedForAll is one of these. By Lee Underwood. 0302
- Review: ListGarden RSS Feed Generator
- RSS is one of the hottest technologies on the Web today. Most blogging and content management systems have RSS file creation capability built in, but if you're not using one of those programs, it can be a bit tedious. Enter the ListGarden RSS Feed Generator. By Lee Underwood. 1012
- The Evolution of RSS
- We look at how RSS has evolved from its humble beginnings through present day and beyond. We survey all versions of RSS, including a feature comparison, a new RSS survey, plus format and validation info. Learn how the newest versions of RSS will move us towards a more Semantic Web. By Andrew King.
- Introduction to RSS
- An overview of RSS and its benefits, plus free open source scripts to help create your own channel. By Andy King.
- RSS Viewer Applet: Window to the World of News
- Michael Claßen returns with more info on RSS, and a handy Java applet for displaying feeds. Version 2
- Using RSS News Feeds
- From our "Mother of Perl" column, Jonathan Eisenzopf provides this useful introduction to the RSS format, how to manipulate it with Perl, and generate HTML output. Includes XML::RSS Perl module how-to.
- Weaving the Web of News
- Our XML Xpert Michael Claßen helps explain RSS and other similarly XML defined news formats
Tutorials/Articles
- Content feeds with RSS 2.0
- This article will review the current specification, RSS 2.0. It will give you a little background, review how the format is being used, review the nuts and bolts of the format, give you examples, and tell you what you need to know to get started. Finally, it will cover some of the new features of RSS 2.0, such as extending RSS using namespaces.
- Retrieve Syndicated Content, Transform It, and Display the Result
- In this article, Nick Chase shows how to retrieve syndicated content and convert it into headlines for your site. Since no official format for such feeds exists, aggregators are often faced with the difficulty of supporting multiple formats, so Nick also explains how to use XSL transformations to more easily deal with multiple syndication file formats.
- RSS: Your Gateway To News & Blog Content
- This article by Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch takes a look at many of the techniques, methods, and tools used for RSS syndication.
- UserLand RSS Central
- A Web portal for RSS information and content.
- The Python Web services developer: RSS for Python
- Python is an excellent tool for RSS processing, and Mike Olson and Uche Ogbuji introduce a couple of modules available for this purpose.
- RSS Utilities: A Tutorial
- Rodrigo Oliveira developed a JSP Tag Library to be used by anybody with a basic understanding of RSS, JavaServer Pages, and HTML. The taglib is mostly geared towards non-technical editors of Web sites that use RSS for aggregating news content. The goal was to develop a JSP tag library that would simplify the use of RSS content (versions 0.91, 0.92 and 2.0) in Web pages.
- RSS History
- There are a lot of folk legends about the evolution of RSS. Here's the scoop, the sequence of events in the life of RSS, as told by the designer of most of the formats.
- A Bright Future for Syndication
- Dave Winer's take on content management. He wants to reverse the flow of content from concentrators like Vignette, to distributors who distribute meta-data about stories, that reside in one location only.
- Making Headlines with RSS
- "Using Rich Site Summaries To Draw New Visitors." Our own Jonathan Eisenzopf shows how to use his XML::RSS Perl module to create an RSS channel. From WebTechniques Volume 5, Issue 2, Feb. 2000.
- RSS and You
- Perl.com's Chris Nandor looks at some of the issues in parsing valid XML and RSS files with Perl.
- Raising the Bar on RSS Feed Quality
- Timothy Appnel offers recommendations for authoring more useful and effective feeds with an approach that is neutral, practical, and conservative.
- RSS Tutorial for Content Publishers and Webmasters
- This tutorial explains the features and benefits of RSS, and gives a brief technical overview of it. The reader is assumed to have some familiarity with XML and other Web technologies.
Specifications
- RSS 2.0
- This document represents the status of RSS as of the Fall of 2002, version 2.0.1. It incorporates all changes and additions, starting with the basic spec for RSS 0.91 and includes new features introduced in RSS 0.92 and RSS 0.94.
- RSS 1.0
- The RSS 1.0 specification was released on December 6, 2000.
- RSS 0.93
- This version was discussed but never deployed. [April 20, 2001]
- RSS 0.92
- This version is 0.91 with optional elements, designed by Dave Winer at UserLand. [December 25, 2000]
- RSS 0.91
- This version was designed by Netscape, spec written by Dan Libby. [July 10, 1999]
- RSS 0.90
- This version was designed by Netscape, for use with my.netscape.com, which also supported scriptingNews format. The only thing about it that was RDF was the header, otherwise it was plain garden-variety XML. [March 15, 1999]
- scriptingNews
- This format was designed by Dave Winer at UserLand [December 27, 1997]
Software and Tools
- AmphetaDesk
- A free, cross platform, open-sourced, syndicated news aggregator (reader).
- NetNewsWire
- Freeware Cocoa app for Mac OS X. RSS News reader presents headlines and blurbs in a three pane interface, ala E-mail clients.
- Additional Aggregator/Readers
- These aggregators and newsreaders support RSS 2.0.
- HitRSS.com - Web-based RSS Wizard
- HitRSS is a free Web-based RSS publishing wizard, where users can set up, create, publish and host their RSS news feed. They can even view statistics of their RSS feed readership.
- Mother of Perl
- A series of how-to articles on Perl and XML by Jonathan Eisenzopf. Includes Web-based open source tools to create and edit RSS files.
- ListGarden RSS Feed Generator Program
- Create and maintain your own RSS feeds with this free program created by Dan Bricklin. Versions include Windows, Mac OS X, and generic Perl. Read a review of the program.
Validators
Collections
In addition to being sites that provide newsfeeds, all of the listed collections below allow Web masters to submit their own feeds for redistribution.
- Meerkat: Open Wire Service
- O'Reilly's developer-oriented Web-based syndicated content reader. Based on RDF Site Summary (RSS), Meerkat provides a simple interface to stories. Can sift and sort stories chronologically, useful for seeing what's new in various topics.
- MoreOver.com
- News headlines from over 1,500 sources.
- WebReference/Internet.com RSS Feeds
- A complete list of all the RSS feeds available from internet.com.
Comments are welcome
Revised: February 25, 2005
URL: https://webreference.com/authoring/languages/xml/rss/
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