RSS feeds

Mini workshop byNick Dickinson

Harry OosterveenCor Dietvorst

Overview

• What is a newsfeed? Why a newsfeed?• Examples• How to use them – Google Reader• Practice• iGoogle• Practice• Where to find feeds

What is a newsfeed?

• A newsfeed is a stream of syndicated information– Information brought together in one place

• Usually focused on a particular topic or website• Common names: RSS, Atom• What it means is less important:

– Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)– RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)– Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)

RSS in Plain English

A simple introduction

Why use a (RSS) feed reader?

Reduce e-mailManage and organise your

subscriptions

What kinds of feeds are available?

• News feeds [general CNN, BBC, development news, sector news]

• Blog feeds [nearly all blogs offer an RSS feed]• Tag feeds [blog tags, social bookmarking tags

like del.ici.ous]• Web site updates [general, by topic/theme]• Newsletters/journals (e.g. Waterlines)• Searches in Google News, Google Blog Search

and Google Video

Examples of WASH and development feeds [1]

Themes and Resources

WASH general: ODI - Theme: Water and Sanitation + Waterlines

WASH by theme: WASH News Finance + WASH News Hygiene Promotion +

WASH Governance News + Sanitation Updates + WASH Technology

General development: ELDIS Newsfeeds + ODI News Feeds + SciDev.Net (topic gateways)

ResourcesWASH Vacancies + WASH Names + WASH Resources +

WASH Research

Examples of WASH and development feeds [2]

Regions

General: World Bank RSS Feeds (by region and by country)

International:WASH News International

Africa:allAfrica.com: Water and Sanitation + The Southern Africa Water Wire + WASH News Africa

Asia:WASH News Asia & Pacific

Latin America:WASH News Latin America and Caribbean

Middle EastEMWIS [feeds for latest news, events and uploads] + WASH News Middle East and North Africa

Other examples

• News sites– NRC front page, BBC, DutchNews.nl...

• Videos– YouTube channels

• WaterAid

• Music sites– World music central

• Technology– MobileActive.org, Tweakers.net

Recognising more RSS Feeds - icons

Google Reader and iGoogle

for RSS

Google Reader

• View and read your feeds– Search your feeds– Organise your feeds under tags/folders– See trends: do you actually read it?– Share items/folders of interest with others

• Other alternatives– MyYahoo!– Bloglines– NewsGator

• FIRST: Login in to Google Reader– http://www.google.com/reader/

• SECOND: find an RSS feed!– Go to a site that you like to visit– OR use a link in this presentation

Google Reader Practice

iGoogle

• Personalised home/search page• A collection of ‘gadgets’• Uses

– feed reader (RSS, google reader)– organizer (calendar, mail, tasks, notes and

bookmarks)– weather forecast etc.

• FIRST: Go to iGoogle– http://www.google.com/ig– Select content you want on your homepage.

• SECOND: add your RSS feed!– Click on “Add stuff »” – Click on “Add feed or gadget”– Paste your feed url into this field.

• THIRD: add Google Reader gadget– Search for “Google Reader gadget” from iGoogle– OR click here

http://fusion.google.com/add?client=reader&moduleurl=reader.xmlORhttp://www.google.com/ig/directory?url=www.google.com/ig/modules/reader.xml

iGoogle Practice

Search for RSS Feeds

1. Visit a directory of RSS feeds• Syndic8.com + RSS Micro

2. Search for RSS feeds on your Google Reader• Click on Add Subscription, enter search terms

3. Most blogs have an RSS feed • See the Ask IRC overview of WASH blogs• Search for blogs via Technorati.or Google Blog Search

4. Look for feed icons on your favourite web site

Questions and Feedback