Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 1: Introduction Michael Sauers Technology Innovation...

Integrating RSS into Your

Web sitePart 1:

Introduction

Michael SauersTechnology Innovation Librarian

Nebraska Library CommissionComputers in Libraries 15 April 2007

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Introductions

• Name

• Library

• Position

• Does your library use RSS? If so, how?

• Why are you here?

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What is RSS?

• Depending on who you ask it stands for either “Really Simple Syndication”, “Rich Site Summary”, or “RDF Site Summary”.

• “Really Simple Syndication” is the de facto definition today.

• RSS is an XML language for syndicating news items on the Internet.

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The History of RSS

• RSS 1.1 (update to RSS 1.0), RSS 3.0 (a new, independent project), and “Simple Sharing Extensions” (an update to RSS 2.0 by Microsoft) have all been proposed but have had no impact yet.

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How does RSS work?

• The information provider creates an RSS file.

• Users subscribe to the file via an aggregator.

• When the author updates the RSS file, the user is automatically notified of the new items and may read them on their schedule.

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Implications of RSS

• Information received in a single location

• Information received in quickly

• Reduced need to visit the originating Web site

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Are there differentversions of RSS?

• Yes. In fact, there are currently eight different versions:RSS 0.90, 0.91, 0.92, 0.93, 0.94, 1.0, 2.0, & Atom Feeds

• Each has different features from the author’s point of view.

• Today’s aggregators support all of the versions transparently.

• RSS 2.0 & Atom are the most common.

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><rss version="2.0"> <channel> <title>BCR: The Third Indicator</title> <link>http://www.bcr.org/publications/thirdind/</link> <description>The Third Indicator, published monthly, is a technical memo

focusing on OCLC products and services. It includes general OCLC news as well as detailed technical information on cataloging, reference and resource sharing. Announcements of new OCLC developments are also included.</description>

<lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 Sep 2004 21:37:39 GMT</lastBuildDate> <generator>ListGarden Program 1.01</generator> <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs> <item> <title>WorldCat Resource Sharing Training</title><link>http://www.bcr.org/publications/thirdind/2004/august/

augsharetrain04.html</link> <description>If you'd like to see what WorldCat Resource Sharing looks like

and learn more about it, visit the OCLC Web site at www.oclc.org/ill/migration/ or view the WorldCat Resource Sharing tutorial at www5.oclc.org/downloads/tutorials/firstsearch/sv/rsbasics/intro/index.html/.</description>

<pubDate>Tue, 21 Sep 2004 19:29:47 GMT</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">thirdind-2004-08-21-19-29-47</guid> </item> </channel></rss>

What does RSS look like?

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How can I find feeds?• Feedster

• Bloglines

• BlogrollsA list of blogs/feeds read by another blogger

• Look for the orange icon…

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How do I subscribe to a feed?

• Look for an orange icon:

• Depending on your aggregator, the subscription procedure may range from copying and pasting the link to right-clicking and selecting “subscribe”.

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More RSS icons

• “Support the Common Feed Icon” by Rogers Cadenheadhttp://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/2872/support-common-feed-icon

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A standard icon?

• The move is to establish this icon, originally proposed by the Firefox, folks as the syndication icon.

• Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 will use this icon.

• http://www.feedicons.com/

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Podcasts• Uses RSS to syndicate audio content

• RSS 2.0 <enclosure>– Like adding an attachment to an e-mail

• Audio Formats– MP3 (Open Source)– AAC (Apple Proprietary)

• iPod not necessary

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Podcasts in iTunes

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Notable Feeds• Librarian.net

www.librarian.net• LISNews

www.lisnews.com• The Shifted Librarian

theshiftedlibrarian.com• The Travelin’ Librarian

travelinlibrarian.info• Tame the Web

tametheweb.com/ttwblog• Unshelved

www.overduemedia.com• PaperCuts

papercuts.tscpl.org

• Gizmodowww.gizmodo.com

• Security Now!www.grc.com/securitynow.htm

• Inside The Net &This Week in Tech (TWiT)thisweekintech.com

• Boing Boingboingboing.net

• Google News• isbn.nu• del.icio.us• flickr


Web sitePart 2:

Reading Feeds

Michael Sauers, BCRInternet Librarian 2006

22 October 2006

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What is an Aggregator?

• An aggregator is a type of software that retrieves syndicated Web content that is supplied in the form of a web feed (RSS, Atom and other XML formats), and that are published by weblogs, podcasts, vlogs, and mainstream mass media websites.-Wikipedia

• It’s what you need to retrieve and read RSS feeds.

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What are the differenttypes of aggregators?

• Standalone Clients– FeedReader, Radio UserLand

• PIM add-ins– Pluck, NewsGator, intraVnews

• Browser add-ins– Firefox, Sage

• Web-based– Bloglines, NewsIsFree

• A list is available @http://www.lights.com/weblogs/rss.html

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RSS file in Firefox

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RSS file in IE6

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RSS file in IE7b3

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RSS file w/ associated style sheet

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Why do I need an aggregator?

• Most importantly it makes the content of the feed readable

• Checks for updates automatically

• Notifies you of new information

• Displays only new items for you

• May allow you to sort and save information

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Types of Aggregators

• Client

• Add-on

• Built-in

• Server-based

• Web-based service

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FeedReader (client)

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Pluck (add-on for IE)

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Firefox 1.5

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Netscape 8

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IE7beta 2

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Feed on Feeds (server)

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Bloglines (Web-based service)

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Subscribing to a feed

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Bloglines Toolkit (for Firefox)

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Subscribing via the Toolkit

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The Bloglines Bookmarklet


Web site Part 3:

Creating Feeds


22 October 2006

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How do I create a feed?• Hand-rolled

You type the markup and the content

• Semi-automatedYou type the content, software generates the markup.

• Fully-automatedYou put the content in your blog and software generates a feed based on that content.

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FeedSpring

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FeedSpring

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FeedSpring

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FeedSpring

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FeedSpring

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FeedSpring

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FeedSpring

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FeedSpring

• Limitations– Local installation limits mobility and posters

to a single computer.– No built-in FTP. Must transfer the .xml file to

the server manually.– Still in beta (but what isn’t these days?)

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RapidFeeds: FeedManager

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• Limitations– Registration does not work with newer e-

mail addresses. (Insisted my .info address was invalid.)

– Does not allow publishing to another server so if the company disappears, your feed goes with it.

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ListGarden

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ListGarden

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ListGarden

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ListGarden

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ListGarden

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ListGarden

• Limitations– Depending of type of server installed on,

may not be secure. (i.e. no passwords on cgi-bin directories.)

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RSSxl

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RSSxl

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RSSxl

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RSSxl

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RSSxl• Limitations

– Solid knowledge of HTML required to get parsing correct.

– Works better on pages with simpler layouts.– The validation code “will change each month and

you will need to visit this page for the new code.” (Though I’ve found feeds continue to work without updating the code.)

– “If you are using this tool to publish an RSS feed from your website, then you must include a visible HTML link to www.wotzwot.com on your site next to the link to your feed like the following: ‘Powered by RSSxl’”

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Sabifoo

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Sabifoo

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Sabifoo

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Sabifoo

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Sabifoo

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Sabifoo• Limitations

– Third party service could disappear at any time.

– Doesn’t always work well with Yahoo! Messenger and AIM.

– Does not interpret HTML in posts.

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Twitter

• What are you doing now?

• Post via:– Web site– Clients– IM– SMS

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Twitter

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Twitter

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Twitter

• Limitations– 140 characters per post

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RSS Calendar

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RSS Calendar

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RSS Calendar

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RSS Calendar

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RSS Calendar

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RSS Calendar

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RSS Calendar

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RSS Calendar

• Limitations– No importing from existing calendars


Web site Part 4:

Republishing Feeds


22 October 2006

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Integrating feed content into your Web site

• Grab content from multiple RSS feeds

• Reduce and/or mash it

• Republish it on your site

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rssviewer

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rssviewer

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rss viewer

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rssviewer

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rss viewer

• Limitations– Third party– Has a way to combine multiple feeds (feed

combiner) but only those that are pre-programmed

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RapidFeeds: MySite

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RapidFeeds: MySite

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RapidFeeds: MySite

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RapidFeeds: MySite

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RapidFeeds:MySite

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RapidFeeds: MySite

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RapidFeeds: MySite

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RapidFeeds: MySite

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RapidFeeds: MySite

• Limitations– Registration does not work with newer e-

mail addresses. (Insisted my .info address was invalid)

– Code supplied is longer than all others as it contains all the CSS. Would want to move that to an external file.

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

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RSS2HTML

• Limitations– Third party service.– Minimal customization / limited to their

templates / can’t make it look like your site.– Did not work well on some feeds and not at

all on others. (No luck with GoogleNews. Mixed results with Flickr.)

– Given a URL to embed with, not a script, which forces embedding via iframe.

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Feed2JS

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Feed2JS

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Feed2JS

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Feed2JS

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Feed2JS

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Feed2JS

• Limitations– Third party

(but you can download and install it on your own server which is recommended)

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

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FeedDigest

• Limitations– Third party service.– Limited to five feeds in free version.

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Scrolling RSS News Ticker

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• Limitations– Third party– Shows small advertisement

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RSS Scrollbox Widget

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• Limitations– Third party– Shows small advertisement

• Ad free, local-hosted version available for $35.

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Grazr

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Grazr

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Grazr

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Grazr

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Grazr

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Grazr

• Limitations– Third party

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LibraryThing Blog Widget

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• Limitations– Requires JavaScript– Requires LibraryThing account


Web site Part 5: Advanced Feed Manipulation


22 October 2006

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FeedBlendr

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FeedBlendr

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FeedBlendr

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FeedBlendr

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FeedBlendr

• Limitations– Could not get OPML importing to work.– Third party service could disappear at any

time.– “If this blend is not accessed for more than 2

weeks, it will be removed from the database and will need to be recreated.”

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

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FeedBurner

• Limitations– Since by using this you get a new feed URL,

it is not recommended you use it on existing feeds.

– Your feed will be relying on a third party to work. If the company goes under, your feed will disappear.

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Feed Crier

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Feed Crier

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Feed Crier

• Limitations– Only three feeds for free– Free version advertisement supported– Works only with AIM

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ZapTXT

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ZapTXT

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ZapTXT

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ZapTXT

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ZapTXT

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ZapTXT

• Limitations– Can’t handle feeds that require logins– Sometimes reports a feed as “not valid” and

there’s nothing you can do about it.– Searches on multiple keywords are “OR”

searches. “AND” searches don’t seem to be possible.

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Mail2RSS

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Mail2RSS

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Mail2RSS

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Mail2RSS

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Mail2RSS

• Limitations– Bloglines doesn’t like the RSS2.0 feeds, use

the 1.0 link instead– Mail automatically deletes after seven days– Feeds are limited to 20 items– Potential security issue when using

Subscribe with Bloglines bookmarklet(next slide)

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Mail2RSS

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RssFwd

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RssFwd

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RssFwd

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RssFwd

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RssFwd

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RssFwd

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RssFwd

• Limitations– Some (including me) argue that converting

RSS to e-mail defeats the purpose of RSS.

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Feed2Podcast

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Feed2Podcast

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Feed2Podcast

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Feed2Podcast

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Feed2Podcast

• Limitations– Your feeds are read by a computer

generated voice.– Non-English words are not well supported.

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Contact information

Michael Sauers

[email protected]://travelinlibrarian.info/

http://del.icio.us/travelinlibrarian/cil2007/rss

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