RSS help for the technically challenged?

[cjshu]

Anyone have any good resources for starting out using RSS feeds?

[paulhiles]

I don't mean to be harsh cjshu, but you posted an almost identical message less than a week ago. There were links supplied in the thread that should have satisfied most people's questions.

One of the better resources (outside of this site) is this one.. Display RSS Feeds.
This resource page lists a RSS/RDF > Javascript converter which requires no programming knowledge. The only snag being the final product relies on users being Javascript-enabled to view the feed... but it might be worth considering.

Paul

[cjshu]

Your right. My mistake. Short term memory lapse.

Anyway thanks for the resources.

[paulhiles]

Originally Posted by cjshu

Short term memory lapse.... thanks for the resources

No problem! :o)
Let us know which method you end up using on your site, and if you encounter any problems along the way just post back here!

Have fun!

Paul

[DriWashSolutions]

I've implemented an RSS feed on my site, but the only way I could figure our how to do it was inside of an <iframe> tag.

It's my understanding that SE's won't index anything inside that tag - is there a better way to put the feed on my site that will allow it to get indexed?

[webmasterjunkie]

Originally Posted by DriWashSolutions

I've implemented an RSS feed on my site, but the only way I could figure our how to do it was inside of an <iframe> tag.

What type of page are you trying to use the feed on, asp, php? I use an rss feed, on an asp page, on one of the sites I maintain and would be more than willing to walk you through where I got the resources to do so.

[paulhiles]

John, if you're using PHP already, chances are that you can use the MagpieRSS parser on your site. Really easy to set up! Just download the files, unzip and upload to your site (keep files as they are arranged in the zip).
A few lines of PHP inside a scrollable div and you're done! Well pretty much anyway! Tried it this afternoon, and it didn't take long at all! :o)

Paul

[DriWashSolutions]

Originally Posted by paulhiles

A few lines of PHP inside a scrollable div and you're done!

Hmm - I guess that may be my main question. What's the coding for a scrollable <div>? Here's the code I have now:

<iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="yes" title="Dri Wash Solutions RSS Feed" align="center" height=375 width=155 src="http://www.driwashsolutions.com/rss/rss2html.php?rss_url=http://feeds.feedburner.com/DriWashnGuardNewsTipsTricks&rss_items=5&rss_chars= 110" marginwidth="15" marginheight="1" name="RSS_Feed">Dri Wash Solutions RSS Feed</iframe>

I don't think this is being indexed, which is a secondary goal of having this on my site.

[hal]

Hi DriWashSolutions,

Perhaps I see it.

...rss/rss2html.php?...

Search engines tend to hate anything after a "?" in the address.

By the way, what about RSS feeds for all those browsers which do not support iframe?

Regards,

Hal

[DriWashSolutions]

Originally Posted by Hal

By the way, what about RSS feeds for all those browsers which do not support iframe?

Exactly - that's why I'm trying to figure out a better way with the help of the forum members.

The page in question is my index.html page - and I'd rather not change it to anything else.

So, is there any slick way to do this in html?

[paulhiles]

Originally Posted by DriWashSolutions

So, is there any slick way to do this in html?

If you're relying on using HTML alone, then apart from what you're doing now, i.e. using an iframe, your only other option is to use Javascript to present the newsfeed.

The main disadvantage of using Javascript to display the feed, is from an SEO perspective, namely, that the feed will not be apparent to SE spiders. So although the newsfeed would work very well for your site visitors, who will be able to see the feed information, your site will not benefit from the additional content in SEO terms.

In order to have them picked up as part of your page would require some form of server-side scripting, one method being the PHP and MagpieRSS parser combination I mentioned above.

Paul