XML and RSS Feed

[billt]

I would like to know how to program the feeds so people will put information from my site on to theirs. what software do i need for this??


Regards

[mikmik]

You can just use normal html editor to write the XML code, but that's as far as I can help there.
There are two types of feeds, RDF and RSS. A good site to look for information is Lockergnome - http://rss.lockergnome.com/ and DevShed.

Actually, I just found this in my bookmarks Creating RSS files for your Web site which I got here - http://www.webreference.com/xml/
I am trying to get to this point to do the same, but I only have all the help bookmarked! :o)

I posted in another thread just recently about an XML/CSS editor that is free, and you might find this useful - http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...asp?frame=true

Just found this as well: http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=12176

[jamal]

mikmik pretty much gave you everything you need to know - and did a good job at it (nice links), but to answer your question more directly: you do not need any software. Usually when creating RSS/XML feeds you provide the XML content, and its upto the other webmaster (whoever is taking your content) to program a parser which interprets and formats it.

The point of these feeds is to provide a universally compatible method of providing information, meaning the author on the other end might use PHP, ASP, CFM, to convert it to HTML, or to WML (for wireless devices), or embed it into a seperate application that is independant from a browser running on any OS. Hopefully this will convince you that you do not need to program a parser, just write the XML, and its upto the others. I experienced a similar concern in the past.

[mikmik]

If anyone wants to experience what an RSS feed looks like, copy the URI of one and go to this page, it has a demo - just plug the URI in the form :
http://www.skyzyx.com/rss/?feed

This is a good site for developers to know about as well, you can download the different versions of Internet Explorer here. They are original versions with a couple of modifications that allows them to 'just run'.
You only have to double click on the EXE icon, no installation neccesary.

Thanks for your support, jamal, I never know if I am on the right track exactly, and your feedback meens a lot to me.

[jamal]

Excellent link! A lot of useful stuff!
As to me helping out mikmik, don't even mention it! I'm more than happy to be a part of this developers community and to help out people. I know a few things, and you know a few things, and together we can come up with great solutions, right? Thats what its all about.. :)

Thanks again for the link,
take care,
Jamal

[paulhiles]

If anyone's interested in using RSS on their sites, and they are PHP enabled... the MagpieRSS parser looks like a robust solution. This is also the method used by skyzyx.com to demonstrate RSS feeds. It works with older formats of RSS and as it is non-validating, can handle new tags without 'falling over'. Definitely worth a look!

[rawdist]

I've also played with Magpie RSS parser and so far it looks great. One thing that amazed me was that it deals with atom feeds as well as RSS without you having to specify which. I have regularly been using hosted RSS feed services on my site http://www.fivesandwiches.com from people like Blogstreet and Feedroll, the trouble is that I wake up one morning and find that my pages are grinding to a halt because one or other of the feed services is down. I am in the process of using Magpie to create my own hosted/cached feed service at http://www.blogfuel.com where I already have a tool for inserting amazon xml content. My favourite trick with RSS/atom feeds is to use them to 'advertise' my own pages within my sites. Most of my sites have a blogger driven weblog at the front and I can put highlights from these using RSS on pages deeper in the site to get the user back to the page I want them to see most.