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RSS The Easy Way! Reading & Creating Feeds with Free and Easy to Use Tools. Russell O’Neill General Services Administration Senior Software Engineer, FirstGov.gov February 21, 2006. Reading Feeds. Getting the RSS Reader Using RSSOwl to Read Feeds. Getting the RSS Reader.
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RSS The Easy Way!Reading & Creating Feeds with Free and Easy to Use Tools Russell O’Neill General Services Administration Senior Software Engineer, FirstGov.gov February 21, 2006
Reading Feeds • Getting the RSS Reader • Using RSSOwl to Read Feeds
Getting the RSS Reader • There are many free RSS readers…I’ll demonstrate one (RSSOwl) today. • For a large list of readers, you can visit: http://dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Technical_Services/Cataloguing/Metadata/RDF/Applications/RSS/News_Readers • Even though each one is different, they all function similarly.
Getting the RSS Reader • Get the file http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/rssowl/rssowl_1_2_win32_bin.zip. • Extract the zip file to your desktop. • This will create a folder: rssowl_1_2_win32_bin.
Create a new favorite (aka: add a feed) Create a new folder for your favorites Using RSSOwl to Read Feeds: Main interface
Use RSSOwl to Read Feeds: Adding a feed Once you identify a RSS file to subscribe to, copy the URL of the feed. You can do this by selecting the URL in the address bar of your web browser, right-clicking, and selecting copy. 1
Use RSSOwl to Read Feeds: Adding a feed Next, click “New” in RSSOwl. This will create a new favorite and allow you to easily update your feed so you can see what’s new. 2
Use RSSOwl to Read Feeds: Adding a feed • Enter the information for the feed. This includes: • The feeds URL (which you can paste into the field by right-clicking and selecting paste). • A title (you can have RSSOwl pull the tile from the feed, or you can type one). • A category (or folder) to hold your favorite. • How frequently you would like RSSOwl to update the feed. • Whether you would like RSSOwl to open the feed automatically when you open RSSOwl. 3
Using RSSOwl to Read Feeds: Reading a feed Items Channels
Creating Feeds • What is an RSS File? • Getting an RSS Editor • Using the RSS Editor
What is an RSS File? • Simple XML-based format. • Relies on items being specified in a standard XML (plain text) format. <rss> <channel> <item> <item> <item> <item> Tools can help you create these files…and these tools vary from content management systems to simple editors. <item>
Getting an RSS Editor • I’ll show you how to use the RSS Editor Firefox Extension. • Download and install Firefox from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/. • Visit https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=344&application=firefox.
Using the RSS Editor: Entering channel information • Most fields are self-explanatory. • Required: Title, Link, Description. • Link: HTML link for entire feed’s content. • Language: For English, enter en-us. • Date fields: Format is day_of_week, day_of_month three_letter_month_abbreviation year hour:minute:seconds timezone. Use the “…” button to have the editor build the format for you.
Using the RSS Editor: Entering items • Most fields are self-explanatory. • Link: HTML link for specific item’s content. • Date fields: Format is day_of_week, day_of_month three_letter_month_abbreviation year hour:minute:seconds timezone. Use the “…” button to have the editor build the format for you. • Required: Title or Description.
Using the RSS Editor: Saving feeds • When naming the feed, ensure it has: • No spaces (use _ if needed). • No special characters (@, #, etc). • An extension of .xml. • Follows the URL standards for your website.
Using the RSS Editor: Opening a feed • Exact the same as creating a feed.
Putting it All Together • Using RSSOwl to Test an RSS feed
Questions/Comments? Russell O’Neill russell.oneill@gsa.gov 202-219-1682 http://www.firstgov.gov/rss/index.shtml
