This document provides an overview of RSS and how to integrate RSS feeds into a website. It discusses what RSS is, the history and versions of RSS, how RSS works, and common aggregators for subscribing to and reading RSS feeds. It also covers how to create RSS feeds from various sources, techniques for republishing and manipulating RSS feeds, and some advanced RSS functions.

2. Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 1: Introduction Michael Sauers Technology Innovation Librarian Nebraska Library Commission Computers in Libraries 2008

4. Introductions Name Library Position Does your library use RSS? If so, how? Why are you here?

5. 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 items on the Internet.

6. 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.

7. How does RSS work? Information Provider Information Receiver

8. 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.

9. Are there different versions 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.

10. Implications of RSS Information is received in a single location Information is received quickly The need to visit the originating Web site is reduced and…

11. http://www.flickr.com/photos/shifted/491666805/ The possible end of this:

12. <?xml version=&quot;1.0&quot; encoding=&quot;utf-8&quot;?> <rss version=&quot;2.0“> <channel> <title>Nebraska Library Commission Blog</title> <link>http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/blogs/NLC/</link> <description>Bringing together people and information</description> <language>en</language> <copyright>Copyright 2007</copyright> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 10 May 2007 07:34:17 -0600</lastBuildDate> <generator>http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/</generator> <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs> <item> <title>New depository directories</title> <description> <![CDATA[<p>The directories of Nebraska's federal and state depository libraries got a new look recently. Contact names and emails of library staff will be updated automatically when our comprehensive library directory is updated. The depository directories are located at <a href=&quot;http://http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/ docs/nefed.asp&quot;>http://http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/docs/nefed.asp</a></p>]]> </description> <link>http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/blogs/NLC/2007/05/new_depository_directories.html</link> <guid>http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/blogs/NLC/2007/05/new_depository_directories.html</guid> <category domain=&quot;http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category&quot;>Information Resources</category> <pubDate>Wed, 09 May 2007 07:28:43 -0600</pubDate> </item> </channel> </rss> What does RSS look like?

13. How can I find feeds? Google Blog Search Bloglines Blogrolls A list of blogs/feeds read by another blogger Look for the orange icon…

14. How do I subscribe to a feed? Look for the orange icon http://www.feedicons.com/ Depending on your aggregator, the subscription procedure may range from copying and pasting the link to right-clicking and selecting “subscribe”.

15. 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

16. Podcasts in iTunes

17. 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 Gizmodo www.gizmodo.com Security Now! www.grc.com/securitynow.htm Inside The Net & This Week in Tech (TWiT) thisweekintech.com Boing Boing boingboing.net Google News isbn.nu del.icio.us flickr

18. Michael Sauers Technology Innovation Librarian Nebraska Library Commission Computers in Libraries 2008 Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 2: Reading Feeds

19. 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.

20. What are the different types 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

21. 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

22. RSS file in IE6

23. Atom file w/ associated style sheet

24. Firefox 3.0

25. Internet Explorer 7

26. Types of Aggregators Client Add-on Built-in Server-based Web-based service

27. FeedReader (client)

28. Firefox 3

29. Firefox 3

30. IE7

31. Feed on Feeds (server)

32. Bloglines (Web-based service)

33. Subscribing to a feed

34. Integrating Bloglines w/ Firefox 3.0

35. The Bloglines Bookmarklet

36. Michael Sauers Technology Innovation Librarian Nebraska Library Commission Computers in Libraries 2008 Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 3: Creating Feeds

37. How do I create a feed? Hand-rolled You type the markup and the content Semi-automated You type the content, software generates the markup. Fully-automated You put the content in your blog and software generates a feed based on that content.

38. FeedSpring

39. FeedSpring

40. FeedSpring

41. FeedSpring

42. FeedSpring

43. FeedSpring

44. FeedSpring

45. 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?)

46. ListGarden

47. ListGarden

48. ListGarden

49. ListGarden

50. ListGarden

51. ListGarden Limitations Depending of type of server installed on, may not be secure. (i.e. no passwords on cgi-bin directories.)

52. Feedity

53. Feedity

54. Feedity

55. Feedity

56. Feedity

57. Feedity Limitations Works better on some Web pages than on others. Notes Be sure to take advantage of the refine feature for more accurate results.

58. page2rss

59. page2rss

60. page2rss

61. page2rss

62. page2rss Limitations Generally works better than Feedity but has no ability to refine the results.

63. Twitter

64. Twitter

65. Twitter

66. Twitter Limitations 140 characters per post

67. Google Calendar

68. Google Calendar

69. Google Calendar

70. Google Calendar

71. Google Calendar Limitations None to speak of Benefits Now sync-able with Outlook Can also embed calendar into site

72. Feedmysearch

73. Feedmysearch

74. Feedmysearch

75. Feedmysearch

76. Feedmysearch Limitations None to speak of

77. Michael Sauers Technology Innovation Librarian Nebraska Library Commission Computers in Libraries 2008 Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 4: Republishing Feeds

78. Integrating feed content into your Web site Grab content from multiple RSS feeds Reduce and/or mash it Republish it on your site

79. Feed2JS

80. Feed2JS

81. Feed2JS

82. Feed2JS

83. Feed2JS

84. Feed2JS Limitations Third party (but you can download and install it on your own server which is recommended)

85. feed.informer

86. feed.informer

87. feed.informer

88. feed.informer

89. feed.informer

90. feed.informer

91. FeedDigest

92. feed.informer

93. feed.informer

94. feed.informer Limitations Third party service. Limited to five feeds in free version.

95. Scrolling RSS News Ticker

96. Scrolling RSS News Ticker

97. Scrolling RSS News Ticker

98. Scrolling RSS News Ticker

99. Scrolling RSS News Ticker Limitations Third party Shows small advertisement

100. RSS Scrollbox Widget

101. RSS Scrollbox Widget

102. RSS Scrollbox Widget

103. RSS Scrollbox Widget

104. RSS Scrollbox Widget Limitations Third party Shows small advertisement Ad free, local-hosted version available for $35.

105. Grazr

106. Grazr

107. Grazr

108. Grazr

109. Grazr

110. Grazr Limitations Third party

111. Michael Sauers Technology Innovation Librarian Nebraska Library Commission Computers in Libraries 2008 Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 5: Advanced Feed Manipulation

112. IM Feeds

113. IM Feeds

114. IM Feeds

115. IM Feeds

116. IM Feeds

117. IM Feeds Limitations IMs tend to come in without any formatting. i.e. a single large block of text. Seems to randomly not like valid RSS feeds.

118. Pingie

119. Pingie

120. Pingie

121. Pingie

122. Pingie

123. Pingie

124. Pingie Limitations Doesn’t like feedburner feeds

125. ZapTXT

126. ZapTXT

127. ZapTXT

128. ZapTXT

129. ZapTXT

130. 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.

131. Mail2RSS

132. Mail2RSS

133. Mail2RSS

134. Mail2RSS

135. 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)

136. Mail2RSS

137. RssFwd

138. RssFwd

139. RssFwd

140. RssFwd

141. RssFwd

142. RssFwd

143. RssFwd Limitations Some (including me) argue that converting RSS to e-mail defeats the purpose of RSS.

144. Feed2Podcast

145. Feed2Podcast

146. Feed2Podcast

147. Feed2Podcast

148. Feed2Podcast Limitations Your feeds are read by a computer generated voice. Non-English words are not well supported.

149. FeedJournal

151. FeedJournal

152. FeedJournal

153. FeedJournal

154. FeedJournal

155. FeedJournal

157. FeedJournal Limitations Must manually regenerate each issue

158. Contact information Michael Sauers [email_address] http://travelinlibrarian.info/ http://www.delicious.com/travelinlibrarian/il2008/rss