Integrating RSS into Your Web site

Slide 1: Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 1: Introduction Michael Sauers, BCR Internet Librarian 2006 22 October 2006

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Slide 3: Introductions • Name • Library • Position • Does your library use RSS? If so, how? • Why are you here? 3

Slide 4: Survey Questions • Were you aware of the IL2006 Wiki • Did you read it? • Did you edit it? • Did you subscribe to the wiki’s RSS feed? 4

Slide 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 news items on the Internet. 5

Slide 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. 6

Slide 7: 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. 7

Slide 8: Implications of RSS • Information received in a single location • Information received in quickly • Reduced need to visit the originating Web site 8

Slide 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. 9

Slide 10: What does RSS look like? <?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.htm l</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> 10 </rss>

Slide 11: How can I find feeds? • Feedster • Bloglines • Blogrolls A list of blogs/feeds read by another blogger • Look for the orange icon… 11

Slide 12: 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”. 12

Slide 13: More RSS icons • “Support the Common Feed Icon” by Rogers Cadenhead http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/2872/support- common-feed-icon 13

Slide 14: 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/ 14

Slide 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 15

Slide 16: Podcasts in iTunes 16

Slide 17: Notable Feeds • Gizmodo • Librarian.net www.gizmodo.com www.librarian.net • Security Now! • LISNews www.grc.com/securitynow.htm www.lisnews.com • Inside The Net & • The Shifted Librarian This Week in Tech (TWiT) theshiftedlibrarian.com thisweekintech.com • The Travelin’ Librarian • Boing Boing travelinlibrarian.info boingboing.net • Tame the Web • Google News tametheweb.com/ttwblog • isbn.nu • Unshelved • del.icio.us www.overduemedia.com • flickr • PaperCuts papercuts.tscpl.org 17

Slide 18: Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 2: Reading Feeds Michael Sauers, BCR Internet Librarian 2006 22 October 2006

Slide 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. 19

Slide 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 20

Slide 21: RSS file in Firefox 21

Slide 22: RSS file in IE6 22

Slide 23: RSS file in IE7b3 23

Slide 24: RSS file w/ associated style sheet 24

Slide 25: 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 25

Slide 26: Types of Aggregators • Client • Add-on • Built-in • Server-based • Web-based service 26

Slide 27: FeedReader (client) 27

Slide 28: Pluck (add-on for IE) 28

Slide 29: Firefox 1.5 29

Slide 30: Netscape 8 30

Slide 31: IE7beta 2 31

Slide 32: Feed on Feeds (server) 32

Slide 33: Bloglines (Web-based service) 33

Slide 34: Subscribing to a feed 34

Slide 35: Bloglines Toolkit (for Firefox) 35

Slide 36: Subscribing via the Toolkit 36

Slide 37: The Bloglines Bookmarklet 37

Slide 38: Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 3: Creating Feeds Michael Sauers, BCR Internet Librarian 2006 22 October 2006

Slide 39: 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. 39

Slide 40: FeedSpring 40

Slide 47: 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?) 47

Slide 48: FeedXS 48

Slide 56: FeedXS • Limitations – Few options for controlling the feed – No support for enclosures 56

Slide 57: RapidFeeds: FeedManager 57

Slide 66: RapidFeeds: FeedManager • 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. 66

Slide 67: ListGarden 67

Slide 72: ListGarden • Limitations – Depending of type of server installed on, may not be secure. (i.e. no passwords on cgi-bin directories.) 72

Slide 73: RSSxl 73

Slide 79: 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’” 79

Slide 80: Sabifoo 80

Slide 85: 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. 85

Slide 86: RSS Calendar 86

Slide 93: RSS Calendar • Limitations – No importing from existing calendars 93

Slide 94: Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 4: Republishing Feeds Michael Sauers, BCR Internet Librarian 2006 22 October 2006

Slide 95: Integrating feed content into your Web site • Grab content from multiple RSS feeds • Reduce and/or mash it • Republish it on your site 95

Slide 96: Feedroll 96

Slide 100: Feedroll • Limitations – Free version works only with pre- programmed feeds 100

Slide 101: RapidFeeds: MySite 101

Slide 107: 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. 107

Slide 108: RSS2HTML 108

Slide 115: RSS2HTML • Limitations – Third party service could disappear at any time. – 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. 115

Slide 116: Feed2JS http://www.feed2js.org/ 116

Slide 117: Build 117

Slide 118: Preview 118

Slide 119: Style 119

Slide 120: Generate Javascript 120

Slide 121: Place the Javascript in the page 121

Slide 122: View the results 122

Slide 123: Feed2JS • Limitations – Hosted service (though you can download and install it on your own server which is recommended) – Client must have JavaScript turned on for it to work. 123

Slide 124: FeedDigest 124

Slide 133: FeedDigest • Limitations – Third party service could disappear at any time. – Limited to five feeds in free version. 133

Slide 134: Scrolling RSS News Ticker 134

Slide 138: Scrolling RSS News Ticker • Limitations – JavaScript required – Shows small advertisement 138

Slide 139: RSS Scrollbox Widget 139

Slide 142: RSS Scrollbox Widget • Limitations – JavaScript required – Shows small advertisement 142

Slide 143: Grazr 143

Slide 148: Grazr • Limitations – JavaScript required 148

Slide 149: LibraryThing Blog Widget 149

Slide 150: LibraryThing Blog Widget 150

Slide 151: LibraryThing Blog Widget • Limitations – Requires JavaScript – Requires LibraryThing account 151

Slide 152: Integrating RSS into Your Web site Part 5: Advanced Feed Manipulation Michael Sauers, BCR Internet Librarian 2006 22 October 2006

Slide 153: FeedBlendr 153

Slide 157: 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.” 157

Slide 158: FeedBurner 158

Slide 174: 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. 174

Slide 175: Feed Crier 175

Slide 176: Feed Crier 176

Slide 177: Feed Crier • Limitations – Only three feeds for free – Free version advertisement supported – Works only with AIM 177

Slide 178: ZapTXT 178

Slide 183: 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. 183

Slide 184: Mail2RSS 184

Slide 188: 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) 188

Slide 190: RssFwd 190

Slide 196: RssFwd • Limitations – Some (including me) argue that converting RSS to e-mail defeats the purpose of RSS. 196

Slide 197: Feed2Podcast 197

Slide 201: Feed2Podcast • Limitations – Your feeds are read by a computer generated voice. – Non-English words are not well supported. 201

Slide 202: Contact information Michael Sauers msauers@travelinlibrarian.info http://travelinlibrarian.info/ http://del.icio.us/travelinlibrarian/il2006/rss 202

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