Syndication allows content from websites to be shared through web feeds. Web feeds represent lists of updated content items that can be accessed by feed readers and subscriber devices. Common types of syndicated content include blog posts, news headlines, job listings, and photos. RSS and Atom are popular formats for web feeds, which are written in XML. Podcasts are a type of web feed that distributes audio or video files.

1. 3 Syndicating Content
Web 2.0:
Concepts and
Applications

2. Overview
 Syndication is the process of making a
summary of a Web site’s information available
to other Web sites and applications
 A Web feed represents the list of items that
are being shared
 Feed reader applications and devices access
the Web feed of each of the subscribed sites
and deliver any new content
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 2

3. Overview
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 3

4. Exploring Web Feeds
 RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is one of the
first and most popular types of Web feeds
 Web sites providing feeds usually display an
orange Web feed icon
– Feed icon
– RSS icon
– XML icon
 Google Reader is a popular feed reader
application
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 4

5. Exploring Web Feeds
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 5

6. Publish / Subscribe Model
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7. Exploring Web Feeds
 Many bloggers syndicate their blogs’ content
as Web feeds
 News sites syndicate news headlines
 Monster provides an RSS feed with job
postings
 eBay alerts users of daily deals
 Amazon keeps users informed about
bestsellers
 Flickr notifies users of new photos
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8. Exploring Web Feeds
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 8

9. Subscribing to
and Reading Feeds
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10. Subscribing to
and Reading Feeds
 The ability to subscribe to a feed is standard in
many Web browsers
 The method by which you subscribe to feeds
varies with each Web browser
 Every browser presents Web feeds differently
– Feeds are syndicated the same
• XML (Extensible Markup Language)
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11. Subscribing to
and Reading Feeds
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 11

12. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
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13. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
 Web-based feed readers
– Google Reader
• Contains feed searching capability
– Bloglines
 Client feed readers
– FeedDemon
– FeedReader
– Microsoft Outlook
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 13

14. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 14

15. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
 Blogs can contain gadgets to display Web feeds in
sidebar gadgets
– Gadgets update when blog is loaded or refreshed
 Blogger defaults to automatically create feeds for its
hosted blogs
– Also syndicates full content
 Professional bloggers manage their feeds and collect
information about how users interact with them
– Feed managing services
– Metrics
– Reach
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16. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 16

17. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
 Web-based applications incorporate data from
Web feeds to present it visually
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18. Formats for Web Feeds
 RSS 2.0 is the most widely used version of
RSS
– RSS is closed to further modifications
 Atom is a newer, evolving alternative to RSS
– Not as simple as RSS, but is becoming popular
 Differences between RSS and Atom are
transparent to the user
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 18

19. Formats for Web Feeds
 XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the
underlying technology used for describing
content syndicated using RSS and Atom feeds
– Tags describe information
• Opening tags
• Closing tags
– RSS and Atom feeds are the most common types
of content represented in XML
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20. Formats for Web Feeds
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 20

21. Formats for Web Feeds
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 21

22. Exploring Podcasts
 A podcast is a series of audio or video files
that are broadcast to a computer or personal
media player over the Internet by a publication
in an RSS feed
– Podcast reader
• iTunes
– You can download and watch podcast episodes
directly on a Web site, or with a Web-based
application
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23. Exploring Podcasts
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 23

24. Exploring Podcasts
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25. Exploring Podcasts
 Web-based podcast services contain directory
listings of audio and video podcasts
– Odeo manages podcast selections
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26. Features of Podcast Readers
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27. Anatomy of a Podcast Feed
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28. Creating Podcasts
 Requires basic equipment for recording and
editing digital audio and video
– Most laptops have built-in Webcams and
microphones, as well as recording software
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29. Creating Podcasts
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30. Configuring Blogger
to Support Podcasts
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31. Configuring Blogger
to Support Podcasts
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 31

32. Configuring Blogger
to Support Podcasts
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 32

33. Summary
 Syndication is a way to distribute and share Web
content
– Web feeds
 Users can subscribe to Web feeds using a Web
browser or a feed reader application
 Content publishers syndicate their content as feeds
using either the RSS or Atom formats, represented in
XML
 Podcasts are RSS feeds with an enclosed multimedia
file
Chapter 3: Syndicating Content 33

34. 3 Syndicating Content
Chapter 3
Complete
Web 2.0:
Concepts and
Applications