Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is a text-based method of content
distribution. A RSS feed is a text file that can be read by software
applications called news readers, often known as news aggregators. News readers
allow users to receive updated information from websites without opening their
web browser.
Write
Your Own RSS Feed
1.
Create
your RSS file.
Open your text editor and type in the following:
Open your text editor and type in the following:
<?xml
version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<channel>
<title>What's New on SITE NAME</title>
<link>URL OF THIS FILE</link>
<description>DESCRIPTION OF THIS FILE</description>
<atom:link href="URL OF THIS FILE" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<channel>
<title>What's New on SITE NAME</title>
<link>URL OF THIS FILE</link>
<description>DESCRIPTION OF THIS FILE</description>
<atom:link href="URL OF THIS FILE" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
</channel>
</rss>
</rss>
Change the
bold items to reflect your RSS file's information.
2.
Create
your first entry (called an "item" in RSS)
Under the <atom:link> tag, enter the item tag and the new article name:
Under the <atom:link> tag, enter the item tag and the new article name:
<item>
<title>LATEST ARTICLE TITLE</title>
<link>LATEST ARTICLE URL</link>
<title>LATEST ARTICLE TITLE</title>
<link>LATEST ARTICLE URL</link>
Use the
title and URL you want people to use to access the exact article. They will
become a link in your RSS feed.
3.
Add
in the publication date and time of the entry
The date must be in this format:
The date must be in this format:
Sun, 12 Aug 2012 10:12:10
-0500
Enter the date the article
was published:
<pubDate>Sun,
12 Aug 2012 10:12:10 -0500</pubDate>
You can put
future dates if you don't want to promote the article until later.
4.
Include
the article's permanent link
This may be the same as the link URL above, or it may be different.
This may be the same as the link URL above, or it may be different.
<guid
isPermaLink="true">LATEST ARTICLE URL</guid>
This should
be the URL that won't disappear - the permalink.
5.
Describe
the article and close the item
Write a description of the article that will display in the RSS feed.
Write a description of the article that will display in the RSS feed.
<description>LATEST
ARTICLE DESCRIPTION</description>
</item>
</item>
You may use
HTML tags in the description, but you must escape them as if
you were writing HTML tags to display on a Web page. For example: <b>This is bold</b>
6.
Validate
your feed http://validator.w3.org/appc/
7.
Repeat
from step 2 for each new entry. Place newest entries at the top of the file
(just below the atom:link tag).
Example
<?xml
version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>RSS Example</title>
<description>This is an example of an RSS feed</description>
<link>http://www.mybasicknowledge.com/link.htm</link>
<lastBuildDate> Sun, 12 Aug 2012 11:12:55 -0500 </lastBuildDate>
<pubDate>Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
<item>
<title>Item Example</title>
<description>This is an example of an Item</description>
<link>http://www.mybasicknowledge.com/link.htm</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false"> 1102345</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>RSS Example</title>
<description>This is an example of an RSS feed</description>
<link>http://www.mybasicknowledge.com/link.htm</link>
<lastBuildDate> Sun, 12 Aug 2012 11:12:55 -0500 </lastBuildDate>
<pubDate>Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
<item>
<title>Item Example</title>
<description>This is an example of an Item</description>
<link>http://www.mybasicknowledge.com/link.htm</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false"> 1102345</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
