All you Need to Know About Rss

What does RSS mean?

RSS may mean three different things. The original RSS (RDF Site Summary RSS 0.9) was developed by Dan Libby for Netscape. After a few months, they produced a simpler and easier to use version of Rich Site Summary or RSS 0.91 times. But they later lost interest, so that without an owner. As more and more users were using RSS feeds, Winer has an adapted version of RSS 0.91 for Userland, claiming it as his own. Later in 2005, Microsoft developed Really Simple Syndication in relation to its Simple Sharing Extensions.

What is RSS?

RSS is a syndicated content and news in the XML file format. It is commonly used sites, often need to be updated regularly, such as news websites (CNN, BBC and Reuters) and weblogs content. Because it essentially gives the pages more traffic, are now more widespread use of marketing, online publications and virus reports. Today, large and small sites often have turned to RSS technology.

For example, you are an avid baseball fan, you want to share a little about one of the most recent players. The above things, you can also attach multimedia files, such as video or pictures. By using RSS feeds, other Internet users to subscribe to the RSS feature to your site can read, "the title of freedom." They can also track the changes and the use of news aggregators, which will be discussed later updates.

How does RSS work?

In order to be able to use RSS, you must first download a software (content management system), in which XML format can be read. Headlines and excerpts of articles, and a link to the full article display. Not just words, but also can insert multimedia files of the RSS sources such as pictures, video, MP3 and others. Broadcatching, picturecasting, Photocasting photos and podcasts of some of the features, you can into your feed, but not discussed in this article.

For users to access an RSS feed, they must use an aggregator or feed reader. An aggregator searches for updates on RSS-enabled web pages then displays them. It can be either a standalone program or a web browser extension, depending on your operating system. Broadcast search engines for web content via RSS feed are also available as Plazoo and Feedster.

How can I make an RSS feed?

It is certainly easier to make an RSS feed if you know HTML. If not, you can subscribe to a blog (there are hundreds out there), some of which automatically creates RSS. If using a personal webpage building system, you need to understand more about RSS. Making an RSS feed from scratch is relatively easy.

A RSS feed should always contain an "item", whichever version of RSS you might use. If you wrote about a recent event in your city or a book review, the contents of this article can form an item. An item is essentially composed of three things: a title, its description, and link (where they can find your webpage). In choosing a title and description, use something that will describe the web content best. Although it will be easier for you, it doesn't follow that the title tag of your webpage and the item title are the same.

An item will look like HTML tags. First, you need an opening channel tag that put it as an XML file defined. Then, label the tag as an item by it after the channel tag. Then you can now insert the three essentials of your item:,, and. Just like HTML, we need to close the day in writing and on the ground.

An RSS feed that contains multiple tags looks like this:




Anne Rice's Belinda: A Book Review
If you haven't read any Anne Rice books yet, you will be greeted with shocking romantic relationships forming between unlikely characters...
http://allaboutbookreviews.com/belinda

Harry Potter IV: Darker with More Deaths
The recently released Harry Potter installation has proved dark for its younger readers...
http://allaboutbookreviews.com/harrypotterandthehalfbloodprince



Now, if you're still having a hard time understanding these tags, look for HTML tags tutorial to further grasp the concept. Have fun!

Making an RSS Feed

What Is RSS?

How does RSS work or delivery? You have about a particular topic, say issuing a new Web page. Topics that other people will be interested to know about it. Your RSS file

What does RSS stand for? There's a can of worms. RSS as introduced by Netscape in 1999 then later abandoned in 2001 stood for "Rich Site Summary." Another version of RSS pioneered by UserLand Software stands for "Really Simple Syndication." In yet another version, RSS stands for "RDF Site Summary."

History buffs might be interested that there's been some rivalry over who invented RSS. This is why we have both different names and indeed different "flavors" or versions of RSS. Mark Pilgrim's written an excellent article, What Is RSS, that charts the different versions with recommendations on which to use. I'll also revisit the version choice you'll need to make. But first, let's look more closely at some basics of what goes into any RSS file.

How Easy Is RSS?

I've been exploring RSS because it was time that Search Engine Watch offered its own stories in this manner. I've read several tutorials about making a feed, and they generally suggest that it is easy. They often offer code that you can "cut-and-paste" and link over to specifications that I actually don't find that clear.

For example, the RSS 2.0 specification has an "cloud" element that's optional but which a lay person might still wonder if they should use it. Meanwhile, heaven help the person who stumbles into the RSS 1.0 specification and its complicated RDF syntax.

Sure, making an RSS file IS easy for many. If you understand HTML, you'll probably understand enough to do a cut-and-paste from someone else's RSS file to make your own file. Don't know HTML? Start a blog, because several blogging tools automatically generates RSS files.

For those who use non-WYSIWYG web page building tools or personal home page building systems technical staff, and confidence. Even if you can create an RSS file from scratch, as long as you have the extra features, you may not need some exemptions. We will how to do this below. Later, I will mention some of the tools, and even do some or all of your work.

The RSS File

At the heart of an RSS file are "items." No matter what version of RSS you settle on, your file will have to include at least one item. Items are generally web pages that you'd like others to link to. For example, let's say you just created a web page reviewing a new cell phone that's being released. Information about that page would form an item.

To enter your item into the RSS file, you'll need three bits of information:

* Title

* Description

* Link

Requires a precise description of the item title or to see the items on the Web page's HTML tags do not match the title, and description meta tags, they do not know (what I assume is what you use ? of my HTML tags to see the article about how to use what). Any title and description, we can write a page describing. However, the title of your page using the meta description tag, and certainly easy to copy, RSS feeds to create a paste.

In the case of our example page, let's say this is the information we settle on to define it as an item:

Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

I've been playing with the new Nokia 3650. Finally, someone has got the combination of a cell phone with digital camera capabilities right!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/nokia3650.html

Now we have to surround XML tags and their information. These HTML tags are exceptions, HTML, unlike XML which does not exist to set a definition similar to the tag. Anyone can configure a specific XML tags. Is convenient if the resulting XML file is read depends on the program. RSS feed is an XML tag is defined, and set their own feed. To correct them, read RSS feeds that information to understand and use?

Did that make your head spin? If so, don't reread -- just carry on to see how simple it is. First, open a text editor like Notepad. We're going to build our RSS file using it.

For your title, you need to start it with thetag, then follow this with the text of the title, then end with thetag. It looks like this:

Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

For your description, you do the same, starting out with the openingtag, then following with the actual description, then "closing" with thetag. Now you have this:

Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

I've been playing with the new Nokia 3650. Finally, someone has got the combination of a cell phone with digital camera capabilities right!

Next, we add the link information, beginning with , following with the actual hyperlink, then closing with . That gives us this:

Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

I've been playing with the new Nokia 3650. Finally, someone has got the combination of a cell phone with digital camera capabilities right!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/nokia3650.html

Now there's one more thing we need to do. We actually have to define all this information as forming a particular "item," which we do using a special item tag.

You place the opening item tag,at the top or start of all the information we've listed. You then place the closing item tag, , at the bottom or "end" of the item information. The finished product looks like this:



Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

I've been playing with the new Nokia 3650. Finally, someone has got the combination of a cell phone with digital camera capabilities right!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/nokia3650.html



Congratulations! You've now made your first item. There's a bit more to do to finish our RSS file. First, what if we have other items we want to syndicate? Then we simply add more item elements, just as we did above. You can have up to 15 items. New items tend to be inserted at the top, with old items removed from the bottom, to make room for new stuff.

With our example, let's see how things look if we add two more items:



Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

I've been playing with the new Nokia 3650. Finally, someone has got the combination of a cell phone with digital camera capabilities right!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/nokia3650.html





Sanyo Tablet PC Amazes!

I was dubious about the new Tablet PCs, but then I saw the latest from Sanyo. Wow, cool looks and it works!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/sanyotablet.html





Canon MegaTiny Digital Camera Too Small

OK, there is a limit to just how small is too small. Canon's MetaTiny, no larger than a quarter, simply is too little to use properly

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/metatiny.html



Having defined items we want to distribute, we now have to define our site as a "channel." You'll use the same tags as with the items: title, description and link. However, this time the information will be about your entire site, rather than a particular page. That means our channel information would look like this:

All Gadgets Reviewed

If it's a gadget, we review it. Learn what gadgets are hot and what's not!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com

Now, how does something reading our RSS file know that the information above is for our "channel" when it looks just like item information? Simple. As long as we don't surround this information with an opening and closingtags, it won't be seen as item information but rather as channel information. That gives us this:

All Gadgets Reviewed

If it's a gadget, we review it. Learn what gadgets are hot and what's not!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com



Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

I've been playing with the new Nokia 3650. Finally, someone has got the combination of a cell phone with digital camera capabilities right!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/nokia3650.html





Sanyo Tablet PC Amazes!

I was dubious about the new Tablet PCs, but then I saw the latest from Sanyo. Wow, cool looks and it works!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/sanyotablet.html





Canon MegaTiny Digital Camera Too Small

OK, there is a limit to just how small is too small. Canon's MetaTiny, no larger than a quarter, simply is too little to use properly

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/metatiny.html



There are a few last things we need to do. First, we need to add a tag at the very top of the file saying that this is written according to the XML 1.0 specifications. Right under this, we also have to say what RSS version we are using.

So far, everything we've done is compatible with UserLand's popular RSS 0.91 version. However, it also matches UserLand's latest RSS 2.0 version, as well, so we'll define the file as meeting that specification. This will allow us to add other neat features in the future, if we want.

Finally, after the RSS tag, we need to add an opening "channel" tag. That gives us this at the top of the file:







At the bottom of the file, after all the items we want to syndicate, we have to insert a closing channel and RSS tag, in that order. Those look like this:

This means our complete file looks like this:







All Gadgets Reviewed

If it's a gadget, we review it. Learn what gadgets are hot and what's not!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com



Nokia 3650 Combines Phone And Photos

I've been playing with the new Nokia 3650. Finally, someone has got the combination of a cell phone with digital camera capabilities right!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/nokia3650.html





Sanyo Tablet PC Amazes!

I was dubious about the new Tablet PCs, but then I saw the latest from Sanyo. Wow, cool looks and it works!

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/sanyotablet.html





Canon MegaTiny Digital Camera Too Small

OK, there is a limit to just how small is too small. Canon's MetaTiny, no larger than a quarter, simply is too little to use properly

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/metatiny.html







Mind Blowing Options

Everything shown above is the bare basics you need to create a file and start syndicating content from your web site. However, there are additional things you could do.

For example, rather than your entire web site being a "channel," you could actually have different content from within the web site be defined into separate channels. That's something I'm not going to explore in this article, but some of the resources below will guide you through this, when you feel more comfortable.

As suggested, RSS 2.0 allows you to insert any kind of additional information in your feed. It is your heads and watch them spin, you can decide what to use. The simple answer is, please do not worry about what you do not know. Provide all the options not all aggregators. Above proposal to provide only minimal information, but should be fine.

Did I Choose The Right RSS Version?

Earlier, I'd mentioned there are different versions of RSS. Even though we entered the bare minimum of information, it turned out that we were able to have a file that was easily considered to be RSS 2.0, the latest version promoted by UserLand and which is widely used.

Indeed, the Syndic8 site reports that the most popular format of RSS by far is RSS 0.91 -- and though we've used RSS 2.0, our file as shown is entirely compatible with RSS 0.91. In short, we're in safe company.

What about that RSS 1.0 version that I said was complicated. Well, it is complicated. However, some people might want to make use of some of the special capabilities that it offers. If you are interested in it, then check out the official specification.

Saving The File

Now that we're done adding to the file, we need to save it. But what name shall we give it? I've looked and not seen any guidance on this. I imagine that's because as long as the file is valid (more below), it probably doesn't matter what it's called.

To make my own decision for Search Engine Watch, I decided to imitate what I saw out at UserLand, which promotes the RSS 2.0 standard that we used. UserLand's example feeds all ended .xml, so let's do the same. As for the first part, that really can be whatever you like. For our example, let's say we just call it feed.xml.

Now that our file is saved, we can place it anywhere we want on our web server. Let's say we put it in the root or home directory. Then the address to our RSS file would be:

http://allgadgetsreviewed.com/feed.xml

Validating The File

Now our RSS file is done, but did we do it right? To find out, we need to validate it. Use the aptly named Feed Validator service. Simply enter the address to your RSS file, and you'll be told if everything is OK -- or if there's something wrong you need to fix.

How about a quick preview of how your new feed actually looks? Then pay a visit to Wytheville Community College News Center. Again, enter your feed URL, and you'll see the clickable headlines and story descriptions nicely assembled inside a box.

The service will also generate a JavaScript code that you can post on your site. Anyone copying the JavaScript can automatically have your feed syndicated into their pages -- pretty neat!

Get Syndicated!

Now that your file is validated, you want the world to know about it! To make this happen, visit the RSS directories and search engines listed in the RSS: Your Gateway To News & Blog Content article. They generally offer submission pages, where you can inform them of your feed.

You also want to make sure people who come to your web site see that you provide a feed. It's very common to post a link to the feed somewhere on the home page of a web site. If you have a dedicated news page, you may want to put it there, as well.

You can link to your feed using a normal HTML link. However, many websites have a small orange XML button to use to the feed link. I've also seen some sites with a blue RSS icon. I could find no standard about using these. So, to be sure I have all three of Search Engine Watch. Search on the homepage, and you'll see how it's done (and help yourself to the icons, when you need it).

Finally, it's good to "ping" one of the major services that track when web logs and RSS content changes. By doing this, you ensure that other sites that monitor these know to check back at your site for more content.

Weblogs.com is one of these major sites. Enter your site's name and the URL of your feed into the manual Ping-Site Form, and it will know you've updated your feed. The Specs page explains how to set up automatic notification.

blo.gs is another major change monitoring site. It is supposed to receive any changes that come from Weblogs.com, so you shouldn't need to notify it separately. However, if you want to be on the safe side, it's easily done. Use the ping form, which also explains how to set up automatic pinging, as well.

Tutorials & Resources

RSS Headline Creator, you can skip and manually coding the number of headlines you want to choose your file, up to the 15 maximum allowed. Then a form with fields that you be made complete. Enter the correct information, then press the

How To Get Your Web Site Content Syndicated is a Dec. 2002 tutorial by Kalena Jordan and Dan Thies from which I drew inspiration to get my own feed going.

Syndic8's How To Section lists a variety of tutorials that discuss how to build RSS files.

Content Syndication with RSS is a book by Ben Hammersley that was just released in March 2003. I haven't read it, but everything I've heard is that it should be excellent.

RSS Resources Directory from UserLand categorizes helpful information related to RSS, in different categories.

Postscript: Search Types: Blogs & Feeds and SEO: Feeds are sections of the Search Topics area available to Search Engine Watch members with lots of information on the topic of feeds since this article was originally written.

http://freeadvertise.co.nr

Getting Summary Command Information

The Windows PowerShell Get-Command cmdlet retrieves the names of all available commands. When you type Get-Command at a Windows PowerShell prompt, you will see output similar to the following:

PS> Get-Command

CommandType Name Definition

----------- ---- ----------

Cmdlet Add-Content Add-Content [-Path] <String[...

Cmdlet Add-History Add-History [[-InputObject] ...

Cmdlet Add-Member Add-Member [-MemberType] <PS...

...

This output looks a lot like the Help output of Cmd.exe: a tabular summary of internal commands. In the extract of the Get-Command command output shown above, every command shown has a CommandType of Cmdlet. A Cmdlet is Windows PowerShell's intrinsic command type that corresponds roughly to the dir and cd commands of Cmd.exe and to built-ins in UNIX shells such as BASH.

In the output of the Get-Command command, all of the definitions end with ellipses (...) to indicate that PowerShell cannot display all of the content in the available space. When Windows PowerShell displays output, it formats the output as text and then arranges it to make the data fit cleanly into the window. We will talk about this later in the section on formatters.

The Get-Command cmdlet has a Syntax parameter that allows you to retrieve just the syntax of each cmdlet. Enter the Get-Command -Syntax command to display the full output:

PS> Get-Command -Syntax

Add-Content [-Path] <String[]> [-Value] <Object[]> [-PassThru] [-Filter <String>] [-Include <String[]>] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Force] [Credential <PSCredential>] [-Verbose] [-Debug] [-ErrorAction <ActionPreference>] [-ErrorVariable <String>] [-OutVariable <String>] [-OutBuffer <Int32>] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [-Encoding <FileSystemCmdletProviderEncoding>]

Add-History [[-InputObject] <PSObject[]>] [-Passthru] [-Verbose] [-Debug] [-ErrorAction <ActionPreference>] [-ErrorVariable <String>] [-OutVariable <String>][-OutBuffer <Int32>]...