Creating an RSS News Feed with Text
The RSS file itself, like its HTML cousin, is a simple text file. It begins with two lines to identify the version of XML and RSS that can utilize the file:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="0.91">
This is followed by "channel" information to describe the type of
news contained in the file, the related Url of the publication, the language
used, contact information, etc. Example:
<channel>
<title>Roman Archaeology</title> <link>http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mharrsch/romanarch.html</link>
<description>Items of interest about excavations and history of the ancient
Roman world</description>
<language>en-us</language>
Then each news item, enclosed by the <item></item> tag, includes a title, a URL, and a description. Example:
<item>
<title>Wooden cart and team found in Roman grave </title>
<link>http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=262 </link>
<description>A team working under archaeologist Diamantis Triandafyllos
uncovered the four-wheeled cart, which was decorated with bronze ornaments and
buried along with the two horses that drew it, in a large tumulus near the village
of Mikri Doxipara, some 25 kilometers. </description>
</item>
After all news items have been included, the document closes with:
</channel>
</rss>
XML does have a few characters that are reserved for special purposes. These characters must be replaced by their XML equivalents: The five most common are:
& for the ampersand &
" for the double quote "
' for the single quote '
< for the less-than bracket <
> for the greater-than bracket >
XML also does not like emdashes. I replace these with two hyphens (--).
To make sure you haven't overlooked any special characters or made a mistake in your tags, you can validate your RSS file at http://feeds.archive.org/validator/check.
If you have an RSS feed that
would be of interest
to faculty and students at the College
of Education
please contact Mary Harrsch.
Last updated: 03/05/2003