Although I have learned to create my own RSS files from scratch, I have found it most convenient to create them with an RSS generation tool. I use Blogger Pro (http://www.blogger.com ). Blogger is a weblog service that provides an environment to produce date and time-stamped postings of information. Although Blogger offers free weblogs, only the Pro version (presently costing $35 per year for any number of blogs totaling no more than 100kb of text per month ) provides automatic RSS file generation of your web log content and the ability to assign team members to manage and update a weblog.

Blogger Pro must first be configured to create an RSS file. The resulting RSS file is then updated automatically each time you post an item to your weblog.

First, select Settings:

Then select the Format tab:

Scroll down and select "Yes" for the Titles field and the URL field :

Then highlight and copy the code under the URL field (it includes the code under the Title field).

Save your changes. Then click on the Template button:

Scroll down to the section that begins with the <Blogger> tag and insert the Title/URL text below the </BlogDateHeader> tag:

Save your template changes and click the Publish button to apply your new template.

You should now see a Title field and URL field in your posting environment.

Now press the Settings button again and choose the RSS tab.

Select your Descriptions option. With the None option, none of your own text would appear in the RSS file, only the Title and URL. With the Small option, the first paragraph of your text up to 255 characters will appear with the Title and URL. With the Full option, your entire text will appear as well as the Title and the URL.

Scroll down and fill in your server directory location (like your other Blogger settings, use the full path from the root level of your host server), the filename you would like to use for your RSS file and the URL to your RSS file and click Save Changes:

You're now ready to become the next competitor to CNN!

Blogger just released a new version of their Blogger Pro interface that resolves some earlier glitches they had with converting apostrophes and certain keyboard symbols properly into RSS compatible code. So if you had an earlier experience with Blogger and encountered problems with the RSS output, give it another try. I think you'll be pleased with the results. There is one thing to remember, however, about using certain keyboard symbols. If you have selected English as the language for your weblog you need to avoid foreign characters including foreign currency symbols.

Using Images in Your News Feed

RSS files can also include images. Blogger Pro lets you upload files to attach to your post but I prefer to insert HTML image source code into a post so I can manipulate the placement and alignment of the image. However, it is important to remember the code must include an absolute (full) path to the image:

<img src="http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Emharrsch/commodusromansimss.jpg" align="right">

I usually just keep Dreamweaver open, insert the image I want into a blank Dreamweaver page, set the alignment, size, etc. then copy the <img src ... code. Then with my web post in the edit window of Blogger, place my cursor in the position of my web posting that I wish the image to appear and select paste. You'll see the result in the lower post list window.

When the RSS file is created it includes the image reference as well and displays the image appropriately.

Publicizing Your News Feed

To publicize your news feed, submit your RSS file URL to an aggregator like http://www.syndic8.com . Syndic8 will not only add your file to their database of over 13,000 news feeds but provide links to other news feeds you may wish to use in creating a news portal. I also recommend including a link to your RSS file in your web log template so it appears on your web page and can be easily copied by others interested in integrating your news file into a news portal.

Using Online Utilities to Produce a News Portal

Since news feeds cannot be displayed directly as HTML, embedding a news feed in a web page requires the use of CGI or Javascript. However, there are free tools on the web to help you with this as well. I presently use a site provided by Wytheville Community College:

http://www.wc.cc.va.us/services/news/

UKOLN in the U.K. provide a similar service.

I simply select an appropriate feed from Syndic8, right click on the XML tag and copy the shortcut.

Then I paste it into the javascipt tool on Wyethville's page and press Enter. If the feed contains no errors, it will display the appropriate script to copy and paste into your web page.

It also nicely formats the feed with a gold title bar. If the feed contains an error, you can trouble shoot the feed by clicking on their "Validate feed" link. Although you can't correct someone else's feed, you can use the tool to check one of your own or to provide the information to email to the feed publisher to aid them in correcting their feed. Here is a page created this way (http://interact.uoregon.edu/RSSNews/ITnews.html):

Spread The Word

Since RSS production and use is still rather new, I try to "spread the word" about its potential use. When I find a web page that contains news items that I would like to include in one of my news portals, but the page does not appear to offer an XML link, I e-mail the webmaster with information about RSS, links to basic resources, and an explanation of how I would like to use an RSS feed from their site.

Scraping a Website to Produce an RSS Feed

You can also create an RSS feed for another website using a scraping utility at http://www.myrss.com. You simply copy the URL into the utility and click Create:

A page will be generated listing the newly created feeds in different formats:

You can then copy and paste the feed into a javascript utility like the one at Wytheville Community College or RSSExpress and copy the resulting javascript into your news portal web page. A custom RSS file is still preferable since robotic generation may include "housekeeping" links, but an automatically generated file can serve the purpose until the institution begins to produce their own file.

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: 06/23/2003