From the TV footage of a street interview I watched, passers-by where randomly asked what RSS meant. We would expect many answers to this strange question,from highly convincing answers like Royal Security Service to intriguing once like Really Safe Sex. Fair enough, but what the interviewer wanted as answer was: REALLY SIMPLE SYNDICATION.
We have surely experienced the evolution of some features of the internet; be it the innovation to more stylish graphics or the quick response to requests,all because of the improvement of many things we won't get into for the sake of this topic. RSS is simply one of such things (Applications or Technologies) that have contributed to the improvement of the Internet. But this time around, RSS has improved the EASE with which Information is SHARED and RETRIEVED over the Internet.
The internet has become a repertoire for all sorts of information, and an increasing number of people have turn to the web to quench their thirst for information. Unfortunately, it comes with a price,they become information junkies.The material is endless so they suffer from 'Information Overload'.
As a result;the quality of the content of a site become very crucial for its success because surfers can search elsewhere with a click of the mouse,and maybe never come back. They may also find a site really useful and later lost track of it .Be it for personal or corporate use,we now agree there is a need to have one location to keep track of all your content of interest.
Again we will prefer our information in one window, chronologically organised by source and date, this will be less strenuous and will be a real time saver. That is what RSS is all about, aggregating(grouping) our desired information from different sites to one easily accessible location. RSS is ideal to communicate in an age where the amount of information is huge and constantly changing.
RSS is technology based on XML( eXtensible Markup Language). RSS does not only take care of the ease of facilitating sharing and retrieval of e-information ,but also facilitates Customisation of this information to suit the reading taste of each reader.
RSS,like the internet itself has grown/evolved gradually throughout the course of its history. It is interesting to know that this growth has been in three perspectives:
1.) obviously in fuctionality ( main focus of this Research)
2.) in name
3.) in identity (notation).
point 2 and 3 are illustrated below in order of growth:
Rich Site Summary - RSS 0.91
RDF(Resource Description Framework) - RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90
Really Simple Syndication - RSS 2.0
RSS 2.0 is the latest version. It is a component of the umbrella term Web 2.0, which was coined with the aim of describing an array of latest internet technologies .
Knowing all this, we should feel confident to reloop our mind and reconsider RSS in detail.
Really Simple( maybe because it is really simple to learn and apply)
Syndication ( to organise and share in a manageable manner).
RSS is better understood from two perspectives. The Distributors/Publishers of information over the net, and the Recipient/Readers.
RSS: Publishers Perspective
If you are a provider of information over the web, RSS is the ideal Technology that 'feeds' news information (from your web page) to a subscriber. This justifies the name RSS Feed or RSS news Feed or simply News Feed,which is the means through which these publishers syndicate their web content. When Subscribed to an RSS Feed, it gathers undated articles and makes it available to the RSS Feed Reader.
RSS: Readers Perspective.
For a reader RSS is a Technology used for receiving updates from contents of a web page enabled with this technology. While the publishers use RSS Feed to distribute their updated articles, the readers use RSS Readers or RSS Aggregators (news aggregators, feed readers) to read them.
RSS Aggregator is a client software that uses web feed to retrieve syndicated web content such as Blogs, podcasts, and news from mainstream mass media websites.
OVERVIEW OF HOW RSS WORKS
-The publisher identifies the content of their website they update regularly and that they want people to be able to subscribe to.
-The publishers create an RSS document that describes and links to that content. Most RSS documents contain several items, each linking to different locations on a web site
-The reader subscribes to the feed(also called opting-in) by entering the feed link into the feed reader, or by clicking an RSS Icon/Graphic in the browser that initiates the subscription process. Many sites who syndicate their content indicate so by displaying a small RSS Icons/Graphics, with the acronyms RSS, XML, RDF or related indicators.
-Once subscribed, the reader opens his feed reader(e.g. Google Reader) and checks his subscribed feed regularly for any updated content. The format of distributing these feed content is more regarded as the RSS Aggregators pulling updated content from its subscribed feeds, rather than the RSS Feeds actually feeding/pushing its content to the RSS Aggregators.
History of Web Syndication Technology.
several attempts to syndicate web content have existed before RSS; none have gained much popularity as RSS, partly because most were envisioned to work only with a single service.Two of the earliest examples are Backweb and Pointcast.
Between 1995 and 1997, a certain Ramanathan V. Guha along side others at Apple Computer Advance Technology Group Developed the Meta Content Framework (MCF). MCF was a specification for Structuring metadata information about web sites and other data. MCF was the base for projects like Project X ( Hot Sauce), a 3D flythrough visualiser for the web. When the project was discontinued Guha left Apple for Netscape.
When Guha came to Netscape in 1997 and after meeting with consultant Tim Bray, who was working on XML,he decided to turn MCF into an XML application. They both adapted MCF to use XML and then submitted their specifications to W3C in June 1997. The combination of MCF and XML later gave rise to RDF.
With time, there was a continuous attempt to improve these technology,but none succeeded in making a boom like todays RSS 2.0 .The attempts varied from company level like the Channel Definition Format (CDF) of Microsoft to enhance the Active Channel of Internet Explorer 4.0 to individuals like Dave Winer, who designed his own syndication format for use in his scripting news weblog.
In March 1999, Netscape came up with RDF Site Summary; an Acronym inside an acronym,surely to confuse people. This was to be used in the My Netscape portal,an attempt to automatically add news from other sites to Netscape's web site (www.mynetscape.com). However, visitors did not have direct access to the RSS;they only saw the results.This was the first syndication to become known as RSS.It was called RSS,numbered 0.9.(Why start with such a number? The answer is still buried in the overload of Internet information. Hopefully one day RSS will aggregate this information about its own history).
Later in 1999 Libby updated the RSS as version 0.91 to include more features and to make it simpler. One of the ways he made it simpler was to ditch the RDF format and make RSS a straight XML format, then came the need to change the name. To keep the same acronym, Libby decided that RSS stood for Rich Site Summary. Userland adopted this new version of RSS, and Netscape stopped developing RSS.
The idea was very much cherished, so late in 2000, a group of developers led by Rael Dornfest,developed RSS version 1.0,this time, based on RDF. This version had modules that allowed developers to extend the functionality of RSS to meet their needs. Three standard modules/functionalities were:
- Dublin Core Module (Specified data, such as the creator,title,creation time,publisher etc)
- Syndicate Module ( Gave hint for content syndication relating to the frequency of updates)
- Content Module (Allowed sending of the actual text of an item)
Dave Winer, who some consider the pioneer of RSS, left Userland but was still interested in RSS. So in 2002 he came out with RSS 2.0 and decided it will stand for Really Simple Syndication. This version 2.0 introduced the following major new features:
- Tags for publishing new dates(very important for Blogging ).
- A unique identifier called a guid, Global Unique Identifier ( allows RSS readers to redisplay items if their name or other information changes)
- Support for namespaces( a namespace is a feature of XML that allows you to refer to URL that specifies standards that you want to use, allowing you to add extended features to your RSS feed).
Recently, developers including Sam Ruby came up with this RSS format they called Atom. Atom is also based on XML structure. This development was in response to an attempt of add new features to feeds to improve control, add internationalisation options, make the tag definitions more precise and standardised, and offer the ability to add features without changing the core structure(Style sheet idea).
Atoms are fairly new and till now,not all RSS readers can decipher/read Atoms,but again it is a fast changing environment.
For in depth detail on the evolution from RDF Site Summary to present day RSS 2.0 click this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_web_syndication_technology
Below are links to summarised point by point accounts of the history of RSS from different perspective.
History of RSS compiled in 2003 by Joseph Reagle
History of RSS compiled in 2004 by Dave Winer
History of the RSS fork compiled in 2002 by Mark Pilgrim
WHY USE RSS (Advantages)
The reason why RSS is growing so quickly is that it serves users well, it is easy to use and most of it's components are free.For the sake of clarity,we will divide the advantages in three main groups: Subscriber Advantage, Publishers advantage, Advantages for a Business (company ).
Subscriber Advantage
- News in one place: all your news consolidated in one place saving you lots of time.
- News when you want it: Rather than waiting for e-mail, you go to your RSS reader when you want. RSS feeds also display information quicker than websites,and they can be read offline.
- Only news you want:This offers subscribers the choice to opt-in only to content of interest.RSS feeds come in the form of head lines and brief description,headlines can be quickly scanned, and only the stories of interest are clicked.
- RSS avoids e-mail traps:Going through all your e-mail,whether legitimate or spam is a hassle.
- The Ease of republishing: you may be both a subscriber and a publisher,you can have a sites that collects news from other sites and republish them.Thank you RSS.
- Easier publishing: People subscribe so you don't have to maintain a database of subscribers or send to them your information. Publishing daily becomes a real and easy possibility.
- Simpler to write: With the constant update of new content on your site,you only need to write titles, descriptions and links back to your site.
- Assurance of reaching your subscribers:Again it is not subjected to spam,so subscribers get the feed, and only the feed the subscribe to.
- Links back to your Site: RSS feeds always include links back to a website, you can use RSS to increase traffic on your site.
- Facilitates online business: RSS can be used to feed new information to customers, prospective customers, the media, investors and so on. For example Amazon now has RSS feed for every conceivable topic,advertising new entries in their sales list to subscribers.
- Controlling information flow: companies have begun to use RSS to communicate internally. After all,companies need to communicate with their employees,often over long distances. It can also be used in situations like updating employees with the latest procedures,keeping in mind RSS advantage over e-mails.
- Using RSS as an intranet or extranet: RSS can be used over an intranet or extranet, for security of internal data. Companies are starting to use blogs for several purposes, e.g. to publish 'Daily thought from the CEO', latest news from HRD etc. All this information can be published in RSS format, enabling employees to get multiple feeds without going from location to location on the network.
- Managing documents with RSS: Help keep a unified document up to date while notifying employees of instant changes.
THE FUTURE OF RSS TECHNOLOGY
Just like the internet itself, RSS is always growing/improving,and developers are coming up with new tools to enhance RSS feeds. In 2004 Bill Gates mentioned Blogging and RSS in his annual CEO summit, praising them as the tools to ease future communication between customers,suppliers and employees. His prediction is obvious today.
-The future of RSS lies in its transformation from the Blogspere to the corporates environment, where it will monetise itself.
-Perhaps e-mail programs will begin to include the ability to read feeds.
-There is also the possibility of including adverts on RSS feeds, hence generating revenue for feed publishers.
-Increasing popularity in RSS will enable subscribers not only subscribe to blogs and news but also to content feed like Audios, Videos, Document,s Photos, Calender events,playlists etc).
-Also adding multimedia to RSS feeds is the next big challenge. Podcasting (delivering an audio file through an RSS feed) is already available for the few who know it. Videos too can be added( e.g trailer of latest movie,product demonstration etc).
-RSS has also jumped to internet enabled mobile devices like cell phones and PDAs, with the challenges of fitting all its features/functionalities in these devices.
-Personally, I envisage an era when RSS feeds will be automatically created by 'scraping' from HTML. Say programs that will just take web page content that we want in our RSS feed and automatically create the feed.
COMPONENTS OF RSS
RSS can be divided into 2 main groups as already outlined, RSS Feed and RSS Readers.
Haven explained RSS feed, we will like to answer the question:
Can any of the RSS versions be used?
The answer is YES, all versions still exist and are in use,especially 0.91, 1.0, 2.0. Unfortunately the versions are not compatible with one another. Fortunately all readers simply read all versions,so it rarely makes much difference which version you use. The need for a choice will come in when special features of the different versions need to be implemented.
The following links will help you make a choice on which RSS version to use:
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=674690
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html
Different categories of RSS readers
Below is a description of the three categories of Feed readers, in the words of http://www.hemscott.com/helppages/rss/guide_to_rss.htmDesktop applications readers:
Desktop RSS readers are fast and easy to use. You install them onto your computer like any other program. Free readers include Sharp SharpReader, FeedReader, RSSReader, and Omea Reader.
Web-based readers:
Free websites like Bloglines and NewsGator allow you to log in and check your feeds, a lot like web-based email accounts. Use a web-based RSS reader if you want to be able to check your feeds from any computer in any location.
Web browsers with built in RSS readers:
The most recent web browsers have RSS readers built in. The latest versions of Mozilla Firefox and Apple's Safari both have native support for RSS feeds, as well as version 7 of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
HOW TO CREATE AND LAUNCH YOUR RSS FEED.Just like web sites, RSS feeds can be developed from scratch using theRSS tags in an orderly XML format or with an automated RSS tool.
-Most blogging tools create RSS feeds,either by selecting an option or automatically.e.g Blogger and LiveJournal.
-Some Content Management Systems now have tools to create RSS feeds;this is well suited for complex websites with many pages.
-Some online services provide templates and services that automate the RSS feed creation process. e.g FeedFire's online service, UKOLN, NewzAlert etc.
-We also have RSS feed packages for sale like FeedforAll (http://www.feedforall.com/)
CREATING RSS FEED FROM SCRATCH
Before we start, here is a link to the different RSS versions and their respective tags:
http://www.rssfeeds.com/versions.php
STEP 1 ( Writing the RSS Feed)
For the purpose of clarity and simplicity, we will consider version 0.91, remember the same underlying principle applies for the rest.
Typical Structure of RSS Version 0.91
N.B: More tags can be added to the structure to cater for different functionalities that the feed creator might want the feed to have:
As explained by http://www.thesmallest.com/lessonettes/rssstructure.html
-All RSS tags are proper ‘container’ items; an opening one and a closing one is wrapped around your data to define it, in classic XML style.
-Start by typing
-Inside this set you need the tag set which sets out a channel. This is done with the channel tag (open and close)
-Before you go any further, though, you need to give your channel a title, a home page-style URL link, and a description, using title tag and the description tag(open and close).
-If this has aroused your anxiety, please follow the links below:
Here is a link that attempts to explain the meanings of RSS 0.91 tags (again, remember it applies for all versions)
http://backend.userland.com/rss091
Some links on how to create an RSS Feed:
http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2175271
http://www.rss-specifications.com/creating-rss-feeds.htm
STEP 2 ( Uploading your RSS file)
-The next step is saving and uploading the file. We may want to give it any name; but let us remember, it is better with an extension '.xml '(e.g. 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 can be:
http//:www.ivanmakoge.blogspot.com/feed.xml
STEP 3 ( Validating your Feed)
-Now that RSS file is done,we need to validate it to make sure that the file complies with XML and RSS rules.
-it is always advisable to use the aptly named Feed Validator service. Simply enter the address of your RSS file, and you'll be told if everything is OK or if there's something wrong which you need to fix.
- A quick preview of how your feed actually works would be of help. So go to Wytheville Community College News Center, enter your feed URL and see the clickable headlines and story descriptions nicely assembled. The service can also automatically generate JavaScript codes, anyone can use to subscribe to your feed.
STEP 4 (Subscribing and Syndicating your Feed)
-Now that your feed is perfect,open your RSS reader and subscribe to it. If you haven't created an RSS icon yet, just enter your feed URL. Your Feed should appear immediately.
-Now that your Feed is valid you want the world to know about it,anyway that is the purpose of RSS. To realiase this, 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.
-Remember, though you can link to your feed through a URL link,it is always better to use any of the conventional icons to do so.
-At this stage, fell free to call yourself an RSS Developer; but I'm sorry to say it is simply the end of a long beginning.
Details on RSS Readers:
RSS readers unlike RSS feeds are a little more complicated to design and develop.Again only the very curious minds coupled with proficient coding skills will venture into this. An excuse to run away from this is obvious:
"Do I need to worry about creating a mobile phone or think about what to say through it"
"But again if you want and believe you can, then you can." Ivan Makoge
As an introduction to developing RSS readers and according to IBM website, below is a glimpse to the logical view of the main class of an RSS reader.
For more details about Developing RSS readers please click the links below:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/library/wi-arch14/
http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/Delphi-Kylix/Creating-an-RSS-Reader/
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/articles/flashlite11_rss.html
Making the most from your RSS Feeds
The question here is why make RSS feeds if it won't serve its purpose of attracting readers.To attain RSS's full potential, it takes more than just having interesting content or beautiful feeds, MARKET YOUR FEEDS.
- place ads (either on search engines or other websites)
- Get Affiliated( by paying a commision to partners who drive traffic to your site)
- Links to your site(link to other sites viewers will find useful)
- Ask different webmasters to link to your site
- Tell people about your site.
- Create online community.
- Publish E-Zines and Blogs.
- Write articles
CONCLUSION.
The internet is the future of communication Technology, and RSS is the future for communication channel. But as much as RSS sounds interesting and enticing , other technologies like e-mail and e-Zines will still be preferable in some occasions.
Video: RSS in plain English
Video: RSS tutorial
NB: Future RSS updates to this blog will be more technically incline, so get your coding kit ready...
RSS PUZZLE:
" can your kids use RSS to get access to those restricted sites?"
By Ivan Makoge
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