lesson 5: Understanding RSS Document

Understanding RSS Document

An RSS document is made up of ‘items’, comprising a title, a link to the content and a description of that item. For instance, for a news article, the title will be like a headline, the link will take readers to the news article and the description will summarize the news they’ll find on clicking the link to visit your site. The items are grouped into a ‘channel’ or ‘feed’. This is the name you assign to your ongoing series of RSS documents.

RSS documents are created in XML, or Extensible Markup Language, which is fast becoming the markup language for the Web. HTML tags instruct the browser how to display content (fonts, images or otherwise); XML tags define the nature of the information. Do not panic! Proficiency in XML is not a prerequisite to create RSS documents. The non-technical can seek the help of various tools of conversion available.

The XML file can be updated manually or by using modules to increase the speed of the process. The feed is prepared by transforming the RSS file into HTML. A scripting command named server-side include is used to place the content on the Web page as a template. Once the module has been developed, it’s really just a matter of sitting back and letting the content stream in.

The files can be accessed from your own Web site or by registering your feed with content aggregators, or sites that list various feeds. Individual RSS readers can subscribe directly to your feeds through these options.  Other Web sites can also do the same, bringing more hits to your content!

You, as a content manager, can subscribe to other sites’ or aggregators’ feeds as well. This will provide your site visitors with news and material that you may not have the time to develop.

Essentially, bloggers and news sites, such as The Wall Street Journal Online and The New York Times Digital, have been the early adopters of this technology, mutually benefiting in terms of updates and increased visibility. The feeds keep the blog visitors informed and updated without having them to visit it daily. We can very well put it that if not for the existence of the feeds, the response for “blogs” would not be this increasing. And the hope of getting the like-minded people to post the site content is very high.

Nowadays, it has become inevitable for buyers of software products, as it helps them stay up-to-date on product news, development, support etc. Not just this, users save time too! The journalists are switching over to RSS   for press releases and pitch letters.

The use of RSS is becoming very essential for companies, which have lots of information to share, small budget and internet-savvy audiences. It serves as a boon not only to the organizations wanting to widen their visibility, but also to users who always like to stay up-dated about the contents they eagerly wait to taste upon.

The number of RSS feeds offered by an organization often depends on the requirements of their subscribers, nature of the news from it, the ongoing research at the organization, the speed with which the contents are updated, the number of subscribers etc.

The RSS also helps the customers in managing the information flow not just from the organizations, but from a variety of data sources also.

Many of the RSS providers are in turn RSS subscribers also of several technology-oriented feeds to keep them in par with the latest information about other sites also. Though many people have the interest to update themselves they may not have the time to do it. Visiting each and every website, they enjoy seeing for any new addition to the contents, is a very time consuming process. The RSS aggregators help you to quickly view where a new content is appearing and whether it is of interest to you. For companies who do not update their news daily or for those who do not do it even once a week, but who are keen in informing their subscribers when they do it, this can be the best method which costs nothing at all. RSS is really standards orientated and the payback is really high for the companies.

When the companies provide different RSS feeds, it also helps them find out the area of interest of their subscribers. For example, let us consider a company having different RSS feeds such as on press releases, blogs, new research announcements, company news, columns etc. Depending on the traffic on the RSS feed, the company can gauge the interest of the visitors. It may therefore try to focus more on providing to the thirst of the users.

It is also important to mention here that big companies, corporate are very much benefited by the use of RSS. There are occasions when even the employees within big companies may not know the latest news or the new ongoing research of the company due to lack of communication among the various departments. Here RSS lends a helping hand! Make use of RSS feeds; stay updated all the time. After all, we know how crucial it is to be informed about what is happening in your company!!

The content managers can go for effective redesign of their websites developing new content sharing tools to promote information and build awareness among the members.

In spite of many added points in favor of RSS, we can also totally not deny the fact that it can be a value-added addition to the current day communication methods, however, cannot replace e-mails completely.

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