How to Create an RSS Feed

An RSS news feed can be used to communicate with your target audience. It is an ideal means of notifying people of new content on your website without the need for them to keep on visiting your site. You can send newsletters to your readership without having to use email and risk being accused of spamming. You will be comfortable in the knowledge that people who request your feed are actually interested in it because they have actively subscribed to it. This article will explain just how to create your own RSS news feed.

There are a couple of ways to create an RSS file, you can use an editor designed for the purpose or you can create a file using a simple text editor. The latter will require you to learn some XML whilst the former will do the hard part for you. First off I will describe an RSS file, there are several versions and I will be showing you version 2.0, the latest RSS version.

An RSS file looks just like an HTML file except it has different tags and the files end in .rss or .xml rather than .html. The file is made up of header information and item information, the item information contains the actual news items.

The first section of the file contains the header information. This states that the file is XML and which version, the encoding used and the version of RSS that you are using. This part of the file is mandatory. Next up is the channel tag, this encloses the whole of the rest of the file. This is followed by a title, description and link which explain the what the feed is about and what website it is associated with. The final part of the header is the optional image information. If you use this the software that is used to parse or read your file can display a small picture such as a logo.

Please note that in these examples I have used square brackets instead of angled brackets.

[?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?]
[rss version="2.0"]
[channel]
[title]The Widget news feed[/title]
[description]The latest news on widgets[/description]
[link]http://www.widget.com/[/link]
[image]
[title]Widget News[/title]
[url>http://www.widget.com/widget.gif[/url]
[link>http://www.widget.com/[/link]
[/image]

The body of the file is made up of the news items. Each news item is enclosed in the item tag and comprises of a title, a description and a published date. The date needs to be in the format shown in the example below.


[title]Which is the best Widget to?[/title]
[description]In this article we discuss the release of several new widgets, but which is the best widget.[/description]
[pubDate]Sun, 20 Mar 2005 14:38:50 GMT[/pubDate]
[link]http://www.widget.com/the-best-widgets.html[/link]
[/item]

You can have as many items in the feed as you like but many webmasters just show the 10 most recent items to keep the bandwidth usage down and also so not to overwhelm the end user with too many items.

Finally the file is ended with the closing channel tag and a closing RSS tag.

[/channel]
[/rss]

I have covered the basic tags to create an RSS file, there are other tags that can be used and these are explained in the http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss (RSS 2.0) specification.

Once you have created your file you will need to verify it is ok, to do this upload the file to your server and then go to this validator to validate the file. Your file is now ready. Now anyone can subscribe to your feed just by pointing their RSS reader to your RSS file.

That is the basics covered. I will be covering other areas in future articles as there is far too much information to fit into a single article.

Allan is the webmaster at http://www.newsniche.com an RSS resource for webmasters. Learn how to use RSS to attract and retain visitors to your site.

---

Blogs and RSS - Why Do I Need This Stuff?

If you've been under a rock for the last year... Read More

How To Use RSS Feeds In Your Marketing

It was Friday night. I finished reading a book about... Read More

Who needs T.V. News, Newspapers and Radio News?

T.V. and radio News got you down? On-line current events... Read More

Blogging on Ecademy Will Boost Your Web Site

For many people blogging is the way in which they... Read More

Should You Get A Blog?

A blog is a type of website. It allows the... Read More

What Are RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds.RSS also known as rich site summary or real... Read More

How To Display RSS Feeds on Your Website

This article is intended as a guide for webmasters who... Read More

Why You?re Not Blogging - And Why You Should Start Today

Those of you who aren't ready to wade into the... Read More

RSS Support in New Microsoft Windows Vista

Microsoft Corp. says that the next version of its Windows... Read More

Blog Your Affiliate Links

Blogging is a relatively new form of communication, closely related... Read More

Blogs: Todays Internet Diary and Marketing Tool

The popular blogger.com owned by Google, Inc. has been around... Read More

Blogs And Your Work From Home Internet Business

As a work from home internet business entrepreneur you have... Read More

Are Blog Meant for Raves and Rants?

Blogging is the latest internet craze and it may turn... Read More

Blogs for Kids

Flush out the writer in children. Blogging could draw out... Read More

Bad Blogs Have Got To Go, Blogging Could Be Really Cool If Done Properly

There's a lot of blogs out there on the Web,... Read More

Blogs: Why, Where and How

So you have heard about the blogs or you are... Read More

Blogging Communities Turn Faceless Strangers into Close Friends

I've been searching the Internet for blogging sites for a... Read More

Tips for a Better RSS Feed

Like anything else, a little work can pay dividends. Well-written... Read More

RSS Round-Up: Whats Happening with Simple Syndication?

Have you been following the explosion of RSS -- Really... Read More

How Blogs Can Be An Excellent Promotional Tool

Blogs as an online promotional strategy if done right could... Read More

Why Every Artist Needs a Blog & How to Create an Artist Blog

As an artist, the key to selling more artwork is... Read More

Do Marketers Really Need RSS?

The recent Forrester Research study, which claims that only 2%... Read More

See RSS Feeds from Your Website

RSS feeds have made it so convenient to gather current... Read More

Utilize The Power Of Blogs To Market Your Business On A Budget

Budget marketing with blogs is one of today's top methods... Read More

Use RSS to Get Your Sites Indexed Overnight

As you may know, Google has it's very own blogging... Read More

How to Use Blog Exchanges

Traffic exchanges and blog traffic exchanges are a way to... Read More

How to Create an RSS Feed

An RSS news feed can be used to communicate with... Read More

An Example of a Business Blog: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Blog

Think of a product or a service that your business... Read More

The Holy Grail that Online Advertisers, Merchants, Publishers, and Shoppers have been Looking for!

For Online Publishers/RSS Feeds users - RSS (Real Simple Syndication)... Read More

7 Questions To Ask Yourself BEFORE Staring A Business Blog

Blogging is the latest buzzword in online marketing and PR.... Read More

RSS & How to Use It (part 1)

Have you ever read an article, intended to explain RSS... Read More

Tips for Better Blogging - Promote any Product or Service

People start blogs for all kinds of reasons. Ego. Political... Read More

Are You Thinking of Republishing RSS Feeds?

There is lively debate about the republishing of RSS feeds... Read More