How to Create RSS
"How do I add RSS to my
site?" - it is the question that a lot of people ask. This article will
try to explain how it can be done.
Let us start from theory. In
fact, an RSS feed is a file whose format is based on XML. For everyone who wants
to get access to information in the feed to be able to do it, you need to
publish the file on a web server. An RSS feed can contain all kind of
information: starting from your company's news and finishing with an everyday
menu of your neighbor's dog (details - why create
rss?).
Now there is no need to write
the RSS code manually because there are a lot of programs that allow you to
create an RSS feed in the WYSIWUG mode. You do not even have to know the basics
of XML and RSS to use these programs. The ExtraLabs Software company offers a
whole package of software products for creating and publishing RSS feeds:
http://www.extralabs.net/products.htm
There are several kinds of the
RSS formats, but we recommend version RSS 2.0 that is completely supported by
the above program. Any RSS feed includes items and each item must have a title,
a description and a link.
After you create an RSS feed,
you have to upload it to the web server usually using FTP.
Then, publish a link to the feed on one
or all pages of the site. Usually, a webmaster publishes an image as a button
 (a
collection of RSS buttons) that refers to the RSS feed. Sample code:
<a href="http://www.yoursite.com/yourfeed.xml"><img
src="http://www.yoursite.com/rss_button.gif" width="36" height="14"
border="0"></a>
Besides, you should make a special link
to the RSS feed from the <head> tag of the HTML page. It will help RSS readers
automatically detect the feed on the site:
<head>
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://www.yoursite.com/yourfeed.xml"
/>
</head>
This is where the main stage of
creating an RSS feed ends. All you have to do later is to update it, but it is a
topic for another article.
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