Learning log 3 -RSS

I kept hearing the term “RSS” in my lectures yet I hadn’t a clue what this meant so when I realised that I could produce an entire learning log on it I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to erase all my queries and confusion.

I found two meanings of ‘RSS’ via http://www.rssunderground.com; “Really simply syndication” and “Rich site summary” both which ultimately mean the same thing apparently. I wasn’t sure what syndication meant. I was clearly behind in my I.T knowledge so before I read on I went on to www.goole.co.uk/search? and found that syndication is “the process by which a web site is able to share information.” Ok so now I discovered that RSS had something to do with sharing information over the web.

I returned to the first website I visited to read more on RSS. My findings of the definition of ‘syndication’ was confirmed as “RSS is about sharing data…a method of delivering updated dynamic content that changes.” (http://www.rssunderground.com) This rang some bells as I had recently been investigating content management systems and blogs which consist of ‘dynamic content that changes’ via users, hence why Mark Pilgrim (http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html) states that RSS is “popular in the weblogging community.” Things were slowly piecing together and I realised that the learning log topics were not merely random and unconnected.

I still wasn’t sure what RSS exactly was and what it did. Ironically, whilst searching for a job via http://www.londonjobs.co.uk/cgi-bin/myjobsite.cgi I discovered that RSS is a way in which to receive “updated data from your favourite websites.” Instead of visiting a number of different websites to, for instance, check on updated news articles or updated blogs, they can be “sent to [you]…in one place rather than searching it out.” (http://websearch.about.com/od/rsssocialbookmarks/f/rss.htm)

I kept coming across the term RSS feed. Admittedly this term confused me so as always I went on to investigate what this term meant. I never directly found out what the singular term ‘feed’ meant however I did discover that one way to receive an ‘RSS feed’ is by downloading a “feed reader, or feed aggregator” (http://websearch.about.com/od/rsssocialbookmarks/f/rss.htm) Once this is done then one can effortlessly obtain “RSS information from websites that offer the service.” (http://www.londonjobs.co.uk/cgi-bin/myjobsite.cgi) I take it that ‘service’ refers to the ‘RSS feed’ service.

Gradually I understood the subject of RSS and its purpose. I had already subscribed to newsletters/information from websites to receive updates on things such as jobs and shows, hence why “syndication or aggregation [is] sometimes…just called subscribing.” (http://www.sixapart.com/about/feeds) I still had yet to find out what ‘feed readers’ actually were.

Feed readers are “RSS aware programs [also] called news aggregators” (http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html) meaning that when there is a file in RSS configuration then the feed reader can “check the feed for changes” (above website) and react to them as appropriate. Some of these programs “parse the data and put it on your web page as HTML” (http://www.rssunderground.com) where parse means breaking down data input in to “smaller, more distinct chunks” (http://www.google.co.uk/search) for easier interpretation.

By now I had realised that a feed reader was simply a program that reads RSS feeds and then updates the information if there are any changes and then delivers or ‘feeds’ the user the new information.

There are a number of ways to receive feeds; via the web, such as “My Yahoo!... My MSN, or My AOL” (http://www.sixapart.com/about/feeds). Another way; via certain web browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 or Safari (for Apple Macs), or via stand-alone programs that you can download, such as Straw, FeedDemon, SharpReader or NewGator.

Feed readers on the web or browser are good if a user does not wish to install any programs. The pros about web feed readers is that the “services are free” (http://www.sixapart.com/about/feeds), they can be accessed from any computer if, of course, the computer has internet access, they are “elegant, fast, simple, and easy to master.” (http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_subscribe_to_an_rss_feed.html)
Feed readers built in to the browser can only be accessed via the user’s computer where the browser lies however they are just as good as web readers. Stand-alone feed reader programs cleverly allow your feeds to be stored “even if you’re not connected to the internet.” (http://www.sixapart.com/about/feeds)

I wanted to explore these different feed readers myself and so I signed up for Google reader and down loaded Sharpreader. At first I was very unfamiliar as it looked a lot like an emailing program such as outlook express. I played about with them and finally subscribed to some feeds. I can agree with Eric J. Heels (http://www.erikjheels.com/2007-02-23-google-reader-vs-sharpreader.html
www.ahfx.net.weblog.php?article=100) that Sharpreader most certainly has a “simple interface” much like Google reader and both allow the user to “group subscriptions in to folders” (above website) However, I much preferred Sharpreader as the interface was not too ‘patronising’ as it didn’t use large, colourful and ‘friendly’ text/images. Sharpreader also seemed to have a lot more options and settings:

[via appendix]

Even if Google reader does have these options available, they clearly were not as easy to find as those on Sharpreader. Eric J. Heel also suggests that in Google reader “folders seemingly can not be renamed”. Despite my preference for Sharpreader I must admit that I did not experience this; I was able to change both the name of the files and the folders.

I was unable to access Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) so I simply researched this browser’s feed reader. I discovered that although IE7 allows the user to “filter by category…[has a] built in comments section…[has a] search feature …[and] the ability to sort by date, article name, and author” (www.ahfx.net.weblog.php?article=100) Google reader was in fact “miles ahead of it” (www.microsoft.com.windows/IE) and IE7 was to my surprise not as robust. Apparently, with IE7, finding out how to read the RSS feeds “is not as easy” (www.seebreezecomputers.com/tips/rss). Furthermore, from the same previous website, I uncovered that “the menu bar is missing” until the user enables it; the user must “right-click on a black space on the top toolbars” and tab Menu bar to turn it on; clearly not user friendly. On top of this, the “buttons for Search, Favourite, and History to open up in a side panel” (www.seebreezecomputers.com/tips/rss) are absent too. Another con is that you have to download a large browser that asks several technical questions that the user is more than likely none-the-wiser.

From further lectures I was taught how to create my own RSS feed. I simply created my own basic web page with three news articles:

[via appendix]


I then went on to http://www.toucanmultimedia.com/rssmaker.php to create my RSS feed.


[via appendix]



After simply filling out the form, this website generated my RSS code:

[via appendix]


I then copied all my files into the local server. I opened my RSS file. It looked exactly how the ones I had signed up for on the web looked:


[via appendix]


My RSS worked as shown below. I couldn’t believe how simple it was.


[via appendix]


Something that I had again noticed that intrigued me was the use of the xml syntax. I had already previously discovered that RSS “is an xml-based web-content syndication format.” (http://www.businessweek.com/search/rssfeed.htm) Again xml was something that I had heard but knew practically nothing about. However after researching via http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_usedfor.asp I found out that xml (extensible mark-up language) can “be used to store data in files or in databases… [and] used to exchange data”. This clearly gives reason to why RSS feeds are written in an xml format as xml “create[s] data that can be read by different types of applications” (http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_usedfor.asp) as well as allowing applications to be composed in order to accumulation and acquire information. This is clearly a process/function needed for a user to receive updated news/articles or other information via RSS feeds.

RSS feeds are becoming more and more popular; “revolutionizing the way we search for content” (http://websearch.about.com/od/rsssocialbookmarks/f/rss.htm) as they can permit content to be seen where search engines and directories may not in actual fact find them as well as aid web owners in optimizing their sites and getting “their site noticed” (above website.) Although the above website does state that RSS feeds are a “wonderful resource” I do agree with the author of www.seebreezecomputers.com/tips/rss who states that when you click on the RSS or XML buttons to subscribe to a feed you are presented with “some useless code” rather than subscribing to the feed. Being familiar with computers, the internet and I.T in general, I was able to work this out however other users with little I.T knowledge/experience may not be able to. Subscribing to a feed in a more user friendly way would definitely be a huge improvement to this ‘wonderful resource’.


References:

Websites:

RSS underground
http://www.rssunderground.com
Author: Unknown
[Date Accessed: 24/03/07]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=define%3A+syndication&meta=
Author: Unknown
[Date Accessed: 25/03/07]

What is RSS?
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html
Author: Mark Pilgrim, December 18, 2002
[Date Accessed: 26/03/07]

Title: Unknown
http://www.londonjobs.co.uk/cgi-bin/myjobsite.cgi
Author: Unknown
[Date Accessed: 26/03/07]

How do I subscribe to an RSS feed?
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_subscribe_to_an_rss_feed.html
Author: Dave Taylor
[Date Accessed: 26/03/07]

What is RSS?
http://websearch.about.com/od/rsssocialbookmarks/f/rss.htm
Author: Wendy Boswell
[Date Accessed: 29/03/07]


About Feeds
http://www.sixapart.com/about/feeds
Author: Unknown
[Date accessed: 29/03/07]

Google reader Vs Sharpreader
http://www.erikjheels.com/2007-02-23-google-reader-vs-sharpreader.html
www.ahfx.net.weblog.php?article=100
Author: Eric Jheels, Friday, February 23rd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
[Date accessed: 01/04/07]

Security
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/ie7/tour/security
Author: Unknown
[Date accessed: 02/04/07]


RSS feed reader reviews
http://www.seebreezecomputers.com/tips/rss.htm
Author: Jeff Baker, Oct 16 2006
[Date Accessed: 02/04/07]

RSS feeds/ what is RSS?
http://www.businessweek.com/search/rssfeed.htm
Author: McGraw Hill
[Date Accessed: 28/03/07]

How can XML be used?
http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_usedfor.asp
Author: Unknown
[Date accessed: 03/04/07]