Dreamweaver - Adding an RSS Feed (3)

The most basic information needed here is the information for uploading the resulting RSS feed XML file to your website. To do that you only have to fill out the first section.

The FTP URL is the FTP server hostname (also known as the FTP Host Address). It is often similar to "ftp.domain.com", "123.45.67.8", or "ftpmysite.provider.net". This is the same value used by an FTP program, and is usually given to you when you sign up for web hosting.

The FTP Filename is the name you want to give to the RSS XML file ListGarden will produce. You should give it one that ends with ".xml". For good form, it should be all lowercase and only use letters, numbers, and the characters "-" or "_". Common names are similar to "rss.xml", "updates.xml", "daily_specials.xml", "ourhomepage.xml", or "rssheadlines.xml".

The FTP Directory is required for some websites. The file will be placed in this directory, relative to the "/" directory provided by FTP.

This value is needed for a variety of reasons. Often the "top" FTP directory is one above the directory that actually holds your website. Also, sometimes you wish to place the file in a sub-directory, especially if it is a feed related to just a subset of your website. In most cases this is left blank, or set to the top HTML content directory with a name such as "htdocs", "webdocs", or "html". If you upload HTML content to your website, you are probably familiar with the directory structure and know what to put here.

Technical note for troubleshooting: Before uploading your file, ListGarden always specifies the directory starting with "/", the "top". The common situation is that logging in with FTP will start in the "top" directory. With some systems, though, logging in with FTP starts you in a different directory than the "top" one available to FTP, which can lead to confusion. For example, when using FTP to access Earthlink's Personal WebSpace, it starts you in to the "webdocs" directory, so you would be used to placing your content right there. When ListGarden changes to "/" it will try to save your file outside of the website in the directory above "webdocs". In this case you need to specify the FTP Directory as "webdocs".

The FTP User is the user name needed to log in to FTP, and FTP Password is the password that goes with it.

The other settings on this page can be very useful, but are not required for a simple, basic RSS feed. You may want to come back to them after you have successfully added the basic feed to your website. For example, the Maximum Items setting can be used to keep your RSS feed from getting too long (5 items may be enough), and the Optional HTML File can be a useful companion to the XML file and give you a way to quickly check what you have published.

Click "Save" to save the settings and return to the Publish page:

To finally create and upload the RSS feed XML file to your website, click the "Publish FTP" button. If all is well, in a few seconds you will see a screen like this:

That's it. You can click the "Quit" button to exit from ListGarden and then close your browser.

You are now set to maintain the RSS feed. Whenever you want to add an item, start ListGarden, click on the "Add..." button for your feed, type in the information, press "Add & Publish", and then "Publish FTP". That's all there is to it.

Adding your RSS Feed to the Website and opening it to the world!

To let people know that you have an RSS feed, you should add a few things to your website. You do this with one or more of a variety of links. Adding a link that points to the RSS XML file is the most important thing to do. People copy this link to their RSS aggregator to enable it to monitor your feed.

The most common link to the RSS XML file is an image with the letters "XML" or "RSS" on it. Commonly, this is a small, bright orange image. There are many such images that you can obtain on the web, or create your own.

Software Garden provides the GIF images below that you may copy for use on your website (do not link to our images -- make your own copy and place it on your website). We have both a "traditional" orange image and a less obtrusive gray one (most people will be looking for orange). Use your browser's "Save Picture As...", "Save Image As...", or equivalent command to copy it to your disk and then upload it to your website like any other image.

For RSS Feed:       

If you have created ListGarden's optional HTML file, here are companion "HTML" buttons:

For Optional HTML File:       

Link the "XML" button directly to the RSS XML file. Set the link's "ALT" attribute to something helpful like "RSS Feed" or "This links to an RSS file with site updates in XML".

You may also want to have a text link with the word "RSS" or "RSS Feed" along with your other boilerplate links (such as "Legal", "Contact Us", etc.) at the bottom of the home page. As before, you may link it directly to the RSS XML file you upload with ListGarden. Some websites link it to a page that describes the RSS feeds available, and the links are on that page.

You may want to add a link somewhere to a page describing what RSS is to help your readers. RSS is still new to many people. You may link to the page provided by Software Garden (http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html) if you find that it meets your needs.

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="Feed_URL">

Replace "Feed_URL" with the URL of your RSS feed's XML file. If you have multiple feeds, you may have a LINK tag for each. Remember, this tag is optional.

Once you've got your links and tags in place, visitors to your website can find out about your RSS feed. You can also mention it to interested parties who ask how they can find out about changes to your website, business, etc.

Finally, there are websites where you can register the fact that you have a public RSS feed and others can find out about it through them, too. Here is a list of a few of them:

• Feedster: Feedster is an RSS search engine. You can register on their "Add your site to Feedster" page.
  
  
• Syndic8: Maintains a list of RSS feeds, categorized by topic. You can register on their "Suggest a Feed" page.

Ongoing

After you get your RSS feed up and running and have readers, what next? Here are a few suggestions:

• Evaluate whether you need additional feeds on your website. Go over the questions listed in the "Planning" section and see whether you can meet your readers' needs better by splitting your feed into two or three streams. For example, if you find that you frequently have items that are of interest to only a small group of readers, you may want to split that off and start an additional feed.
  
  Adding feeds with ListGarden is easy. Create another feed just like the first, but give it a different feed name on the Feed tab.
  
  
• Back up your local feed data files. The information on your personal computer about your feeds is stored in files with names like "listdata.feed.feedname.txt". You can back them up just like any other file. Remember that they have FTP access information (including the password) so protect them from prying eyes.
  
  
• Look through the options and settings available in ListGarden. After using the program for a while you may find that they can be helpful. Here are a few that you should think about that are on the Publish and Options pages:
  
  
  • Maximum Items: Most RSS aggregators remember old items. Having more than 5-10 items in the XML file is often not desirable. Set this to a number like 5 or 7. If you are worried that on a day with many posts items will be removed before all readers could retrieve them, use the Minimum Time To Publish Items setting to make sure that all recent items are published regardless of the Maximum Items setting.
    
    
  • Optional HTML File: This can be a useful companion to the RSS XML file and give you a way to quickly check what you have published. By providing a link to a companion HTML file along with the RSS feed link, readers can see what type of information you provide. The file can also serve as a history of all items for the readers to view if you check the HTML List All Items box. The HTML Template fields may be used to customize the look of the page produced so that it matches your website's style.
    
    
  • Edit Lines For Description: If you routinely enter descriptions longer than a sentence or two, the default number of lines for the textbox may be too small. You can change it with this setting.
    
    
  • Item Template: If you find that you need to change the default values of checkboxes or radio buttons when adding an item, or always start or end a field with the same text, you may find the Template fields helpful.

Finishing Off

Why not add a standard RSS icon  to your Home Page with 'What's This?' and a link to this page?

Finally, you have probably seen the RSS icon in the address bar of certain site which, when clicked leads to the RSS feeds:

In the <Head> section of your page add:

<link href="rss.xml" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="My RSS Feed" />

Edit it so that it points to your .xml file and so that it has your title (make sure the RSS icon is in your site's Images folder).

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