Rss Complete

RSS COMPLETE
RSS is a method that uses XML to distribute web content on one web site, to many other web sites.
RSS allows fast browsing for news and updates.
What You Should Already Know

Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
HTML / XHTML
XML / XML Namespaces
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication
RSS allows you to syndicate your site content
RSS defines an easy way to share and view headlines and content
RSS files can be automatically updated
RSS allows personalized views for different sites
RSS is written in XML
Why use RSS?

RSS was designed to show selected data.
Without RSS, users will have to check your site daily for new updates. This may be too time-consuming for
many users. With an RSS feed (RSS is often called a News feed or RSS feed) they can check your site faster
using an RSS aggregator (a site or program that gathers and sorts out RSS feeds).
Since RSS data is small and fast-loading, it can easily be used with services like cell phones or PDA's.
Web-rings with similar information can easily share data on their web sites to make them better and more
useful.
Who Should use RSS?

Webmasters who seldom update their web sites do not need RSS!
RSS is useful for web sites that are updated frequently, like:
News sites - Lists news with title, date and descriptions
Companies - Lists news and new products
Calendars - Lists upcoming events and important days
Site changes - Lists changed pages or new pages
The Future of RSS

RSS is going to be everywhere!
Thousands of sites use RSS and more people understand its usefulness every day.
With RSS, information on the internet becomes easier to find, and web developers can spread their
information more easily to special interest groups.
What are the Differences?

RSS 1.0 is the only version that was developed using the W3C RDF (Resource Description Framework)
standard.
The idea behind RDF is to help create a Semantic Web. However, this does not matter too much for ordinary
users, but by using web standards it will be easier for persons and applications to exchange data.
What RSS Version Should I Use?

RSS 0.91 and RSS 2.0 are easier to understand than RSS 1.0. Our tutorial is based on RSS 2.0.
Is There an RSS Web Standard?

There is no official standard for RSS.
About 50 % of all RSS feeds use RSS 0.91
About 25 % use RSS 1.0
The last 25 % is split between RSS 0.9x versions and RSS 2.0
The syntax rules of RSS 2.0 are very simple and very strict. The rules are very easy to learn, and very easy to
use.
How RSS Works

RSS is used to share content between websites.
With RSS, you register your content with companies called aggregators.
So, to be a part of it: First, create an RSS document and save it with an .xml extension. Then, upload the file
to your website. Next, register with an RSS aggregator. Each day the aggregator searches the registered
websites for RSS documents, verifies the link, and displays information about the feed so clients can link to a
document that interests them.
Tip: Read our RSS Publishing chapter to view free RSS aggregation services.
An Example RSS document

RSS documents use a self-describing and simple syntax.
Let's look at a simple RSS document:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>W3Schools Home Page</title>
<link>http://www.w3schools.com</link>
<description>Free web building tutorials</description>
<item>
<title>RSS Tutorial</title>
<link>http://www.w3schools.com/rss</link>
<description>New RSS tutorial on W3Schools</description>
</item>
<item>
<title>XML Tutorial</title>
<link>http://www.w3schools.com/xml</link>
<description>New XML tutorial on W3Schools</description>
</item>
The first line in the document - the XML declaration - defines the XML version and the character encoding
used in the document. In this case the document conforms to the 1.0 specification of XML and uses the ISO-
8859-1 (Latin-1/West European) character set.
The next line is the RSS declaration which identifies that this is an RSS document (in this case, RSS version
2.0).
The next line contains the <channel> element. This element is used to describe the RSS feed.
The <channel> element has three required child elements:
<title> - Defines the title of the channel (e.g. W3Schools Home Page)
<link> - Defines the hyperlink to the channel (e.g. http://www.w3schools.com)
<description> - Describes the channel (e.g. Free web building tutorials)
Each <channel> element can have one or more <item> elements.
Each <item> element defines an article or "story" in the RSS feed.
The <item> element has three required child elements:
<title> - Defines the title of the item (e.g. RSS Tutorial)
<link> - Defines the hyperlink to the item (e.g. http://www.w3schools.com/rss)
<description> - Describes the item (e.g. New RSS tutorial on W3Schools)
Finally, the two last lines close the <channel> and <rss> elements.
Comments in RSS
The syntax for writing comments in RSS is similar to that of HTML:
RSS comment -->
RSS is written in XML
Because RSS is XML, keep in mind that:
All elements must have a closing tag
Elements are case sensitive
Elements must be properly nested
Attribute values must always be quoted
The RSS <channel> element describes the RSS feed.
The RSS <channel> Element

Look at the following RSS document:
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
As mentioned before, the <channel> element describes the RSS feed, and has three required child elements:
The <channel> element usually contains one or more <item> elements. Each <item> element defines an
article or "story" in the RSS feed.
Furthermore, there are several optional child elements of <channel>. We will explain the most important ones
below.
The <category> Element

The <category> child element is used to specify a category for your feed.
The <category> element makes it possible for RSS aggregators to group sites based on category.
The category for the RSS document above could be:
<category>Web development</category>
The <copyright> Element

The <copyright> child element notifies about copyrighted material.
The copyright for the RSS document above could be:
<copyright>2006 Refsnes Data as. All rights reserved.</copyright>
The <image> Element

The <image> child element allows an image to be displayed when aggregators present a feed.
The <image> element has three required child elements:
<url> - Defines the URL to the image
<title> - Defines the text to display if the image could not be shown
<link> - Defines the hyperlink to the website that offers the channel
The image for the RSS document above could be:
<url>http://www.w3schools.com/images/logo.gif</url>
<title>W3Schools.com</title>
The <language> Element

The <language> child element is used to specify the language used to write your document.
The <language> element makes it possible for RSS aggregators to group sites based on language.
The language for the RSS document above could be:
<language>en-us</language>
RSS <channel> Reference
Element Description
<category> Optional. Defines one or more categories for the feed
<cloud> Optional. Register processes to be notified immediately of updates of the feed
<copyright> Optional. Notifies about copyrighted material
<description> Required. Describes the channel
<docs> Optional. Specifies an URL to the documentation of the format used in the feed
<generator> Optional. Specifies the program used to generate the feed
<image> Optional. Allows an image to be displayed when aggregators present a feed
<language> Optional. Specifies the language the feed is written in
<lastBuildDate> Optional. Defines the last-modified date of the content of the feed
<link> Required. Defines the hyperlink to the channel
<managingEditor> Optional. Defines the e-mail address to the editor of the content of the feed
<pubDate> Optional. Defines the last publication date for the content of the feed
<rating> Optional. The PICS rating of the feed
<skipDays> Optional. Specifies the days where aggregators should skip updating the feed
<skipHours> Optional. Specifies the hours where aggregators should skip updating the feed
<textInput> Optional. Specifies a text input field that should be displayed with the feed
<title> Required. Defines the title of the channel
<ttl> Optional. Specifies the number of minutes the feed can stay cached before refreshing it
from the source
<webMaster> Optional. Defines the e-mail address to the webmaster of the feed
RSS <category> Element

Definition and Usage
The <category> element specifies one or more categories the channel or item belongs to. The <category>
element can also specify the hierarchic location in a category (the value of the <category> element is then a
forward-slash separated string).
The <category> element makes it possible for RSS aggregators to group sites/articles based on category.
Attributes
Tag Description
domain Optional. A string or URL that identifies categorization taxonomy.
Example:
<category domain="syndic8">IT</category>
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<category>IT/Internet/Web development</category>
<item>
<category>News</category>
<category>Tutorial</category>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Out Put
W3Schools Home Page
Free web building tutorials
Category: IT/Internet/Web development
RSS Version: 2.0
RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

Category: News/Tutorial
RSS <cloud> Element

The <cloud> element is used to register processes with a cloud to be notified immediately of updates of the
channel.
Tips and Notes

Note: Clouds can be implemented in either xml-rpc or soap.
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<cloud domain="www.w3schools.com" port="80" path="/RPC"
registerProcedure="NotifyMe" protocol="xml-rpc" />
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Out Put:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0

RSS <copyright> Element

The <copyright> element is used to notify about copyrighted material.
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<copyright>2006 Refsnes Data as. All rights reserved.</copyright>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

Copyright: 2006 Refsnes Data as. All rights reserved.
RSS Version: 2.0
RSS <title>, <link>, and <description> Elements

The <channel> element describes the RSS feed, and has three required child elements:
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0
RSS <docs> Element

The <docs> element specifies an URL to the documentation of the format used in the RSS document.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
RSS <generator> Element

The <generator> element specifies the program used to generate the RSS feed.
Tips and Notes

Note: This is mostly used if the feed is created with an automatic feed generator.
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<generator>Notepad</generator>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Created with: Notepad
RSS <image> Element

The <image> element allows an image to be displayed when aggregators present a feed.
Tips and Notes

Note: The image must be of type GIF, JPEG or PNG.
Child Elements of <image>
Tag Description
<description> Optional. Specifies the text in the HTML title attribute of the link around the image
<height> Optional. Defines the height of the image. Default is 31. Maximum value is 400
<link> Required. Defines the hyperlink to the website that offers the channel
<title> Required. Defines the text to display if the image could not be shown
<url> Required. Specifies the URL to the image
<width> Optional. Defines the width of the image. Default is 88. Maximum value is 144
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<image>
<url>http://www.w3schools.com/images/logo.gif</url>
<title>W3Schools.com</title>
</image>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:

RSS Version: 2.0
RSS <language> Element

The <language> element is used to specify the language used to write your RSS document.
Tips and Notes

Tip: The <language> element makes it possible for RSS aggregators to group sites based on language.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<language>en-us</language>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0
Language: en-us
RSS <lastBuildDate> Element

The <lastBuildDate> element defines the last-modified date of the content of the feed.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 27 Apr 2006</lastBuildDate>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Channel Updated: Thu, 27 Apr 2006
RSS <title>, <link>, and <description> Elements:

Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
RSS <managingEditor> Element

The <managingEditor> tag is used to specify an e-mail address for the editor of the content of the feed.
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<managingEditor>editor@w3schools.com</managingEditor>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Mail Editor: editor@w3schools.com
RSS <pubDate> Element

The <pubDate> element defines the last publication date for the content in the RSS feed.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Apr 2006</pubDate>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Feed Updated: Thu, 27 Apr 2006
RSS <skipDays> Element

The <skipDays> element specifies the days where aggregators should skip updating the feed.
Tips and Notes

Tip: There can be up to seven <skipDays> elements.
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<skipDays>Saturday</skipDays>
<skipDays>Sunday</skipDays>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Skip Days: Saturday/Sunday
RSS <skipHours> Element

The <skipHours> element specifies the hours where aggregators should skip updating the feed.
Tips and Notes

Tip: There can be up to 24 <skipHours> elements.
Tip: 0 represents midnight.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<skipHours>0</skipHours>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0
Skip Hours: 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/17/18/19/20/21/22/23
RSS <textInput> Element

The <textinput> tag specifies a text input field that should be displayed with the feed.
Tips and Notes

Note: Most aggregators ignores the <textInput> element.
Child Elements of <textInput>
Tag Description
<description> Required. Defines a description of the text input area
<name> Required. Defines the name of the text object in the text input area
<link> Required. Defines the URL of the CGI script that processes the text
input
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<textinput>
<description>Search Google</description>
<title>Search</title>
<link>http://www.google.no/search?</link>
<name>q</name>
</textinput>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
When u will enter any word a Google search bar will display information related to the word.

Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
RSS <ttl> Element

The <ttl> (ttl=time to live) element specifies the number of minutes the feed can stay cached before
refreshing it from the source.
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<ttl>60</ttl>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Time to live: 60
RSS <webMaster> Element

The <webMaster> element defines the e-mail address to the webmaster of the feed.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<webMaster>webmaster@w3schools.com</webMaster>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Mail Webmaster: webmaster@w3schools.com
RSS <item> Element

The <item> Element
Look at the following RSS document:

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
As mentioned before, each <item> element defines an article or "story" in the RSS feed.
Furthermore, there are several optional child elements of <item>. We will explain the most important ones
below.
The <author> Element

The <author> child element is used to specify the e-mail address of the author of an item.
Note: To prevent spam e-mails, some developers do not include the <author> element.
The author of the item in the RSS document above could be:
<author>hege@refsnesdata.no</author>
The <comments> Element

The <comments> child element allows an item to link to comments about that item.
A comment of the item in the RSS document above could be:
<comments>http://www.w3schools.com/comments</comments>
The <enclosure> Element

The <enclosure> child element allows a media-file to be included with an item.
The <enclosure> element has three required attributes:
url - Defines the URL to the media file
length - Defines the length (in bytes) of the media file
type - Defines the type of media file
A media-file included in the item in the RSS document above could be:
<enclosure url="http://www.w3schools.com/rss/rss.mp3"
length="5000" type="audio/mpeg" />
RSS <item> Reference
Element Description
<author> Optional. Specifies the e-mail address to the author of the item
<category> Optional. Defines one or more categories the item belongs to
<comments> Optional. Allows an item to link to comments about that item
<description> Required. Describes the item
<enclosure> Optional. Allows a media file to be included with the item
<guid> Optional. Defines a unique identifier for the item
<link> Required. Defines the hyperlink to the item
<pubDate> Optional. Defines the last-publication date for the item
<source> Optional. Specifies a third-party source for the item
<title> Required. Defines the title of the item
RSS <author> Element

The <author> child element is used to specify the e-mail address of the author of the item.
Tips and Notes

Note: To prevent spam e-mails, some developers do not include the <author> element.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<author>author@w3schools.com</author>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0

Author: author@w3schools.com
RSS <category> Element

The <category> element specifies one or more categories the channel or item belongs to. The <category>
element can also specify the hierarchic location in a category (the value of the <category> element is then a
forward-slash separated string).
The <category> element makes it possible for RSS aggregators to group sites/articles based on category.
Attributes
Tag Description
domain Optional. A string or URL that identifies a categorization taxonomy.
Example:
<category domain="syndic8">IT</category>
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<category>IT/Internet/Web development</category>
<item>
<category>News</category>
<category>Tutorial</category>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0

RSS <comments> element

The <comments> element allows an item to link to comments about that item.
Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<comments>http://www.w3schools.com/rss/comments.asp</comments>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
Comments.

Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
</item>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0
XML Tutorial: New XML tutorial on W3Schools
RSS <enclosure> Element

The <enclosure> element allows a media-file to be included with an item.
Attributes
Attribute Description
length Required. Defines the length (in bytes) of the media file
type Required. Defines the type of media file
url Required. Defines the URL to the media file
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<enclosure url="http://www.w3schools.com/media/3d.wmv"
length="78645" type="video/wmv" />
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
When this file will play. It will show the video.
RSS <guid> Element

The <guid> element defines a unique identifier for the item.
Tips and Notes

Note: Aggregators must view the guid as a string. There are no rules for the syntax. It's up to the creator of
the RSS document, to establish the uniqueness of the string.
Tip: GUID = Globally Unique Identifier.
Attributes
isPermaLink Optional. If set to true, the reader may assume that it is a permalink to the item (a url
that points to the full item described by the <item> element). The default value is true.
If set to false, the guid may not be assumed to be a url
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<guid>http://www.w3schools.com/rss/item0768</guid>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0

Identifier: http://www.w3schools.com/rss/item0768

Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
</item>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0
RSS <pubDate> Element

The <pubDate> element defines the last publication date for an item.
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Apr 2006</pubDate>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0

Published: Thu, 27 Apr 2006
RSS <source> Element

The <source> element Specifies a third-party source for the item.
Attributes
url Required. Specifies the link to the source
Example

<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<source url="http://www.w3schools.com">W3Schools.com</source>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page

RSS Version: 2.0

Source: W3Schools.com

Example
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
</item>
<item>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Output:
W3Schools Home Page
RSS Version: 2.0
RSS Publish Your Feed

Having an RSS document is not useful if other people cannot reach it.
Get Your RSS Feed Up On The Web

Now it's time to get your RSS file up on the web. Here are the steps:
1. Name your RSS file. Notice that the file must have an .xml extension.
2. Validate your RSS file
3. Upload the RSS file to your web directory on your web server.
4. Copy the little orange or button to your web directory.
5. Put the little orange "RSS" or "XML" button on the page where you will offer RSS to the world (e.g. on your
home page). Then add a link to the button that links to the RSS file. The code will look something like this:
<a href="www.w3schools.com/rss/myfirstrss.xml">
< img src="www.w3schools.com/rss/rss.gif" width="36" height="14">
</a>.
6. Submit your RSS feed to the RSS Feed Directories (you can Google or Yahoo for "RSS Feed Directories").
Note! The URL to your feed is not your home page, it is the URL to your feed, like
"http://www.w3schools.com/rss/myfirstrss.xml". Here are some free RSS aggregation services:
Syndic8: Over 300,000 feeds listed. Register your feed here.
Daypop: Over 50,000 feeds. Register your feed here.
Newsisfree: Over 18,000 feeds. Register your feed here.
7. Register your feed with the major search engines:
Yahoo - http://publisher.yahoo.com/promote.php
Google - http://www.google.com/intl/zh-cn/webmasters/addfeed.html
MSN - http://rss.msn.com/publisher.armx
8. Update your feed - Now you have gotten RSS feed buttons from Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Now you must
make sure that you update your content frequently and that your RSS feed is constantly available.
Can I Manage my RSS Feed Myself?

The best way to ensure your RSS feed works the way you want, is to manage it yourself.
However, this can be very time consuming, especially for pages with lot of updates.
An alternative is to use a third-party automated RSS.
Automated RSS
If you don't want to update your RSS feed yourself, there are tools and services that can do it automatically
for you, such as:
MyRSSCreator - offers an automated, reliable RSS service in just 10 minutes
FeedFire - offers free creation and distribution of RSS feeds
For users who only need an RSS feed for their personal website, some of the most popular blog (Web Log)
managers that offer built-in RSS services are:
Blogger
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RSS COMPLETE

What You Should Already Know

Why use RSS?

Who Should use RSS?

The Future of RSS

What are the Differences?

What RSS Version Should I Use?

Is There an RSS Web Standard?

How RSS Works

An Example RSS document

The RSS <channel> element describes the RSS feed.

The RSS <channel> Element

The <category> Element

The <copyright> Element

The <image> Element

The <language> Element

RSS <category> Element

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <cloud> Element

Tips and Notes

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <copyright> Element

W3Schools Home Page

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <title>, <link>, and <description> Elements

W3Schools Home Page

RSS <docs> Element

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <generator> Element

Tips and Notes

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <image> Element

Tips and Notes

Child Elements of <image>

Free web building tutorials

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <language> Element

Tips and Notes

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>

W3Schools Home Page

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <lastBuildDate> Element

Definition and Usage

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <title>, <link>, and <description> Elements:

Definition and Usage

RSS <managingEditor> Element

Definition and Usage

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <pubDate> Element

Definition and Usage

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <skipDays> Element

Definition and Usage

Tips and Notes

RSS Tutorial: New RSS tutorial on W3Schools

RSS <skipHours> Element

Definition and Usage

Tips and Notes

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