RSS feeds are xml files updated on a regular basis which people subscribe to within RSS readers. The information carried on them is normally up to date and they are normally found on news sites and blogs, basically sites which are updated regularly and which people might like to be up to date with. In this article I will go through creating an RSS feed; they can be created in two forms: dynamic - this is where dynamic server side pages are created to query databases to display the new information automatically and require no manual intervention for the data to be displayed; manual - this is where a basic xml file is created and which has to be updated manually.

The Basic RSS Format

RSS feeds are made up of several different elements and tags which create the final document. The following is an example of an RSS feed:

As you can see the XML version used is the first thing to be declared within the document, the second being the beginning of the RSS tag which means the beginning of the feed; including both of these within your feed is important since a browser will use these to work out that it is an XML file which contains an RSS feed. Click here for an example of an RSS 2.0 feed.
The feed itself is contained within a ‘channel’ tag - some browsers output RSS feeds into a styled, readable format and this tag is important to ensure that browsers which have this capability are able to render your feed in this way. The first few lines within this tag describe your feed and contain information such as the title of the feed, a description of it, the language in which it is written as well as the last time it was updated.

After that the different items of the feed are shown - these are displayed within ‘item’ tags and there is no limit on the amount of these which you can have in one feed. The basics needed to structure an ‘item’ tag are the ‘title’ and ‘description’ tags which ensure that the item is outputted into a readable format.

Dynamic RSS Feeds

Feeds of this type require a server side page such as a PHP or ASP page be created to query a database so that the up to date information be displayed. This process requires no manual intervention and is completely automatic. To begin with you need to make sure that your page is outputted to the browser as an XML document, to do this you will need to add a header response line to the top of your page, and make sure that it outputs the page in the ‘text/xml’ format. The rest of the feed is outputted like the example above, except
Manual RSS Feeds

These feeds are ‘.xml’ files which are updated manually and always take the form of the feed displayed within the first section of this article. You should only opt for this type of feed if you aren’t going to update often as updating it can be a timely procedure.

RSS or Really Simple Syndication offers webmasters a unique opportunity to display fresh content on websites.
RSS is a new way to broadcast corporate news and structured information.

The RSS contents are published as a feed and the feed’s content keep a record of corporate news and information.
The RSS feeds are read using a tool which is known as news aggregator or RSS reader. The aggregator periodically checks if the RSS news feed has been updated. When the RSS feed gets updated, RSS reader automatically retrieves the new information and displays.

RSS news aggregators were initially designed to receive text-based content. As users find outside-the-box uses for RSS, developers of RSS readers are struggling to release new versions that support the enclosures businesses are eager to use.

Following are the business uses for RSS :-

1. PDF documents :-
PDF documents can be included with a feed which allows interested visitors to gain some more information.

2. PPT presentations :-
powerpoint presentations can be easily included with feed.

3. Videos and Audios :-
Videos and audios are usually added with RSS feed. Live shows,debates are popular videos while expert comment about products, lectures, product usage instructions are popular audios enclosed with RSS feed.

4. Images :-
Now-a-days, we just cant imagine web pages without images. RSS feeds carry a light-weight catalog of products with them to show to the potential buyers.

Thus, businesses now using RSS feed as a great communication medium. Some traditional businesses are still struggling for monthly newletters, while innovative businesses are receiving great benefits of RSS.

It is a part of W3C which was originally created as an XML metadata model which was on a technology named as “triple”.

Describing resources is the main aspect designated by W3C’s Semantic Web activity which can only be done through storing, exchanging and using information that can be read by the system with better understanding. It’s concepts of abstractions also has lead
to a great contribution in the knowledge-managing applicatory programs.

From the beginning
RSS was born for practical purposes, as good formats tend to be. The RSS 0.91 spec starts with the words “Files must be 100% valid XML,”It initially started to be known as headline syndication drove development and refinement of the format.

According to dictionary, syndication refers to sell (a comic strip or column, for example) through a syndicate for simultaneous publication in newspapers or periodicals.

The RSS community started calling what it did ‘syndication‘ (as in, “Really Simple Syndication”) because it was all about distributing content for reuse. However, RSS syndication isn’t usually paid for, and it isn’t just for republication; specialized clients called aggregators made content available directly to end users, so that they could mix-and-match their channels at will.

The headline syndication view of RSS is to-the-point; a channel is a reverse-chronological sorted list of links to stories, along with metadata for each one indicating the title and sometimes a description.

This metadata summary view of RSS (”Rich Site Summary” or “RDF Site Summary”) treated the channel as a container for any kind of statement - from market data to mp3 playlists to event calendars or even order systems - as long as what they were talking about could be arranged in a list. The modularity of RSS1.0 enables its use in a variety of contexts, from Wall Street to Open Source software distribution.

Last but not least, Weblogs have been using RSS for completely different - content syndication. Instead of just saying things about the channels’ links, they reproduce the content at the other end, so that a Web resource can be replicated in whole in an aggregator or on another site.

Items are well-understood (having identifiers and metadata associated with them), the relationships between the items, in the context of a channel, haven’t been explored so much as it has been assumed.

Flipping Channels

The basic conceit of RSS is a channel. This is a term from information theory; the dictionary defines it as follows -
“A course or pathway through which information is transmitted”

This puts in more pressure on the changing nature of the information; it flows. Another often used term for an RSS channel is a feed,:

Feed is defined as the transmission or conveyance of a local radio or television program, as by satellite, on the Internet, or by broadcast over a network of stations”

Thinking of an RSS channel as a flow is interesting for a number of reasons. Many RSS aggregators will keep a history of a channel and add to it over time, reconstructing the complete output of the flow. Some of them will also memorize the last snapshot of a flow that the user has seen.

More fundamentally, the flow nature of RSS needs to be aligned with that of the Web, as explained by Representational State Transfer (REST).
The Web according to REST is embodied by three components -
- Identifiers (URIs)
- Protocols (e.g., HTTP)
- Formats (e.g., HTML; RSS, is a format as well).

Formats represent the state of a resource (as identified by a URI) in a snapshot (called a representation) that is sent using a Web protocol. But RSS is very often a partial snapshot; it describes the last few items in the feed, not the complete flow to date. Although other formats don’t always give the complete state of a resource.

A well-defined concept of a channel would allow other uses of RSS beyond simple headlines; aggregators could make more intelligent decisions about how to display a feed, enabling more content - from my Netflix queue to my Amazon shopping cart to a personal todo list.

As Weblogs repurposes RSS from headline syndication to their own purposes, so to can we find new applications of RSS, without sacrificing its legacy. Rather, if we explicitly state what’s implied about feeds now (reverse-chronological ordering), we enable new applications as well as new functionality for existing ones

What is RSS
RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal weblogs. But it’s not just for news. Pretty much anything that can be broken down into discrete items can be syndicated via RSS: the “recent changes” page of a wiki, a changelog of CVS checkins, even the revision history of a book. Once information about each item is in RSS format, an RSS-aware program can check the feed for changes and react to the changes in an appropriate way.

RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the weblogging community. Many weblogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favorite weblogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them.
There are serveral versions of RSS :

RSS 0.90 RSS 0.91 RSS 0.92
RSS 0.93 RSS 0.94 RSS 1.00
RSS 2.00

So which one do I use?

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and is a method for electronic content distribution. RSS is transmitted via the internet, but what makes it unique is that no downloading efforts are needed by the end receiver of the content. It streams instateneously. Consumers can have news readers on their computers, either integrated into an emal client, or an aggregated web application such as News Gator, and are able to get information relating to their interests.

Already gaining steam in the travel industry and within comparison shopping engines, RSS seems to be a valuable way to push news, offers, and infomrmation to customers. Travel companies are able to provide a streaming supply of last minute airfare offers to their customer segments, without that customer having to open an email or visit a webpage.

Should you care:

Depends on the nature of your business. Do you consistently offer new prices? Do you get new pieces to your assortment consistently? Do you have a customer base that is extremely loyal that you want to reach out to with messaging? If so, RSS may another channel to help build your brand.