Serendipity Forums

I don't really understand what the code does when a user clicks on "RSS 1.0" feed or "RSS 2.0 feed"

What exactly should the user do with it?

They should right click on it and copy the URL to their RSS reader. Most browsers actually have a built-in feed reader these days so if the user has firefox, IE, Opera etc, the borwser can automatically select the correct feed to subscribe to.

By giving users the option of using RSS1 or RSS2 you just make it easier for them to use their favorite reader instead of their browser.

Every time a new entry is added, revised, or commented on, that information is "broadcast" to the world via the internet. This means it is possible to receive this information without actually visiting a website. Think of it this way: The information is being "pushed" from your site to whomever wants it, unlike user forums (like this one) which are a "pull" form of communication, requiring you to visit that particular site to receive the content/news/information.

RSS is a wonderful technology that I just recently (last year or so) started using. It allows people to receive updates to a web site via one location. The location can vary, it can be a application sitting on the users desktop or it can be a web interface.

I am now able to scan through the days news in about an hour, this compared to three to four hours I used to spend to get up to date in the world of technology.

What I use is google reader as it is the best tool for the job in my opinion. I would suggest taking a look at it just to understand how RSS feeds work. RSS is a great technology and truly the best way to guarantee people see your work. If people subscribe to your feed it means they like what you are doing and want to see more.

Google reader is nice......

Here is a nice open source project: http://www.rssbandit.org/

hey...thanks for the great tips guys.....but, why does a bunch of html code pop up when I click on my feeds?

What do you mean?

An RSS feed is coded in XML, which looks similar to HTML. It's not designed to be read by humans like a webpage is. Could it be that you're confusing a valid XML feed for HTML?

carl_galloway wrote:What do you mean?

An RSS feed is coded in XML, which looks similar to HTML. It's not designed to be read by humans like a webpage is. Could it be that you're confusing a valid XML feed for HTML?

Yes...I probaly am a bit confused....what why does the XML pull up when the link to the feed is clicked on by the user?.....should my users, just sort of know to right click on the feed link?....sorry for sounding a bit confused on this, but I am new

Generally speaking you should never need to worry about what your RSS feed looks like. Your users will know what to do with it. Having it there is a great way to get subscribers to your blog, which is after all what you want. However a good bit of advice, in the configuration screen for your blog, only allow the RSS feed to serve the entry body, and make sure you use the extended entry, that way your readers will need to visit your blog to read the full entry.

Doing this allows you to add extra value to your blog, for example advertising or widgets in your sidebar that they wouldn't see by reading your feed.

AWESOME REPLY...thank you...good tip about the extended entry.
SO I'll let the rss feeders go the way they are, and just focus on writing good copy and using the extended entry.

Thank you

PS...

I am glad to see the forum back up again

Yeah, Jannis does a great job keeping this forum going but he's no magician and can't magically make a CPU work again - lol

And yes, write content, more content, and even more content. And if you want a free backlink, submit your site to the directory, then go and find some other Serendipity bloggers who share your interest and comment on their blogs. Pretty soon you'll all benefit.