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Overview of XML/RSS Content Feeds
What is XML Technology?
- The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a type of
software language designed to facilitate the sharing of information between
two points on the internet. It is used to categorise and define elements
of data within documents by the webmaster and is therefore very flexible at
defining the composition of data. XML is a mark-up language (similar to
html), which was designed to facilitate data sharing (as well as data display
in a browser). Whereas HTML can be embedded with scripts (such as a
simple JavaScript popup calendar), XML does not in itself process anything;
XML is simply a flexible data transport standard (plain text organised in a
consistent way between 'tags'). XML allows the author to define his own
tags and his own document structure.
What is the Difference Between XML and HTML?
- both XML and HTML can be used to compliment each
other, in the sense a webpage can magically display data from elsewhere on the
internet within the webpage itself. This can be a great principle to
master because it allows webmasters to present an unlimited array of content
without having to write content in the first place. XML was seized on
the newswires who could syndicate content anywhere. Today, savvy webmasters
are creating XML content feeds (such as a 'how to' guides and articles) and
offering it up to any other webmaster for inclusion on their website. By
including links back to the authors website (in the form of an
inbound link)
from within the xml file, link popularity and rankings improve. Likewise
the target human audience is more likely to click though from an interesting
article to its original author.
What Does XML Look Like?
- XML 'tags' can be created at will
by the webmaster to suit their data movement requirements. They can be
anything. These tags wrap around the data which is presented in a
self-describing and simple syntax (as shown in the example below). The
first line in the example is the XML declaration. The next line describes the
root element of the document (like saying: "this is a notation"). The next lines
describe child elements of the root (to, from, heading, and body):-
<?xml version="1.0"
encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<note>
<to>Simon</to>
<from>Fred</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget to call
today!</body>
</note>
How Can (Other Peoples) XML Feeds Help My
Site? - similarly by displaying content form other websites on your website
perceived value can be created. Portals are a classic example of shared content
syndication being used to create useful information glued together within one
website.
RSS/XML based 'content feeds' are
a quick and simple way to enhance the content of your site for your site
visitors.
By providing fresh up to date content your site will score
better with search engines looking for up to date and relevant textual content.
It also saves a huge amount of time when somebody else has already written the
content for you and allowed you to add the XML feed to your site in seconds!
Use the following script to help you include other websites feeds...
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Create a directory called 'yourdomain.com/rss/'
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Download this
php script and unzip the 4 files
into the the newly created /rss/ directory
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Customise 'sample-template.html'
by adding your own html 'header' and html 'footer'
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Edit 'rename-this-file-as-a-new-file.php'
in the 2 lines highlighted, where
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'HTTP://WWW.YOURDOMAIN.COM/RSS/...' to
your 'web-site-name.com/rss/' and...
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'http://www.intelligentmarketing.org.uk/rss/ppc.xml'
to the full url of the xml file you want to include (we have left one
of our XML feed in as an example to help you).
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Save the edited file as any php filename
you like
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Upload all saved files to yourdomain.com/rss/
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To view the newly created file simply
enter 'http://www.yourdomain.com/rss/the-filename-you-chose.php'
How do I Create My own XML Contents Feeds
(for Other Sites)? - there are many commercial software packages such as
Feedforall available to help novice users create their own xml
content feeds. These are easy to use and easy to learn.
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