How do I make my site visitors aware that I offer RSS content?
Luminate Online provides an RSS component in the WYSIWYG editor that you can place on a page to let your users know that you have RSS content available. This component looks like a button and has the link to your RSS feed embedded in it. Luminate Online also provides a special component that you can add for those using My Yahoo as their aggregator. You might place an RSS component for Advocacy alerts on an alert list page and place an RSS component for your StoryBuilder news articles on your homepage or on a news splash page.
How do users sign up for my RSS feed?
Users who are familiar with RSS feeds will be looking for that RSS component that you placed on a page. Depending on the aggregator they are using, they may be able to simply drag the RSS component into the Address window of their aggregator to subscribe to your news or alert feeds. Others can access the URL shortcut associated with the button and paste that into their aggregator. My Yahoo users will simply need to click the My Yahoo component to subscribe. (To encourage more users to subscribe, you may want to add a brief description of what to do.)
What will users actually see in their aggregator?
Only the news articles and alerts that any Site Visitor can see will be displayed in an aggregator. Content for news and alerts will differ as follows:
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News -- Users will see the name of your feed (for example, Waikiki Site Stories) and a list of all your news articles, including the date each was published. When they click the title of an article, they will see the entire article, including the author, subheading, heading photo, and body of the article. The title also serves as a link to bring users to your site.
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Alerts -- Users will see the name of your feed (for example, Waikiki Site Alerts) and a list of your Action Alerts and Call Alerts. When they click a specific alert, they will see the alert description. (Your site name will appear as the author.) Clicking the action alert name will take users to the Take Action page for that alert, while clicking a call alert name will take the user to the Make-a-Call Page for that alert.
What if I make a change to an alert or an article?
Publishing new articles or alerts updates your RSS feed immediately. In addition, making any changes to an existing article or alert also updates the feed. Users who are viewing your content with an aggregator will see new alerts or articles (or changes to existing items) as soon as their feed refreshes.