Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a technology that allows website users to subscribe to content that is of interest to them from various sites. The content comes to users automatically - enabling them to review larger quantities of material and stay abreast of developments much more easily than if they had to visit each site individually.
For a user to receive RSS content from a site, the following two conditions must be met:
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The website of interest to the user must provide content in RSS format. This formatted content is often referred to as a “feed.” Some sites may provide a single RSS feed (perhaps for news), while other sites may offer multiple feeds on a variety of topics.
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The user must have an aggregator. An aggregator is a type of software that can display content that is in RSS format. Many aggregators are available – including one provided by Yahoo, other aggregators provided by Web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, and still other independent products such as SharpReader. Most aggregators are free of charge. Content in an aggregator window is refreshed at time intervals determined by the user.
If you have Advocacy Alert (Action Alert and Call Alert) and for News Article feeds enabled, you can place an RSS Links component on a page to let your users know that you have RSS content available. You might place an RSS component for advocacy alerts on an alert list page and place an RSS component for your news articles on your homepage or on a news splash page.
The standard RSS component looks like a button and has the link to your RSS feed embedded in it. Most users will be able to drag this button into the address window of their aggregator or access the URL shortcut embedded in it. We also provide a special component that you can add for those using My Yahoo as their aggregator. (You can also choose to provide the actual URL for the RSS feed.)
To add an RSS component to a page:
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Access the WYSIWYG content editor window for the page where you would like to place the RSS component.
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Type some simple explanatory text and place the cursor where you want to insert the component.
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Click
, Components. -
ClickContent > RSS Link.
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Select either the “alerts” RSS Feed or the “stories” RSS Feed. The Embedded Component Selector for RSS Link window opens.
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Choose either to embed the URL in a RSS, XML, or Yahoo button, or to generate a link only.
- RSS button – displays an RSS image with the link to your feed embedded in the image; users can drag the image into the address window of their aggregator or right-click the image, select “URL shortcut,” and paste the shortcut into their aggregator.
- XML button – displays and behaves exactly like the RSS button (RSS files are a type of XML file); perhaps used less frequently than the RSS button
- Add to My Yahoo! button - opens a page for those who use My Yahoo as their aggregator that allows those users to subscribe directly
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Click Insert to return to the WYSIWYG content editor window and embed the link.
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Repeat the last few steps if you would like to add the component in additional formats. You may for example want to place the component on your page multiple times –once as an RSS image, once as a My Yahoo image, and once as the actual URL – so that you accommodate the maximum number of users.
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Complete and publish the page. The illustration below shows what your users will see when they access an RSS page.
Note:
If you are adding a stories feed and have Multiple Languages enabled for your site, you will have an additional option to only show articles in the user’s locale.
Most aggregators contain a generic link that will take subscribers directly to your home page (double-clicking the Feed Name serves that purpose here) and an item-specific link that will take users to the specific item being viewed (double-clicking the alert Title serves that purpose here, opening either the Take Action page or the Make-a-Call page).
News articles will display the title, subheading, photo, and body of the article in the aggregator.