RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
As of 2006, UCLA.edu has a RSS Feeds & Podcast Directory to promote and encourage syndication.
What is RSS?
RSS is a free, simplified format for syndicating news and content. RSS feeds are utilized by many major news sites like CNN and Yahoo! through to the UCLA community like the Daily Bruin and Media Relations. Each feed breaks down the most recent updates: headline, summary and link for each update.
Why use RSS?
It’s easier, faster access to updated content from your favorite sites. By subscribing to or bookmarking feeds that you want, your reader or browser will translate code to readable links, updated automatically when new content is available from each subscription.
Using RSS
You can display feeds on several kinds of personalized web sites or a desktop/mobile application. You usually need to copy-and-paste the feed’s URL, but for online readers you may find links that simplify the process in the form of “add to…”
- Online
- Desktop/mobile reader
- For PC: SharpReader (free)
- For Mac: NetNewsWire Lite (free)
- Help using a reader? C|NET has a tutorial.
- An RSS-compliant web browser or available plug-in.
- Firefox – in the Address Bar, when available, click the orange RSS icon at the top right to add a Live Bookmark; this creates a folder with usually 15 links, which are the latest headlines from the particular site
- Internet Explorer – Feeds Toolbar for IE (free)
- Safari – in the Address Bar, when available, click the word “RSS” to add the feed to your browser
Authoring RSS
- Programming
- PHP or PHP/MySQL
- ASP/.NET
- ColdFusion
- Commercial apps like FeedForAll
- Hand-coding
- Validating
- Design
- Proposed standard icons
- Analytics / Subscribers
- Free/premium web apps like FeedBurner
- Parsing / Displaying on your web site in HTML
Additional Resources
UCLA.edu RSS Resources
RSS 2.0 Specifications
Example Code
SOAP meets RSS
Introduction to RSS