24 Feb 2008 12:33:29 | S. Housley
Considering the ever-increasing support for RSS in online
communities, we have compiled a list of resources and products
that will benefit webmasters, web surfers and publishers in
their quest to understand the power of RSS. RSS has rapidly
become an alternative communication venue. In order to
understand the full benefits, consider utilizing some of the
following tools and resources.
1.) RSS Tools - RSS feeds bring automatically updated
information straight to your desktop. You can monitor or promote
news, job listings, personals, and classifieds using RSS. The
following tools assist webmasters in using RSS to maximize their
time.
RSS Readers - RSS readers are designed as tools to view RSS
feeds, making it easier for users to view and manage the content
of a feed. Feed readers make it easy to mark feeds as read or
flag items that are important. The following are some of our
favorite RSS readers:
FeedDemon - FeedDemon is a client that can retrieve and organize
RSS feeds from the Internet. It comes pre-configured with
several news feeds, and you can easily add your own by adding
the URL for an RSS feed of your choice. FeedDemon offers an
attractive and easy-to-use interface with integrated web
browsing. http://www.feeddemon.com
FeedScout - Feed Scout is a RSS/ATOM/RDF reader that can be used
directly from Internet Explorer. Feed Scout enables you to view
RSS/ATOM feeds from different sites directly in Internet
Explorer. You can even set your Home Page to show your favorite
feeds. http://www.feedscout.com
2.) RSS Creation Tools - As RSS feeds have increased in
popularity and breadth publishers and webmasters have struggled
to find a solution to create RSS feeds. The following tools will
assist webmasters in creating RSS feeds:
FeedForAll - Desktop software used to create, edit, manage and
publish RSS feeds. New RSS feeds can be quickly and easily
created with FeedForAll. Advanced features enable you to create
professional-looking RSS feeds quickly. Existing RSS feeds can
be repaired and enhanced with FeedForAll. RSS feeds generated by
other means can be automatically repaired, so that they conform
to the RSS 2.0 specification. Existing feeds can be enhanced to
contain advanced feed properties, and give them a more
professional look. http://www.feedforall.com
3.) RSS Articles and Tutorials - Articles and tutorials based on
RSS and designed to demystify Really Simple Syndication for
users and publishers. RSS Specifications - RSS Specifications
contains a collection of articles related to RSS and news feeds
that assist both publishers and users in deciphering Really
Simple Syndication.
RSS Specifications - RSS Specifications contains a collection of
articles related to RSS and news feeds that assist both
publishers and users in deciphering really simple syndication.
http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-articles.htm or the
articles can be read in an RSS feed.
http://www.rss-specifications.com/article-feed.xml
Make RSS Feeds - Step by step instructional tutorial detailing
how to manually create an RSS feed. http://www.make-rss-feeds.com
4.) Ebay Monitoring Using RSS - Monitor online auctions for
specific items of interest. As eBay has grown it has become
difficult to discern and locate specific auction items. By using
RSS tools users can easily recieve instant notification when a
specific item is being auctioned.
Free Bidding Tools - FMonitor online auctions for specific items
of interest. As eBay has grown it has become difficult to
discern and locate specific auction items. By using RSS tools
users can easily receive instant notification when a specific
item is being auctioned. http://www.freebiddingtools.com/
5.) Web Monitoring - Monitor the Internet for specific news
items or blog topics of interest. A number of free online RSS
tools make web monitoring very easy.
PubSub - Monitor the Internet for specific news items or blog
topics of interest. A number of free online RSS tools make web
monitoring very easy. PubSub - Every day, PubSub's matching
engine performs billions of matches of new items against user
subscriptions. The instant a match is made, PubSub alerts the
user via RSS. PubSub monitors more than 6.5 million blogs, as
well as 50,000 USENET newsgroups, all SEC/EDGAR filings, press
releases from major wire services, and FAA airport delay alerts.
http://www.pubsub.com
Google News Monitoring Using RSS - This free online tool turns a
Google news search into an RSS feed.
http://www.justinpfister.com/gnewsfeed.php
6.) Other RSS Tools - Alternative tools for creative webmasters.
RSS2Wap - The RSS2Wap site is meant for online conversions of
RSS feeds into WML for access on WAP devices (RSS2WML, RSS WAP
or RSS-to-WAP). It's free and you can make a link on your web
site. http://www.rss2wap.com
7.) RSS Graphic Tool - Websites that have RSS feeds available
use colorful graphics as flags to indicate to web surfers that
RSS feeds are available for specific content.
RSS Graphic Tool - Websites that have RSS feeds available use
colorful graphics as flags to indicate to web surfers that RSS
feeds are available for specific content. RSS Graphic Tool -
Customize RSS buttons. If you have limited time and lack
artistic abilities, use this free online RSS graphic tool to
create an RSS button. The button's color and text can be
customized to suit the look and feel of your website.
http://www.feedforall.com/public/rss-graphic-tool.htm
8.) Displaying RSS - Many webmasters display the contents of RSS
feeds on their web pages as a fresh source of content and
information that changes on a regular basis.
Javascript Options - Using Javascript to display RSS feeds is a
very easy way to provide dynamic content with very little
effort. Unfortunately, when you use Javascript to display RSS
feeds, search engines do not see the feed's content, so the
content is not spidered and ultimately will not help with search
engine optimization.
Quick RSS Feeds - Free online tool that allows you to simply
enter the URL of the RSS feed, define the number of items you
would like displayed, and the Javascript will be automatically
generated. http://www.quickrssfeeds.com
FeedRoll -A free service for syndicating popular RSS and ATOM
news feeds on your website or blog. Select a feed, customize the
design, then copy and paste the code provided onto your page.
http://www.feedroll.com/rssviewer/
RSS to Javascript - RSS-to-JavaScript.com was designed to easily
convert any valid RSS, RDF or ATOM feed into easy-to-implement
Javascript. No XML or programming experience is necessary.
http://www.rss-to-javascript.com
PHP Options - The benefit to using a PHP script to display RSS
on a website is that the content dynamically updates but search
engines see the content as static.
FeedForAll's rss2html.php - If you are technically savvy and
wish to host the script yourself, check out FeedForAll, as they
have a free PHP script available that will display RSS feeds on
a website. http://www.feedforall.com/free-php-script.htm
FeedRoll Pro - A fee-based professional service that tracks
statistical information for publishers displaying feeds.
FeedRoll Pro incorporates a number of display options for
publishers wishing to syndicate their content, giving users the
choice of PHP or Javascript. http://www.feedrollpro.com
RSS2HTML - Display RSS feeds by selecting layouts and color
schemes on this free resource. http://www.rss2html.com
9.) RSS Blogs Stay informed about the latest RSS industry news
by monitoring RSS blogs. Daily posts bring readers current news,
industry announcements and general RSS information.
RSS Specifications - Everything you need to know about RSS. The
RSS Specifications blog contains daily posts and RSS tidbits.
http://www.rss-specifications.com/blog.htm
KbCafe - Daily posts and editorials related to RSS and new RSS
products that have emerged. http://www.kbcafe.com/rss/
10.) Publishing List / RSS Newsgroups New RSS-Publishing List
for publishers. The list is focused on
marketing/publishing/operational issues rather than hardcore
technical details of RSS, meaning that coding issues and
disputes over the merits of RSS vs. Atom are not the focus. If
you wish to participate in the list and receive e-mails of
posts, simply subscribe by sending and e-mail to:
rsspublishing-subscribe@topica.com
RSS Syndication - Collection of RSS related news feeds displayed
in an easy-to-read format.
http://www.rss-syndication.com/rss-news.htm
11.) RSS Related Forums - Forums can be a useful for anyone
doing business online, both in terms of reading the content and
actively participating in the discussions. If you want to learn
more about RSS consider participating in the following online
RSS communities:
2RSS - RSS forum for feed and related RSS discussions.
http://forum.2rss.com/
FeedForAll Forum - RSS forum for RSS and feed creation-related
discussions. http://www.feedforall.com/forum
German RSS Forum - German RSS forum for feed discussions.
http://www.rss-forum.de/
12.) Locate RSS Feeds -
Syndic8 - RSS and Atom news feeds on a wide variety of topics.
Designed with a directory structure and search functionality.
Syndic8 also tracks statistical information related to RSS
feeds. http://www.syndic8.com
Feedster's FeedFinder - Use Feedfinder to search by keyword or
by URL or a combination of the two in order to find feeds on
that topic or by that organization. .
http://feedfinder.feedster.com/
RSS Discovery - The websites you already read may have an RSS
feed. Use the BlogStreet's RSS Discovery tool and enter in a
website. If there is a feed available BlogStreet will provide
the URL. http://www.blogstreet.com/rssdiscovery.html
RSS Locator - Directory and search engine for RSS content
including weblogs, newsfeeds, forum feeds and related content
feeds. Locate topic-specific RSS feeds for syndication. RSS
Locator displays feed content in an HTML format so users can
preview the feed's content. http://www.rss-locator.com
12.) Submit RSS Feeds - As more and more people get involved
with the Internet and as more Web sites, blogs, news services
and other online resources continue to grow in number and
variety, it becomes increasingly important to maintain high
visibility and exposure for the content being generated by
closely following the major distribution media. As a rapidly
increasing number of content sources, new and old, migrate or
add RSS as a key distribution channel, and as more people
utilize RSS newsreaders and aggregators to keep themselves
informed, the ability to maintain high exposure and visibility
is gradually shifted from complete attention to major search
engines and content optimization techniques to an increasing
awareness of RSS feed directories and search tools.
RSS Submit - Save time and automate RSS submissions with RSS
Submit from K-Soft. http://www.dummysoftware.com/rsssubmit.html
RSS Specifications - Submit RSS files to the large list of RSS
directories and expedite your RSS content syndication.
http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm
RSS Submission Service - A fee-based blog submission service
that will submit your blog or RSS feed to more than 70 blog
directories. Submissions are done manually, and this service is
primarily designed for blog feeds.
http://rss-submission-service.notrivia.com/
RSS Top 55 - Top websites for RSS submissions. Premium service
is available for a nominal fee that will prioritize the RSS site
submissions in the order of importance.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/
Using RSS tools, publishers and webmasters can increase
productivity and efficiency. RSS monitoring can often automate
many of the procedures that are time-consuming and monotonous,
freeing up time.
About the author:
About Author :
: Sharon Housley manages marketing for
FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating,
editing and publishing RSS feeds and NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net a wireless messaging software company.