RSS assistance

[JustOneUK]

I would like to add some bbc news headlines to various pages of my site
using rss, headline pages like this one http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/front_page/rss.xml

how do I do that? and how can I control it so only the top 5 headlines show?


Thanks,
James

[creospace]

I ahve a php script that will do it, you're welcome to a copy of it but there mayeb be easier ways on the net. I gave a copy to mattk on here but i don't know if he had any joy with it or not?

I've nto got round to playing with it myself yet so can't offer much advice.

Gary

[ewo]

May I ask why you would want to do this?

[crus]

We do this on Bristol Directory.

Is this what your looking to acheive?

D

[JustOneUK]

I ahve a php script that will do it, you're welcome to a copy of it but there mayeb be easier ways on the net. I gave a copy to mattk on here but i don't know if he had any joy with it or not?

Gary
I will happily give it a go, can you email it to me? justoneuk AT gmail.com

Why, purely to add some information to the site.

Crus... if you are talking about the lower half of this page
bristoldirectory.com/bristol/news////////bristol.html
then yes, anything similar to that would be a great start.

there are so many feeds out there that I would like to add to one page or another, I thought it would be a simple java copy and paste... :?

[DarrenC]

JustUK, go to DP and do a search there - someone (can't remember who now) wrote a PHP script which takes RSS feeds and places them on your webpage.

[JustOneUK]

I have already posted in that thread, it's for php pages, not for html pages

I can't believe there are all these feeds all over the internet but hardly any information about how to actually add them to your pages... Sure you can find a stack of stuff about how to MAKE an RSS feed...but how to actually use the bloody things...not a word. I even took a look at magpie rss which seems to be so recommended..this is their install page http://laughingmeme.org/magpie_blog/?p=80 :roll: unbelieveable. Even the BBC blurt out...add this feed to your site...but does it tell you how the frik to do it? nope.

anyone? All i want to do is add the BBC rss feeds to my html pages?

thanks in advance...and hugs.....

[confused]

very interesting, I'd like to know more about it as well

[DarrenC]

Hmm, because rss is dynamic, I am not sure if it's possible to add it into HTML.. but what do I know, Im not techy.

The BBC and other sites offering RSS assume that you have an RSS reader.

[DarrenC]

I know it's not exactly BBC news, but have you tried this out?


http://digg.com/add-digg

Darren

[DotNetWebs]

I can help with this if for anybody on a Windows server with ASP.NET enabled.

Take a look at my Horsham Forum (http://www.horshamforum.com/Default.aspx) for an example of this:

Also on this page from my website which inlcudes the BBC News feed:

http://www.dotnetwebs.co.uk/News.aspx

[JustOneUK]

do they HAVE to be asp pages? :cry: do you know anything about adding it to html pages? I don't mind even if it's a java script...

creospace, thanks for the php pages, although they mean nothing to me without an idea of what to do with them :?

James

[creospace]

Ah sorry! I will get around to getting them put into a project i'm working on , if I get there before you i'll show you how :)

Gary

[JustOneUK]

Thanks Gary, I appreciate any assistance at all in this field. Php i can just about deal with, but without some basic upload instructions, i am lost.

I find it impossible to believe that there are so many sites offering feeds across the internet, and no web designers who seem to know much about them in regards to implementing them. I have asked in a few places and not much seems to be forthcoming. Perhaps I sould email the sites offering the feeds and see why they don't have a method posted. :wink:

[creospace]

Interesting thought, the reason i got the script off my mate is because I wanted to learn how to inc them.

Might be worth my while putting it further up the list!

Gary

[DotNetWebs]

do they HAVE to be asp pages? :cry: do you know anything about adding it to html pages? I don't mind even if it's a java script...

Hi James

An RSS feed is basically just a collection of XML elements.

Here is one of the raw feeds from my forum site for example:

http://www.horshamforum.com/RssFeed4-0-0-1.aspx

One of main reasons that sites offer RSS is so that they can be used in news readers / aggregators which are desktop applications.

If you want to use it on a website what you need is something that will process these elements and convert them into HTML.

While I am not saying that it couldn't been done in JavaScript this is one of those things that it much better handled by server side code.

Sooner or later you are going to have to use other server side code in your websites (connecting to a database for example)

Why don't you take the time now to learn a server side language such as PHP or ASP.NET. The rewards will be worth it in the end.

Regards

Dotty

[Enigma121]

James,

If you insist on having the pages in static HTML, it's possible to set up a script that would copy in an update on a daily basis.

This would be a bit of kludge to avoid getting server side scripting working.

However, I'd strongly suggest that you shift to a host that offers Tomcat support, so you can host a JSP page. We can then offer to code up a simple solution which offers RSS on the page.

For an example of it in action see http://www.enigmaconnections.com/ebusiness_news.jsp

[confused]

ok let me get this right, assuming I had or could get the know how, I could have a part of my site that basically auto updated news of a technical nature - for eg "Joe bloggs developes new cpu to rival intel" (assuming there is feed for this type of news) ?


CALV

[DotNetWebs]

ok let me get this right, assuming I had or could get the know how, I could have a part of my site that basically auto updated news of a technical nature - for eg "Joe bloggs developes new cpu to rival intel" (assuming there is feed for this type of news) ?


CALV

Yes that's general idea.

[confused]

brilliant ! what exactly does my host need to be able to do? and does anyone know of any RSS feeds that offer technical or IT related news?

CALV

[creospace]

confused, you still need to be able to do the leg work to get the feeds to show on your site, it's more than just checking with hosts.

Gary

[confused]

What do I need to do exactly? do you happen to have a link to an idiots guide?

[desk2web]

As posted on another thread by me, register at http://www.feeddigest.com/ then you can convert an RSS feed into just about any format required and insert into a static HTML page with no problems at all.

For example, one of the BBC feeds converted to Javascript for insertion into a standard HTML page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/RFSYSSXEM1.js"><noscript>Click for &quot;My First Digest&quot;. (http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/RFSYSSXEM1.html) By Feed Digest (http://www.feeddigest.com/)</noscript></script>

Pros: Can include on any HTML page. Works fine. Users see digest content okay. Ideal for novices.
Cons: Not the fastest method. Digest text is not part of the page content, so search robots will not see it. Possible character encoding issues in complex multi-language situations.

Any problems give me a shout.

Allan

[Enigma121]

Allan,

As you say, the search engines won't pick up on this approach.

Hence if using this approach you'd miss out on one of the biggest advantages to including RSS feeds in your site - on topic, constantly changing content that the search engine can find.

Sites implementing a javascript approach won't see the search engine ranking boost that sites using JSP / ASP / PHP will.

Finding hosting with these features needn't cost the earth. Here's an example of a firm we have used in the past...

http://www.aconix.com/products/hosting_standard.php

I'm sure Matrixx (on the boards here) has similar offerings.

[JustOneUK]

thanks to all for your help in this matter, it is something that i intend to persue as soon as time permits.

James

[Tayads]

Things are looking up people.

Life is getting simpler for those that get lost outside the web basics.

We have our own RSS Feed on our site and people can add it to their own site with a simple piece of copy & paste javascript.

Nice way to get inbound links to your own site BTW.



Do what you do best and outsource the rest.....