Free Website Content - A Quiz: Test Your RSS Smarts
You think that you have mastered the art of
RSS, but how much do you really know? Take the RSS quiz
to test your knowledge of RSS.
Question: If something is in an RSS feed,
it is perfectly fine to reproduce the contents of the feed.
I mean after all RSS means really simple syndication,
right?
Answer: No, that is not true. Regardless
of whether content is in a feed or not, the original creator
of the content has the right to restrict its use. While
most people do feel that if content is in an RSS feed, it
is available for syndication--that is not always the case.
Various groups have made efforts to add namespaces which
expand the tags used in RSS, to define whether the content
is available for syndication. The two most notable namespaces
that detail permissions are the Creative Commons extension
and the Bloglines' Access extension. These two extensions
are not yet widely supported so it is always best to check
the terms of service associated with the feed or website
to determine if the feed is available for syndication.
Question: RSS is only for blogs right?
All blogs have RSS feeds right?
Answer: No, and No! While blogs may
have helped increase the popularity of RSS feeds, RSS feeds
are not specific to blogs. RSS feeds can be used for any
type of content not just blogs. In fact, there are probably
more RSS feeds available for non-blogs than there are feeds
for blogs. Publishers have used RSS feeds for articles,
press releases, discounts, podcasts, calendars, alerts and
the list goes on and on.
Question: When I add a new item to the
feed, do I simply edit the old .rss file or do I create
a new one?
Answer: If you are adding content related
to the theme of the original RSS feed, you should always
expand your existing RSS feed rather than creating a new
feed. Do not edit any of the RSS feed's existing items,
simply add a new item to the existing RSS feed.
Question: Can RSS Feeds be set up for
private list subscribers and what kind of security is available
for RSS feeds to support a private feed?
Answer: Yes, while there are no provisions
in the RSS 2.0 specification for passwords or protecting
files, you can use any security mechanism available on the
http server to protect the entire RSS feed. The security
options are dependent on the capabilities of your web server.
Question: What is a feed reader?
Answer: A feed reader can also be referred
to a news aggregator. RSS feed readers come in all shapes
and sizes and are just tools that make it easy for users
to view the contents or headlines of the RSS feeds they
subscribe to. Feed readers can be desktop applications,
or web applications. Desktop readers are programs that behave
similar to an email client, you add new feeds and when the
RSS feeds you subscribe to are updated new items appear
in the RSS reader. The web aggregators are websites that
aggregate all of your favorite feeds, the web page dynamically
updates as new items are added to the feeds you subscribe
to. Many email applications now also include the ability
to monitor RSS feeds. As the popularity of RSS increases,
the options to read and monitor feeds is expanding.
Question: Can you block a search engine
from accessing a feed?
Answer: You can use a robots.txt to
indicate to search engines that specific RSS feeds should
not be indexed. Most search engines will observe the contents
of a properly formatted robots.txt file.
Question: What is a GUID?
Answer: A GUID is a globally unique
identifier. The RSS specification strongly suggests that
each RSS feed item have a unique GUID. If you are creating
feeds, a GUID is important because GUIDs are often used
by feed readers and aggregators to determine if a feed item
is new or simply an existing item that has been updated.
Each item in the RSS feed should have a different GUID.
Interested in additional RSS FAQs visit the
RSS Knowledgebase http://www.feedforall.com/knowledgebase.htm
or subscribe to the RSS knowledgebase feed http://www.feedforall.com/knowledgebase.php
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage
http://www.notepage.net
a wireless text messaging software company.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
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is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
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at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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