How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad, a Web Server, and a Beer ~ Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes

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How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad, a Web Server, and a Beer

By Stephen Downes
July 29, 2003

The ultimate low-tech guide to creating your own RSS feed. An RSS (Rich Site Summary) feed is an XML file used to describe the contents of your website. As your website content changes, your RSS feed changes. Other computer systems, known as 'aggregators' or 'harvesters', read your RSS feed everyt once in a while. If you have provided new information, the aggregator takes that information and sends it to readers around the world. Thus information about your site's contents is 'syndicated', that is, rebroadcast to a much larger audience.

Step One: Getting Ready

Notepad: an RSS file is a plain text file. This means it can be created with any ordinary text editor. Windows Notepad will do the job. You can also use Wordpad or even MS-Word. But you will have to be sure to save your file as plain text. Any formatting breaks the RSS file. Save in plain text only. I prefer to use a text editor called NoteTab. It is a plain text editor and never surprises me with unexpected formatting. http://www.notetab.com In Linux I use Bluefish. http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/

The server: if you have a website, you have a server. The server is where your website is located. You need to be able to load files to your server. If you can put your home page on your server, you will use exactly the same process for your RSS file.

The beer: get a beer from your fridge or buy one from your local store. Open the beer.

Step Two: Find a Template

The easiest way to create an RSS file is to copy someone else's. You don't need to worry about this; you will be replacing all of their content, and the format of the file is freely licensed for use by anyone. Here is a short, simple template file you can use:

(Copy everything below this line, but not including this line)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
 <rss version="0.91">

 <channel>
 <title>OLDaily</title>
 <link>http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm</link>
 <description>OLDaily - By Stephen Downes </description>
 <language>en-us</language>

 <image>
 <title>Stephen's Web</title>
 <url>http://www.downes.ca/images/rss.gif</url>
 <link>http://www.downes.ca</link>
 <width>90</width>
 <height>36</height>
 </image>

<item>
 <title>Attack Update</title>
 <link>http://www.downes.ca</link>
 <description>
 OK, here's where we stand. I have no email into
or out of downes.ca - this means that if you are sending me
email to stephen@downes.ca it will fail. It also means that
newsletter mailouts are failing (at least, I think they're
failing...). Additionally, all scheduled processes have
terminated, which means that Edu_RSS will be updated
manually. I have no tech support until at least tomorrow,
so it looks like we'll be limping along like this for a
bit. Again, please note, email sent to me at downes.ca is
not reaching me. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, July
22, 2003
 </description>
 </item>
 <item>
 <title>Attack on Downes.ca</title>
 <link>http://www.downes.ca</link>
 <description>
 Downes.ca was off the air for a few days
following a denial of service attack. We are back for now
but things are still touch and go. I'll keep you posted. 
By Stephen Downes, July 21, 2003
 </description>
 </item>
 </channel>
 </rss>

(Stop copying at this line. Do not copy this line.)

Take the text you have just copied and paste it into your text editor. Save this as a new file called (say) mysite.rss - you can call your saved file anything you want, but it is a lot easier if you indicate the name of your site and use .rss as an extension, just so people can tell by looking at the title what your file does. Remember to save the file in plain text format. Take a sip of the beer. You've earned it.

Step Three: Defining Your Channel

Now look at the file you have just copied into your text editor. Near the top, notice that there is a line that says <channel>. The information following this tag, and above the tag that says </channel>, will be where you describe your website as a whole.

You need to enter four pieces of information. The information goes between the tags, where information about my site is currently located. Delete the information about my site and type in the information about your site. Specifically:

You only need to create this part once. You can change it any time you want, but you do not have to. Once this part is done, therefore, it is done forever. Take a sip of your beer. You've earned it.

Step Four: Your Image

This part of your RSS file is optional; you don't have to add an image if you don't want to. Your image will be used by some aggregators to provide some visual identity to your RSS feed.

You will need to create an image first. Use any image editor (I use PaintShop Pro - http://www.paintshoppro.com/ ). Your image should be very small: my image is 90 pixels wide by 36 inches deep. You can either create a new image for your site image or do as I did: use PaintShop Pro to capture a bit of the site that looks nice, then reduce it in size.

You can put your image anywhere you want, but I recommend uploading it to the same directory as your RSS file.

Then describe your image in just the same way you described your channel: by replacing my text and using your own.

As with the channel tag, once you've done this step once, you never have to do it again. This was a long step, so take a couple of sips of beer.

Step Five: Defining Your Links

Your site may contain one or more articles you want readers to read. This is the part that changes from time to time. For example, Technology Source publishes a set of eight or so articles every two months. So every two months, you need to change this list, to reflect the current contents of Technology Source.

Each article is described by an <item> tag. In the example above, I have included two items. You can see that the description for each starts at the <item> tag and ends with the </item> tag.

In between the item tags are some tags containing information about the article. To create information about an article, remove the information about my articles, and replace it with your own. If you have more than two articles, copy an article tag (everything between and , including these tags) and paste it below the second item, and above the </channel> tag. Then enter your content:

Create an item for each article. Then save your file and have a sip of your beer.

Step Six: Escape Characters

Now we come to the trickiest part of creating an RSS file.

An RSS file is an XML file. Some characters are illegal in XML. So you have to 'escape' them, that is, insert a text string in their place. Here is the list I use (not all of these are strictly required, but using this full list ensures maximum safety).

" - change every full quote to "
- For example: He shouted, "Fire!" becomes, He shouted, "Fire!"

' - change every apostraphe to '
- For example: It's his bike. becomes It's his bike.

> - change every 'greater than' character to > - but DO NOT change them in the tags.
- For example, <description> am > three feet tall</description> becomes <description>I am > three feet tall</description>

< - change every 'less than' character tag to < - but DO NOT change them in the tags
- For example: "<description>I have < five dollars</description> becomes <description>I had < five dollars</description>

Step Seven: Uploading Your File

Upload your file to your web server. It is best to put it in the same directory as your home page, though you could place it anywhere you want.

You now have a working RSS feed. Congratulations. Have another sip of beer.

Step Eight: Validating Your RSS File

Strictly speaking, this step is optional, but it is strongly recommended since it's easy to make a mistake on step six.

To validate your RSS file, go to an RSS validator on the Web and enter the full URL of your RSS file into the form. Click the button. If there are any errors, the validator will tell you about them. Otherwise, it will validate your file.

Here are some validators:

http://feeds.archive.org/Fvalidator/

If your feed is valid, have a sip of your beer. Otherwise, correct the error and try again.

Step Nine: Advertising Your Feed

You need to tell people that your feed exists. They are not (necessarily) going to find it through Google. There are two major ways to do this.

First, add an XML button to your home page. An XML button is a little organge image that links to your RSS file. You've probably seen them on other web pages. Get a copy of the image (one is located at http://www.downes.ca/images/xml.gif ) and upload it to your website.Then place the image, with a link, on your home page. For example, place the following code on your home page:

Second, you can submit your site's RSS feed URL to various aggregators. This will tell them to start checking your RSS feed for updates. Here are some aggregators:

Finish your beer. You're done. Don't forget to recycle the bottle.

Note: these are instructions for creating a basic RSS feed. The RSS standard can be extended in a variety of ways. But this is a good starting point: your feed will be fully functional, and most important, it will work. Get to know and love your feed. After a time, you may want to look at the world of RSS 1.0 and RSS 2.0 and the various ways to add more information. When you add functionality, you will use the same process: find a template, apply the rules, and validate. But give it time. Be comfortable, then move on.

Comments

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Rosie, February 1, 2010

If you have the url of the RSS feed you can use rss.bloople.net to create a script to embed the feed (with styles) into your web page. The service is free and has no ads. The script is under the MIT license.

Just paste in the url and then tick the options that you want. You can have your feed embedded using JavaScript, PHP or HTML. It is very easy to use and if you run into trouble you can always post a question to Brenton at http://blog.bloople.net/tag/RSS2HTML [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, January 29, 2010

Boss, you are great. I never came across so simple and easy explanation of something technical, which actually works. You are amazing. Thanks! I have created my RSS feed and now looking for ways to updating and submitting the feed automatically. you rock! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, January 20, 2010

I could kiss you!!! You have NO idea how helpful this was to me. I knew it had to be this simple!!!! OMG!!! BLESS YOU DEAR FRIEND!!!! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Nothing ever validates for me

Anymouse, January 9, 2010

But this did. The beer made it better. You rule.
Also, your thingy keeps telling me I'm a robot. I swear I didn't know.

Thanks! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

beetsie, January 5, 2010

Unfortunately, I didn't have beer so I used soup instead and it still worked!
Thank you - this was very helpful. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

jagdeesh, December 24, 2009

Thanks a lot. A wonderful explanation. Very very easy to catchup. once again thanks a lot. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad-image instruction

Anymouse, November 30, 2009

>Your image should be very small: my image is 90 pixels wide by 36 inches deep<

Is this correct? 90px by 36 inches

or should it be 90px by 36px? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Answer Blip Trivia, November 26, 2009

This is a great outline of rss feeds. I used it to generate alot of feeds to upload to wordress from many different sites. Thanks alot! :)

Ashley
http://www.answerblip.com/ [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

sockettes1, November 23, 2009

Hello;
So I've followed the instructions to create my own rss feed and have uploaded the file to my hostgator account.
My question is where do I get the URL so that I can validate it?
I've been to my homepage and do not see it. There are no other pages to visit as this is a new site - so where can I get the URL of my new feed if not on the homepage?
When I check this file in My Documents it has a white envelope as an icon and "Windows Live E-Mail" as the text next to it. What does this mean?
(FYI; I Googled "Rss for Dummies" and found this site - just to let you know where I'm coming from...)
Any help or direction would be appreciated. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

steverosen, November 18, 2009

I'm failing to get desired success with creating RSS Feed

Following experiment illustrates the problem. www.democracynow.org/podcast.xml displays properly as a feed page in IE8 BUT when I copy the entire source code into Notepad, the resultant file does NOT display as a formatted feed page. Instead, I just get a parse-formatted xml file.

That's also how my other notepad created rss files display.....WHY?

steve rosen
roswell, GA [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, November 18, 2009

I'm glad someone else caught the deal of not changing the ampersand in the example...I thought I was losing it (maybe it's just the beer) so I scrolled through all the comments to see and I'm happy to see that I'm not losing it.

Thanks - I'm trying to get to the bottom of this RSS feed thing but I, like a few others, am looking for a way to pull info from elsewhere in a website and repurpose it elsewhere but this is a great jumping off point [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, October 28, 2009

Hi there,

A very useful page of information about how to create an rss feed. For those who are less technical or just can't be bothered with XML you can also use http://rssa.at to create an rss feed for you.

Thanks,
Tom [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Kelly, October 28, 2009

Okay, this is all good. Now for us dummies.

I have Coffee cup Flash RSS which creates an rss feed and xml and php files. I go to the validators and it says it cannot open the file when I point it at mywebsite/path/file.xml

Do I need to create a file with a .rss extension?
I looked at the xml file and it looks nothing like the example (template.) Does that mean what I need to do is create the feeds I want my subscribers to receive separate from the thing I paid Coffee Cup software $29 for? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, September 15, 2009

hi. thanks for such good article. It's very important. Till now I use http://rsschannelwriter.com/ RSS Channel Writer and never try to write RSS myself. Of course I save time by using program, but I thought it is very interesting to write yourself!!! I'll try! :)
Thanks again! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, September 15, 2009

I'm setting up a rss for google. It's telling me that I need to include condition and price. Where do I put that and how would it be written? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Thanks for the great tips!

Anymouse, August 6, 2009

Thanks for the great tips! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, July 31, 2009

Thank you Stephen....Your article was excellent explanation. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, July 26, 2009

I did not finish my beer :-( [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Dave Ewins, July 22, 2009

Hi Stephen

Thanks very much for your article - it explained in great detail the necessary steps to create feeds - as a result I've now produced a new software tool to allow users to transform structured Sense Editor documents to RSS (0.91) Feeds directly without needing any knowledge or contact with XML!

The tool and background information on why and how this may be achieved is available on my website http://www.silvaelm.com/appnote01.php

Thanks again. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

djv1120, July 19, 2009

I love this. I am going to start creating my own rss feeds and this is very helpful. It is also a great excuse to drink a beer. 2 birds with 1 stone. I love it! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, July 17, 2009

I can tell I'm close but I'm experiencing the same problem of messages not accumulating in my RSS reader following an update of the .xml file.

Similar suggestions of this problem in posts...
June 19, 2009
April 26, 2009

I've looked through the post but cannot find a solution, anyone got any ideas?

Thanks in advance and huge respect to Mr Downes! :) [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Adding auto discovery

Anymouse, July 9, 2009

To allow browsers such as internet explorer to discover your feed when at your site (so the feed button lights up) you can add the following to the head section of the html file:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The RSS Feed Title you want" href="http://www.the-rss-feed/rss_feed.xml" />

hope this helps. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

redski, June 19, 2009

I seem to have the same problem as the guy on Apr 26, 2009: My RSS feed in Outlook only shows the latest message - the messages do not accumulate like they do for other feeds. Pardon me if I failed to see the answer to this problem in the comments and thank you in advance for your assistance. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

redski, June 19, 2009

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

redski, June 19, 2009

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, May 13, 2009

Stumbled upon this article. It seems a bit dated. I just use Feedity - http://feedity.com to create RSS feeds on-the-fly for pretty much any webpage. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

texasjim, May 11, 2009

Here is a link to my site. http://www.jiminyslimitededitions.com

Thanks for any help. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

texasjim, May 11, 2009

Hello Steve. I can provide a link to my RSS but the normal browsers are not finding it so the orange icon does not light up. What do I need to do? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

texasjim, May 11, 2009

Hello Steve. I can provide a link to my RSS but the normal browsers are not finding it so the orange icon does not light up. What do I need to do? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, May 8, 2009

Great stuff, I couldn't get the validators to work so I used http://validator.w3.org/feed/ which was really good. Took me about an hour to get a working feed up. What do we do next? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, May 4, 2009

Thanks a lot. I will try to do this from work, so I hope the absent of the beer is OK. I will test it with the substitution of tea or coffee or water. I might post the test result afterward (or might not:D).

P.S. If I do not add anything, assume that the test on tea, coffee, and water work!

P.S.S. Anyway, thanks a lot for the post. You made my life a bit easier. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, April 26, 2009

I have one problem! My RSS is only showing the latest post.

Help? Thanks! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, April 25, 2009

This doesn't help me run the backend with the .cgi and .js files.. how can I dxo that? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, April 22, 2009

Excellent! Thank you muchly. Just one question: Can wine be substituted for the beer, and if so, is red or white better? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, April 6, 2009

This is an excellent article. Many thanks - worked straight away! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Stephen Downes, March 27, 2009

> http://www.uga-international.com/ugai.rss.txt

The format is fine but it will not be read on Internet Explorer with that extension.

Rename the file to:

http://www.uga-international.com/ugai.xml

[Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, March 26, 2009

Okay, I got it. Thanks to http://feedvalidator.org/ pointing out the errors.
It works now, but I'm still confused.

Do I have to update both the site AND the RSS.txt file in order to keep everyone updated?

I need to know how to update ONLY the info within a certain section of my site and have the RSS update automatically. Oh and I need to be able to design my own template for the RSS page.

Thanks again,
Richard
http://uga-international.com/
PS: Yes I built the above site ^_^ [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, March 26, 2009

I must be missing something. I STILL can't get it to work.
It's only a test but can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Here is the RSS I created for the experiment.

http://www.uga-international.com/ugai.rss.txt

Thanks,
Richard [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, March 18, 2009

Thanks a lot. I used to think rss was some complicated stuff.
Thanks for simplifying things. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, March 11, 2009

Wow, great article, very nicely written! One question though...what beer would you recommend drinking while working on this? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, March 5, 2009

I had no clue what RSS was about before I read this article. Now I'm finished, and i have a fully functioning RSS feed on my website. Thanks SO much for this information. One thing, you might want to update the links in the article, a few of them don't work.
[Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Stephen Downes, February 9, 2009

The RSS feed can be on any server, not necessarily the same server as the HTML. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

spider, February 9, 2009

Does the rss feed need to live on the same server as the website? Here's my situ: I'm working with a website that is hosted by a company that doesn't provide me a server or ftp access (pages are all .asp). I'd like to submit to iTunes, have written an rss feed, and have access to a server... have cup of coffee on hand... [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

Anymouse, February 6, 2009

Great tutorial.... Well, the RSS feeds stays for a duration of 10 minutes, is it possible for it to stay for as long as i want... am sending the information to different areas.... but, want it to remain as long as I want or until i change the next infor. Thanx I will appreciate... [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

glows, January 18, 2009

thanks for the rss piece of info..however i cannot subscribe to my web page after trying you example...can help on that

thax
gl [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

STK74, November 21, 2008

Great Article!It saved me so much time! thank you so much!

Steph [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

luigie, October 20, 2008

Hi Again
Wow! It really worked:-) and what's more validated first time of asking.
So if you have have difficulty with Steven's instructions cut the beer and have red wine (must be Rioja) instead:-D otherwise all other instructions are spot on.
Thanks Steven
Best regards
luigie
[Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

luigie, October 17, 2008

Hi
Just read through your RSS feed creation, will try it later tonight as I have to go & do some training (swimming).
Can i use a red wine (Riorja) instead of beer, or will this affect the validation? :-D
Joking aside it looks reasonably simple even to a 'dummy'.
Best regards
luigie [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

GreenIT, September 25, 2008

This is a very good tutorial but it seems it is only directing how to create a Feed that needs you to edit the RSS file everytime you want to add new content.
Rather than using a scraping tool or a whole CMS platform I'd like to really get to grips with how to write the code that can automatically send updates via RSS each time an item is changed on your website.
Wiki's do this really well its just that a lot of them look terrible.

Any advice, instruction or direction would be warmly welcomed.

Once again top instruction and delivered in a very relaxing way, if only all tutorials were as good. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

Re: How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad

GreenIT, September 25, 2008

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