What is rss?
By Mark Pilgrim
December 18, 2002
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RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal weblogs. But it's not just for news. Pretty much anything that can be broken down into discrete items can be syndicated via RSS: the "recent changes" page of a wiki, a changelog of CVS checkins, even the revision history of a book Once information about each item is in RSS format, an RSS-aware program can check. The feeding for change.
RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the weblogging community. Many weblogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favorite weblogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them.
A brief history
Related Reading Content Syndication with Rssby Ben Hammery
Table of contents
Index
Sample chapter
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But coders beware. The name "RSS" is an umbrella term for a format that spans several different versions of at least two different (but parallel) formats. The original RSS, version 0.90, was designed by Netscape as a format for building portals of headlines to mainstream news sites It was deemed overly complex for its goals;. a simpler version, 0.91, was proposed and subsequently dropped when Netscape lost interest in the portal-making business But 0.91 was picked up by another vendor, UserLand Software, which. intended to use it as the basis of its weblogging products and other web-based writing software.In the meantime, a third, non-commercial group split off and designed a new format based on what they perceived as the original guiding principles of RSS 0.90 (before it got simplified into 0.91). This format, which is based on RDF, is called RSS 1.0. But UserLand was not involved in designing this new format, and, as an advocate of simplifying 0.90, it was not happy when RSS 1.0 WAS Announced. Instead of Accepting RSS 1.0, Userland Continued to Evolve The 0.9x Branch, Through Versions 0.92, 0.93, 0.94, And Finally 2.0.
What a mess.
SO Which One Do I USE?
That's 7 - Count 'EM, 7! - Different Formats, All Called "RSS". AS A CODER OF RSS-Aware Program, You'll Need To Be Liberal Enough To Handle All The Variations. But As a Content Product PROducer Who Wants to make your content, which format shouth, which format
RSS Versions and Recommendations
VersionOwnerProsStatusRecommendation0.90Netscape Obsoleted by 1.0Don't use0.91UserLandDrop dead simpleOfficially obsoleted by 2.0, but still quite popularUse for basic syndication. Easy migration path to 2.0 if you need more flexibility0.92, 0.93, 0.94UserLandAllows richer metadata than 0.91Obsoleted by 2.0 Use 2.0 instead1.0RSS-DEV Working GroupRDF-based, extensibility via modules, not controlled by a single vendorStable core, active module developmentUse for RDF-based applications or if you need advanced modules2.0UserLandExtensibility via modules RDF-specific, easy migration path from 0.9x BranchStable Core, Active Module DevelopmentUse for General-Purpose, Metadata-Rich SyndicationWhat DOES RSS LOOK LIKE?
Imagine you want to write a program that reads RSS feeds, so that you can publish headlines on your site, build your own portal or homegrown news aggregator, or whatever. What does an RSS feed look like? That depends on which version of RSS you 'Re Talking About. Here's A Sample RSS 0.91 feed (Adapted from XML.com's RSS feed):
Now Look at the RSS 1.0 Version of The Same Information: