RSS Tools

Copyright 2005 Sharon Housley
Considering the ever-increasing support for RSS in onlinecommunities, we have compiled a list of resources andproducts that will benefit webmasters, web surfers andpublishers in their quest to understand the power of RSS.RSS has rapidly become an alternative communication venue.In order to understand the full benefits, considerutilizing some of the following tools and resources.

1.) RSS Tools - RSS feeds bring automatically updatedinformation straight to your desktop. You can monitor orpromote news, job listings, personals, and classifiedsusing RSS. The following tools assist webmasters in usingRSS to maximize their time.

RSS Readers - RSS readers are designed as tools to view RSSfeeds, making it easier for users to view and manage thecontent of a feed. Feed readers make it easy to mark feedsas read or flag items that are important. The following aresome of our favorite RSS readers:

FeedDemon - FeedDemon is a client that can retrieve andorganize RSS feeds from the Internet. It comespre-configured with several news feeds, and you can easilyadd your own by adding the URL for an RSS feed of yourchoice. FeedDemon offers an attractive and easy-to-useinterface with integrated web browsing. http://www.feeddemon.com
FeedScout - Feed Scout is a RSS/ATOM/RDF reader that can beused directly from Internet Explorer. Feed Scout enablesyou to view RSS/ATOM feeds from different sites directly inInternet Explorer. You can even set your Home Page to showyour favorite feeds. http://www.feedscout.com

2.) RSS Creation Tools - As RSS feeds have increased inpopularity and breadth publishers and webmasters havestruggled to find a solution to create RSS feeds. Thefollowing tools will assist webmasters in creating RSSfeeds:
FeedForAll - Desktop software used to create, edit, manageand publish RSS feeds. New RSS feeds can be quickly andeasily created with FeedForAll. Advanced features enableyou to create professional-looking RSS feeds quickly.Existing RSS feeds can be repaired and enhanced withFeedForAll. RSS feeds generated by other means can beautomatically repaired, so that they conform to the RSS 2.0specification. Existing feeds can be enhanced to containadvanced feed properties, and give them a more professionallook. http://www.feedforall.com

3.) RSS Articles and Tutorials - Articles and tutorialsbased on RSS and designed to demystify Really SimpleSyndication for users and publishers. RSS Specifications -RSS Specifications contains a collection of articlesrelated to RSS and news feeds that assist both publishersand users in deciphering Really Simple Syndication.
RSS Specifications - RSS Specifications contains acollection of articles related to RSS and news feeds thatassist both publishers and users in deciphering reallysimple 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 tutorialdetailing how to manually create an RSS feed.http://www.make-rss-feeds.com

4.) Ebay Monitoring Using RSS - Monitor online auctions forspecific items of interest. As eBay has grown it has becomedifficult to discern and locate specific auction items. Byusing RSS tools users can easily recieve instantnotification when a specific item is being auctioned.
Free Bidding Tools - FMonitor online auctions for specificitems of interest. As eBay has grown it has becomedifficult to discern and locate specific auction items. Byusing RSS tools users can easily receive instantnotification when a specific item is being auctioned.http://www.freebiddingtools.com/

5.) Web Monitoring - Monitor the Internet for specific newsitems or blog topics of interest. A number of free onlineRSS tools make web monitoring very easy.
PubSub - Monitor the Internet for specific news items orblog topics of interest. A number of free online RSS toolsmake web monitoring very easy. PubSub - Every day, PubSub'smatching engine performs billions of matches of new itemsagainst user subscriptions. The instant a match is made,PubSub alerts the user via RSS. PubSub monitors more than6.5 million blogs, as well as 50,000 USENET newsgroups, allSEC/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 toolturns a Google news search into an RSS feed.http://www.justinpfister.com/gnewsfeed.php

6.) Other RSS Tools - Alternative tools for creativewebmasters.
RSS2Wap - The RSS2Wap site is meant for online conversionsof RSS feeds into WML for access on WAP devices (RSS2WML,RSS WAP or RSS-to-WAP). It's free and you can make a linkon your web site.http://www.rss2wap.com

7.) RSS Graphic Tool - Websites that have RSS feedsavailable use colorful graphics as flags to indicate to websurfers that RSS feeds are available for specific content.
RSS Graphic Tool - Websites that have RSS feeds availableuse colorful graphics as flags to indicate to web surfersthat RSS feeds are available for specific content. RSSGraphic Tool - Customize RSS buttons. If you have limitedtime and lack artistic abilities, use this free online RSSgraphic tool to create an RSS button. The button's colorand text can be customized to suit the look and feel ofyour website.http://www.feedforall.com/public/rss-graphic-tool.htm

8.) Displaying RSS - Many webmasters display the contentsof RSS feeds on their web pages as a fresh source ofcontent and information that changes on a regular basis.
Java Options - Using Java to display RSS feeds is a veryeasy way to provide dynamic content with very littleeffort. Unfortunately, when you use Java to display RSSfeeds, search engines do not see the feed's content, so thecontent is not spidered and ultimately will not help withsearch engine optimization.
Quick RSS Feeds - Free online tool that allows you tosimply enter the URL of the RSS feed, define the number ofitems you would like displayed, and the Java script will beautomatically generated. http://www.quickrssfeeds.com
FeedRoll -A free service for syndicating popular RSS andATOM news feeds on your website or blog. Select a feed,customize the design, then copy and paste the code providedonto your page. http://www.feedroll.com/rssviewer/

RSS to Javascript - RSS-to-JavaScript.com was designed toeasily convert any valid RSS, RDF or ATOM feed intoeasy-to-implement Javascript. No XML or programmingexperience is necessary. http://www.rss-to-javascript.com
PHP Options - The benefit to using a PHP script to displayRSS on a website is that the content dynamically updatesbut search engines see the content as static.

FeedForAll's rss2html.php - If you are technically savvyand wish to host the script yourself, check out FeedForAll,as they have a free PHP script available that will displayRSS feeds on a website.http://www.feedforall.com/free-php-script.htm

FeedRoll Pro - A fee-based professional service that tracksstatistical information for publishers displaying feeds.FeedRoll Pro incorporates a number of display options forpublishers wishing to syndicate their content, giving usersthe choice of PHP or Javascript. http://www.feedrollpro.com
RSS2HTML - Display RSS feeds by selecting layouts and colorschemes on this free resource.http://www.rss2html.com

9.) RSS BlogsStay informed about the latest RSS industry news bymonitoring RSS blogs. Daily posts bring readers currentnews, industry announcements and general RSS information.

RSS Specifications - Everything you need to know about RSS.The RSS Specifications blog contains daily posts and RSStidbits. http://www.rss-specifications.com/blog.htm
KbCafe - Daily posts and editorials related to RSS and newRSS products that have emerged.http://www.kbcafe.com/rss/

10.) Publishing List / RSS NewsgroupsNew RSS-Publishing List for publishers. The list is focusedon marketing/publishing/operational issues rather thanhardcore technical details of RSS, meaning that codingissues and disputes over the merits of RSS vs. Atom are notthe focus. If you wish to participate in the list andreceive e-mails of posts, simply subscribe by sending ande-mail to: rsspublishing-subscribe@topica.com
RSS Syndication - Collection of RSS related news feedsdisplayed in an easy-to-read format.http://www.rss-syndication.com/rss-news.htm

11.) RSS Related Forums - Forums can be a useful for anyonedoing business online, both in terms of reading the contentand actively participating in the discussions. If you wantto learn more about RSS consider participating in thefollowing online RSS communities:
2RSS - RSS forum for feed and related RSS discussions. http://forum.2rss.com/
FeedForAll Forum - RSS forum for RSS and feedcreation-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 oftopics. Designed with a directory structure and searchfunctionality. Syndic8 also tracks statistical informationrelated to RSS feeds.http://www.syndic8.com
Feedster's FeedFinder - Use Feedfinder to search by keywordor by URL or a combination of the two in order to findfeeds on that topic or by that organization. .http://feedfinder.feedster.com/
RSS Discovery - The websites you already read may have anRSS feed. Use the BlogStreet's RSS Discovery tool and enterin a website. If there is a feed available BlogStreet willprovide the URL. http://www.blogstreet.com/rssdiscovery.html
RSS Locator - Directory and search engine for RSS contentincluding weblogs, newsfeeds, forum feeds and relatedcontent feeds. Locate topic-specific RSS feeds forsyndication. RSS Locator displays feed content in an HTMLformat so users can preview the feed's content.http://www.rss-locator.com

12.) Submit RSS Feeds - As more and more people getinvolved with the Internet and as more Web sites, blogs,news services and other online resources continue to growin number and variety, it becomes increasingly important tomaintain high visibility and exposure for the content beinggenerated by closely following the major distributionmedia. As a rapidly increasing number of content sources,new and old, migrate or add RSS as a key distributionchannel, and as more people utilize RSS newsreaders andaggregators to keep themselves informed, the ability tomaintain high exposure and visibility is gradually shiftedfrom complete attention to major search engines and contentoptimization techniques to an increasing awareness of RSSfeed directories and search tools.
RSS Submit - Save time and automate RSS submissions withRSS Submit from K-Soft.http://www.dummysoftware.com/rsssubmit.html
RSS Specifications - Submit RSS files to the large list ofRSS directories and expedite your RSS content syndication.http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm
RSS Submission Service - A fee-based blog submissionservice that will submit your blog or RSS feed to more than70 blog directories. Submissions are done manually, andthis service is primarily designed for blog feeds.http://rss-submission-service.notrivia.com/
RSS Top 55 - Top websites for RSS submissions. Premiumservice is available for a nominal fee that will prioritizethe RSS site submissions in the order of importance.http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/
Using RSS tools, publishers and webmasters can increaseproductivity and efficiency. RSS monitoring can oftenautomate many of the procedures that are time-consuming andmonotonous, freeing up time.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAllhttp://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editingand publishing RSS feeds and NotePage, Inc.http://www.notepage.net a wireless messaging softwarecompany.