Article: Generate Atom / RSS Feeds using Php
Generate Atom / RSS Feeds using Php
Syndicating content from a website is becoming increasingly common, as well as a great tool to help promote your website. Allowing users to subscribe to content on your website can increase the amount of returning visits.
Many popular Search Engines also utilise feeds published on websites, as they can contain a large amount of additional 'meta' information about the content, which may not be included on the online version.
Generating feeds from content is possible using Php FeedWriter, which is free to download, use and modify.
Php FeedWriter provides the capabilities to output feeds in a range of common formats:
Atom 1.0
RSS 2.0
RSS 1.0
RSS 0.92
RSS 0.91
This is achieved using a class that acts as an abstraction layer between each feed format. Data can be included in a feed while not knowing which output format an end-user may select. The schema of an older feed format such as RSS 0.91 does not provide elements to store the types of information supported by newer formats. When an older format such as RSS 0.91 is used to output your feed, information included in the feed that is not supported by the selected schema is ignored.
Including a range of formats to select from can be helpful when feed readers or aggregators require a certain format, as users can specify the format that they require. Older formats are more compatible with feed readers, but are sometimes avoided because they don't allow enough information about the content and author to be included with each feed item.
Documentation is provided for each component of Php FeedWriter as well as instructions to install on your website. A number of sample scripts are also available for download to help get you started with generating RSS and Atom Feeds using Php.
Php FeedWriter also includes validation of the feed data to assist when configuring a feed. An invalid feed will display a page with details of the components that are missing for the specified output format. Additional information with references to the specific online documentation can also be provided when debug is enabled. Both debug and validation can be disabled once the feed has been configured successfully.
Many popular Search Engines also utilise feeds published on websites, as they can contain a large amount of additional 'meta' information about the content, which may not be included on the online version.
Generating feeds from content is possible using Php FeedWriter, which is free to download, use and modify.
Php FeedWriter provides the capabilities to output feeds in a range of common formats:
Atom 1.0
RSS 2.0
RSS 1.0
RSS 0.92
RSS 0.91
This is achieved using a class that acts as an abstraction layer between each feed format. Data can be included in a feed while not knowing which output format an end-user may select. The schema of an older feed format such as RSS 0.91 does not provide elements to store the types of information supported by newer formats. When an older format such as RSS 0.91 is used to output your feed, information included in the feed that is not supported by the selected schema is ignored.
Including a range of formats to select from can be helpful when feed readers or aggregators require a certain format, as users can specify the format that they require. Older formats are more compatible with feed readers, but are sometimes avoided because they don't allow enough information about the content and author to be included with each feed item.
Documentation is provided for each component of Php FeedWriter as well as instructions to install on your website. A number of sample scripts are also available for download to help get you started with generating RSS and Atom Feeds using Php.
Php FeedWriter also includes validation of the feed data to assist when configuring a feed. An invalid feed will display a page with details of the components that are missing for the specified output format. Additional information with references to the specific online documentation can also be provided when debug is enabled. Both debug and validation can be disabled once the feed has been configured successfully.
| Categories: | Blog / RSS Submission/Ping Services | Php Applications |
| Popularity: |
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| Total Views: | 176 |
| Published: | July 6, 2011 |
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