Hi

I have been doing a bit of reading up on this and know I can write my own rss feed fairly simply but I was wondering what I could do to have the feed update automatically so I wouldn't have to update it. What I mean is, when I put a new page up can the rss feed automatically update.

I know it will probably mean learning some form of database software but can anyone suggest something as I dont have the time to constantly update an rss feed but could make the time to learn how to make it update itself when new pages are added.

Many thanks

I hope my question makes sense.

I guess it really depends on how you update your site with new pages. If you add them to a database, you'll be able to make a dynamic RSS feed. Otherwise, when you add a new page, it would just take a simple little addition toward the top of your feed like this (with your site specific info, of course):

PHP Code:

<item>
     <title>Tutorial: How to Create RSS Feeds</title>
     <link>http://www.virtuosimedia.com/article.php?id=60</link>
     <description>You've probably seen them on the web, even if you don't know what they're used for, those little orange buttons that look like they're broadcasting something. They're links to RSS feeds. In this tutorial, we'll explore some of the uses for RSS feeds, why your website should have them, and you'll also learn how to make them with and without PHP.</description>
 </item> 


Thanks VM

At the moment I dont use a database and everything is done manually but I am looking into changing that sometime in the future (no idea when) in the mean time I will probably do as you have suggested (with the help of your tutorial )

hacked off now though...I wrote the stuff for this about 2 weeks ago and as I would have to update it manually I stupidly chose to delete the thing (partly out of frustration with having to update manually!) but I suppose I can life with it for now.

Thanks for the reply.

I have added an rss feed to my site (click a link in my sig)

Can anyone let me know if its set up correctly, the reason I am asking is that when you click on the rss icon it takes you to the correct page as far as downloading the feed but the google icon for the feed stays grayed out all the time.

On WMT and VM's site the toolbar rss is orange.

Does this make any sense? I have probably missed something out, I have listed the code of the feed below (there are not many feeds in there at the moment as its a test)

 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<rss version="2.0"> 
<channel> 
 
<title>Baker Financial RSS Feed</title> 
<link>http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk</link> 
<description>Articles and feeds for credit imapaired financial solutions</description> 
<item> 
<title>Bad Credit Mortgage Top 10 TIps</title> 
<link>http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk/top10-guide-badcreditmortgage.html</link>
<description>Top hints and tips to speed up your adverse credit mortgage application</description>
<category>Mortgage</category> 
<copyright>Baker Financial 2008. All rights reserved.</copyright> 
</item> 
<item> 
<title>Bad Credit Mortgage - 10 Things you should know</title> 
<link>http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk/Bad-credit-mortgage-10-things.html</link>
<description>10 things you should know when applying for a mortgage with bad credit</description>
<category>Mortgage</category> 
<copyright>Baker Financial 2008. All rights reserved.</copyright> 
</item> 
</channel> 
</rss>

Am I missing something or is it because its not done with php or something.

Thanks in advance

Updated the code to this

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">

<channel>
<atom:link href="http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk/rss/rss1.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<title>Baker Financial RSS Feed</title>
<link>http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk</link>
<description>Articles and feeds for credit impaired financial solutions</description>
<item>
<title>Bad Credit Mortgage Top 10 TIps</title>
<link>http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk/top10-guide-badcreditmortgage.html</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk/top10-guide-badcreditmortgage.html</guid>
<description>Top hints and tips to speed up your adverse credit mortgage application</description>
<copyright>Baker Financial 2008. All rights reserved.</copyright>
<category>Mortgage</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>Bad Credit Mortgage - 10 Things you should know</title>
<link>http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk/Bad-credit-mortgage-10-things.html</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk/Bad-credit-mortgage-10-things.html</guid>
<description>10 things you should know when applying for a mortgage with bad credit</description>
<copyright>Baker Financial 2008. All rights reserved.</copyright>
<category>Mortgage</category>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

But I tried to validate it and get this

This feed does not validate.

• line 14, column 0: Undefined item element: copyright (2 occurrences) [help]

  <copyright>Baker Financial 2008. All rights reserved.</copyright>

Can anyone lend a hand with this as its driving me mad not validating - I cant understand why it wont but I am learning as I go...

Fixed the validation, the copyright is supposed to go in the channel section not the item section LOL.

Edited this post again

For some reason I am not getting the following message at the top of my feed (I've taken this one from VM's )

Virtuosi Media
You are viewing a feed that contains frequently updated content. When you subscribe to a feed, it is added to the Common Feed List. Updated information from the feed is automatically downloaded to your computer and can be viewed in Internet Explorer and other programs. Learn more about feeds.[IMG]res://ieframe.dll/Subscribe_feed.gif[/IMG]Subscribe to this feed

I have also removed the atom links until I have everything set up correctly as it stops the descriptions etc updating immediately.

Can anyone shed any light on this for me please.

Appologies to admin for posting like this but...

OK I think I have fixed it now, seems to be working ok but I would be interested in finding out how you get the google toolbar icon to work.

Can anyone point me in the right direction 'cos I cant find anything that looks relevant on Goolge.

You should be able to do it by just adding the following code into the head of any HTML page you want your feed to be accessible from (changing it for your site):

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Virtuosi Media Article RSS Feed" href="http://www.virtuosimedia.com/mainfeed.php" />

Thanks VM, worked a treat.

I have tried giving TP to your twice now but it wont let me, thanks again.

No problem, glad I could help.