SimpleRSS

Versions

Author: Walter Davis

server rss feed

Apply this Action to an HTML box to convert its contents into an RSS feed. A link to the feed will be added to the head of the page, where browsers will notice it and generate a link in the Location bar.

Whenever the box is updated, a new feed will be generated.

There are some simple rules for the content of this box. As long as you follow them exactly, you can style the content to your heart’s delight.

1. Only use HTML elements, images and graphic text headers will not work at all.

2. The headline of each item in the feed should be a link to the full HTML version of the item you’re describing.

3. The description of each item may not be multiple paragraphs. If you want to break the description into two or more sections, use Shift-Return twice to enter two <br /> tags instead of a regular Return.

Simple Instructions

Draw an HTML box on the page. Double-click into this box to get a text cursor. Type the first headline for your feed. Press Return. Type a short description of this headline and press Return again. Highlight the headline text and add a link to the full version of whatever you are linking to in the usual Freeway manner.

Repeat these steps until you have all the items in your feed. The last description paragraph does not need an final Return following it, but it’s harmless if it’s there.

Click once on the HTML box so you see its selection handles. Apply the SimpleRSS Action to the box, and configure the Action using the Actions palette.

1. Activate must be checked for the Action to do anything.
2. Delete Source removes the HTML box you have applied the Action to from your page. Use this if you want the content of the feed to be completely different than the content of your page, or if you want to have a more elaborate layout for your visible page. The HTML box can be placed anywhere, including off-screen on the pasteboard if you check this box. The feed will be generated but the box will be entirely removed.
3. Title is the name of your feed.
4. Link is the “base” URL of your site. Any relative links that you make in your feed will be prepended with this URL. It should begin with http:// and end with a forward slash.
5. Description is a short blurb about your site or this feed.
6. Language is stuck on en-us, some day I may add more options here, but it introduces other problems that I haven’t solved yet.

Publish your site, and preview in a browser. You should see the little RSS icon in your Location field, and if you click it, you will be asked to subscribe to your feed.

Usage and Styling

You can use any text tag for your headlines and descriptions, as long as you follow the basic rules above; alternating linked headlines with single blocks of description text.

You can style your text as paragraphs, any H tag, unordered or ordered lists, or definition lists.

You can apply any sort of inline or paragraph styling you like to either the headline or the description, and the headline link does not have to completely wrap the entire headline text. As long as there is some sort of link somewhere in the headline, this will work. Note that this style will only be visible in your page (and only if you did not check Delete Source). Your styles will not appear in the RSS reader view because RSS feeds do not have style – they’re just text.

Demo

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