RSS which stands for Really Simple Syndication is actually very simple. RSS is used for various different websites and blogs to syndicate their content for search engines. This is the way in which news aggregators get the latest content as well.
If you have a website which has daily updates on content then RSS feed is a must. Now, you can set up an RSS feed of your own by creating an XML file. Also, you will be pleased to know that someone with very basic knowledge of computers can also create an XML file.
How to create an XML file for your RSS feed?
- The logic in creating an XML file is very simple. You need three things: Title, Description, and Link.
- A title is needed so that someone can know what your website is about. A description is a detailed information about your website and Link is the URL of your website.
- Apart from that, there are item tags which start with <item> and end with </item>
- Similarly, there are channels tags which start with <channel> and end with </channel>
- At the top, you need to define the XML and RSS version of your file. The XML version we currently have 1.0 and the RSS version we use is 2.0
- Combining all these tags into one will create an XML file for you.
Sample XML file
<?xml version= "1.0"?><rss version= "2.0"><channel><item><title> XML Articles from [Your Website] </title><description> Exciting new offerings from the world of XML and [Your Website] </description><link>http://youwebsite.com/xml-articles.htm</link></item><item><title> Web Design/HTML by [Your Website] </title><description> Keep up-to-date on all the tips and tricks in web design with yourwebsite.com</description><link>http://yourwebsite.com/</link></item></channel></rss>
In the above sample XML file, you can see that there are the XML and RSS versions at the top, there are channels and items inside them. In the items, we have three things: title, description, and link. After that, we close all the tags and our XML file is created. In this way, you can create an XML file for your own website too.