RichSiteSummary

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An XML language invented by NetScape for enabling the syndication of websites; see PeerToPeerSyndication.

There are two very different, incompatible branches, RSS 0.91 (the latest version of which is RSS 2) and RSS 1.0, and overall there are [nine different, incompatible, versions].

Why two incompatible branches? -- TWiki:Codev/RichSiteSummary
Introduction to RSS -- http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/#Intro
Specification of RSS 0.91 -- http://my.netscape.com/publish/formats/rss-spec-0.91.html
Alternative for RSS 0.91 -- http://backend.userland.com/rss091
Proposed specification for RSS 1.0 -- http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec
Extension of RSS for Wiki -- ModWiki
List of wikis with RSS -- AbbeNormal:WikisWithRss

There is not agreement of what the acronym RSS actually stands for, although RSS itself has a well defined meaning. DaveWiner called the first version he worked on ReallySimpleSyndication. One might say that RSS stands for (Rich|RDF|Really)(Site|Simple)(Summary|Syndication).

[RSS autodiscovery] uses a tag so that a browser looking at a page is notified if that page has a corresponding RSS feed. There has been an [update] to RSS autodiscovery.

Some versions of RSS use ResourceDescriptionFramework (RDF).

RichSiteSummary vs. MailingLists

The traditional tool on the Internet to syndicate news is a mailing list. RSS only made sense with the creation of ChangeAggregators. However, the original ChangeAggregator is your e-mail inbox. People want all their changes to be in one place, which means in their inboxes. Wouldn't it be simpler, a more HumaneInterface, and more bandwidth efficient, to simply e-mail changes rather than polling RSS feeds once every half hour? Plus, e-mail clients are more powerful than RSS ChangeAggregators.

: Sure. Problem is, you get lots of changes and you begin to dismiss the changes, you filter them away and eventually you have a huge mailbox full of changes to read. RSS ChangeAggregators drop changes you missed on the floor and they're gone. Because, hey, not every change is something you have to jump on. -- DaveJacoby

: I've been using Miniflux for aggregating a couple hundred feeds for a year now and I think feeds are more convenient than email in all cases. Funnily enough, RSS and friends are called dead by many people but email is still actively used. — TimurIsmagilov

: I agree. In email you have to sign up before you get the content. This is good if you want to restrict the contents to certain people. But if it's open to the public? RSS is a lot more convenient. You don't have to sign-up, adjust your settings, etc. Just copy the feed's URL, paste it in your RSS reader, and you're good to go!
: Now the only thing I don't like with most RSS feeders is how it displays the feed. Even though email is worse for distributing public content, I still like messages in mail style, i.e. messages are received and stored in your inbox, and that you can see how many messages you haven't read yet. Fortunately, RSS is an XML format, so you can display however you want. And Thunderbird (and its forks) supports RSS feeds. So good for me. :D -- JobBautista

Tools

Below are some tools for dealing with RSS. For more tools that generate RSS from various sources or make web pages out of RSS, see ChangeAggregator.

Tools to generate and work with RSS feeds

MeatballWiki direct RSS feed - http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/action=rss (all pages)
- You can also specify a number of days to go back, eg http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/action=rss&days=1 - see RecentChangesOptions for more
MeatballWiki RecentChanges->RichSiteSummary interface ([sample output]) (obsolete)
Perl module XML::RSS ([DaveJacoby's crontab; example code])
[archive.org's RSS validator]

Tools to display RSS feeds

TWiki:Codev/MozillaSidebar
[MeatballWiki MozillaSidebar]
[erational rssViewer] ()
[BottomFeeder] cross platform viewer
See also [BlogSpace:RSS Readers]
[FetchRSS] - Convert RSS feed items into email messages.
BlogPluck? - converts RSS feeds into PluckerSoftware format for offline reading on a HandHeld.

Tools to validate RSS feeds

[RSS Validator]

Discussion

The Meatball panel looks nice. It's not quite enough to make me use Mozilla, however. :-) -- CliffordAdams

: Could someone tell me how to use this in my sidebar (how to customize it), i cant find the option. - Thanks, FlorianKonnertz

I've been using the MeatBall sidebar quite a bit, and have souped up the TWiki sidebar as well. One side effect is that Mozilla is now my main browser for Wikis... Definitely makes it easier to check for RecentChanges and make quick searches etc - which may or may not be a good thing (viz. Wiki:RecentChangesJunkies). Would be nice if the MeatBall panel could be parameterised to provide more items, and maybe a search box as well. --RichardDonkin

Is DaveWiner's RSS 2.0 still incompatible from the other branch? -- BayleShanks

: I believe so. His main thing, IIRC, is that he doesn't want to deal with RDF, while the other branch is all about RDF. It sounds like their differences go to the core. --DaveJacoby

I think DaveWiner is insane. cf. http://archive.scripting.com/2004/03/09#rssIsRaging. -- SunirShah

DaveWiner is very likely insane, but the so called "specifications" he makes always have the noble goal to make one thing and make it well (Wiki:DoTheSimplestThingThatCouldPossiblyWork). The only problem with them is, that they always are written so inprecise that incompatible followup specifications will arise. ATOM and RDF-based RSS1 on the other hand strike for world-domination and being everything to all (too overloaded), hence the little adoption. -- MarioSalzer?

CategorySyndication, CategoryWebTechnology