Sigh. YAIA - Yet Another Internet Acronym.
In this case there is even a difference of opinion as to what it really means. It can vary depending on which version we're talking about. The two possibilities are...
- Really Simple Sydication (more popular)
- Rich Site Summary
If you really want to get into an academic definition, there is always the Wikipedia article on RSS.
That is not our purpose here though. We're dealing with practical, real-world information, right?
So then, we want to answer two questions...
- How is RSS applicable to our new website, our content management system, our high-tech interactive site that encourages user feedback?
- What tools should we be using for RSS?
If you've been tinkering around with your new Drupal system, especially the Forums (discussion groups), and Taxonomy (categories), you may have noticed little orange rectangles near the bottom-right corner of your website. They may be symbols, or contain the letters XML or RSS, depending on which Theme you are using.
These orange boxes are indicators that this particular page is RSS-capable, meaning that you have a number of options when you want to be automatically notified that new content is available.
- If you have an RSS-friendly web browser like Firefox, you can use the Live Bookmarks feature to create a dynamically changing menu in your browser that always displays the latest content.
- If you have an RSS application like Feedreader or Alertbear (both for Windows, both free), then getting update notifications is just like getting instant messages from Yahoo, MSN, or AIM. If you're a Linux fan using the KDE Desktop, then your best bet is the Akregator program, which integreates seamlessly into Kontact. Won't it be great when you get a pop-up notification whenever someone posts a new comment on your website, so that you can respond in a timely fashion? This is particularly imporant if the visitor who posted the comment is a potential client.
- You can also use a free web service that allows you to see all the feeds that interest you, organized in one place. While this is great for web surfers, it's not particularly handy for website owners who want to keep tabs on their own sites' activities, because it's just another website that you have to visit to get the information you want. Regardless, you might want to check them out. Some popular ones are Bloglines, Google Reader, and NewsGator.
How does all this relate specifically to your site, designed with the Drupal content management system? As a Drupal site owner, you've got two possible uses for RSS.
- Use Drupal's built-in aggregator to collect news items from other sites. Be careful to read terms of service before providing feeds for business use, however. Many sites providing feeds have restrictions that allow the feed for personal use only. Some sites will allow you to purchase the rights to use their material, or specifically state that it may be used on non-commerical websites.
- You can encourage (and perhaps train) your users in the use of RSS readers so that they will know when there is new content available.
- This saves you from having to send out email to keep people aware of your site. Email can be problematic as many hosting companies place a restiriction on how many outbound emails are allowed. For example, a typical restriction might be no more than 200 emails per hour, and no more than one email every 6 seconds.
- This issue is further complicated by the fact that many domains (aol.com for example) monitor inbound email as well... so if you exceed their threshold, it's still considerd spam even if you are below your provider's limit.
- Encouraging people to stay in touch with RSS instead of subscribing to a newsletter avoids all these problems.
- Besides, it's more modern and in-the-know.
