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RSS feeds can be created very easily using an XML document on your server. Anyone who knows the address of this document can subscribe to your feed via the relevant link. As the content of this XML document follows a simple, logical structure, you can get your own news feed online in no time at all. Of course, this requires that you have web space or your own server.
Creating the basic structure of an RSS feed
The standard XML structure is used. The entire document consists of nested tags that ‘open’ and later ‘close’ again.
- Create a new text document on your PC. Rename it so that it has the file extension ‘.xml’. Now edit it by right-clicking and selecting ‘Edit’, or use an XML editor.
- Now write the following in the first line of your XML document:
This tells the document that you are using the Western European character set and XML version 1.0. - Now open the root tag of your feed by typing “
”. Below that, open the channel tag by typing “ ”. - Then close both tags again with “”. You now have a basic structure for your feed, consisting of the information that it is an RSS feed and your channel.
Add a title and description to the channel
Now you need to add information to your basic structure.
- From now on, write everything between the opening and closing channel tags. To give your channel a title, use the “title” tag. Write your title between the opening and closing “title” tags.
- Use the “description” tag to describe your channel. Use the “language” tag to specify the language in which your feeds are written. With the “link” tag, you can provide a link to the associated website.
- To give your channel a sort of cover image, you can use the “image” tag. Start by opening it. Use the “title” tag again to give your image a title. The “url” tag specifies the address of the image file. Optionally, you can also specify the height and width of the image in pixels using the “height” and “width” tags, respectively, as well as a link using the “link” tag, which opens when the image is clicked.
Finally, close your “image” tag.
Publishing feeds on your channel
To add news or similar content to your channel in the final step, proceed as follows:
- A new “short article”, such as a news item, is marked in the XML document using the “item” tag. So, write an opening and a closing “item” tag.
- Between the opening and closing “item” tags, you should now enter the relevant information: Use the “title” tag to give your feed a title. Use the “pubDate” tag to specify the date on which the feed was created. In the “description” tag, write a brief description of the full article on your website, to which you link using a “link” tag.
