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1. Graphics and photos are not supported by ALL RSS feeds.
2. RSS feeds don’t display the actual URL or name of the WEBSITE. This may confuse the user.
3. Publishers can’t determine the number of USERS who must have subscribed USING its feed.
4. Publishers cannot know the REASON why some feeds were unsubscribed.
5. CREATES more traffic on the site and server.
6. Finding RSS feeds can be difficult as they may not appear in search results.

1. ABILITY to publish latest updates to the readers.
2. RSS displays the news and HEADLINES to overwhelm the USER. If the user wants details, he can click on the link of the actual content.
3. RSS has the ability to control the flow of information users receive
4. If the user feels that the content quality is not acceptable, he just needs to REMOVE the feed from the RSS reader to avoid any content being read from that source.
5. Allows user to scan information from different sources.
6. Can be typically used for weather reports, BLOGS, headlines, discounts.

Child ELEMENTS of CHANNEL has three required child elements:

• <title> which defines the title of the channel like a home page.
• <link> which defines the hyperlink to the channel.
• <description> which describes the channel.

Other than these there are child elements like:

• <category> specifies a category of a feed
• <copyright> notifies about copyrighted MATERIAL
• <image> allows an image to be DISPLAYED when aggregators present a feed
• <LANGUAGE> specifies the language used to write a document

Child elements of channel has three required child elements:

Other than these there are child elements like:

1. RSS is a very strong technology used to DISPLAY latest information from VARIOUS SOURCES.
2. RSS can be considered as the most acceptable standard to publish news.
3. RSS can be used to increase site traffic since different contextual information can be displayed.
4. RSS is SIMPLE to create. RSS can be used as a source of INCOME on the site as well.
5. Allows user to subscribe or unsubscribe content coming from different sources in a simple manner.

An Atom feed document must have a root element called "feed". WITHIN in the "feed" element, one or more "entry" elements are enclosed. The high level structure of an Atom feed document looks like:

<?xml VERSION="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed XMLNS="HTTP://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
 (other feed sub-elements)
 <entry>
...
 </entry>
 <entry>
...
 </entry>
 (more entry elements)
</feed>

An Atom feed document must have a root element called "feed". Within in the "feed" element, one or more "entry" elements are enclosed. The high level structure of an Atom feed document looks like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
 (other feed sub-elements)
 <entry>
...
 </entry>
 <entry>
...
 </entry>
 (more entry elements)
</feed>

The element is a REQUIRED sub-element of the element. The Atom specification requires that you provide a data and a TIME of when this feed was updated. There is no problem to know the data and time for this element. But you need to pay attention to the format of how the date and time should be specified.

Atom specification requires you to USE the format defined in RFC 3393 for the update element. So you should ONE of the following TWO formats defined in RFC 3339:

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.ccZ, where T is a delimiter, and Z indicates this is a UTC time value. For example: 2017-08-12T23:20:50.52Z.

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.cczzzzz, where T is a delimiter, and zzzzz is a time zone modifier like -08:00, which is 8 hours behind UTC. For example: 2017-08-12T15:20:50.52-08:00.

The element is a required sub-element of the element. The Atom specification requires that you provide a data and a time of when this feed was updated. There is no problem to know the data and time for this element. But you need to pay attention to the format of how the date and time should be specified.

Atom specification requires you to use the format defined in RFC 3393 for the update element. So you should one of the following two formats defined in RFC 3339:

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.ccZ, where T is a delimiter, and Z indicates this is a UTC time value. For example: 2017-08-12T23:20:50.52Z.

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.cczzzzz, where T is a delimiter, and zzzzz is a time zone modifier like -08:00, which is 8 hours behind UTC. For example: 2017-08-12T15:20:50.52-08:00.

The <TITLE&GT; element is a required sub-element of the <feed> element. The title element should contain a short but human readable title of the feed document. You should FOLLOW the same rules on Web page title elements to generate your Atom feed title elements.

One strategy is to use the same title as the Web page that your Atom feed is based on. For example, if your Web site provides a Web page for the most POPULAR FAQ entries for WEBMASTERS. That Web page has a title called: "The Most Popular FAQ Entries for Webmasters". Now you want to generate an Atom feed for that Web page. Obviously, you should the same title as that page:

 <title>The Most Popular FAQ Entries for Webmasters</title>

The <title> element is a required sub-element of the <feed> element. The title element should contain a short but human readable title of the feed document. You should follow the same rules on Web page title elements to generate your Atom feed title elements.

One strategy is to use the same title as the Web page that your Atom feed is based on. For example, if your Web site provides a Web page for the most popular FAQ entries for Webmasters. That Web page has a title called: "The Most Popular FAQ Entries for Webmasters". Now you want to generate an Atom feed for that Web page. Obviously, you should the same title as that page:

 <title>The Most Popular FAQ Entries for Webmasters</title>

An online RSS aggregator is a Website that serves you as a RSS aggregator. Once you have REGISTERED an online RSS aggregator, you can ACCESS it from any COMPUTER on the Internet. 

An online RSS aggregator is a Website that serves you as a RSS aggregator. Once you have registered an online RSS aggregator, you can access it from any computer on the Internet. 

A RSS AGGREGATOR, also called RSS reader, is software APPLICATION that allows you to subscribe to many RSS feeds from various sources and READ them in one place. A RSS aggregator usually provides a big list of RSS feeds from popular news providers. But it also allows you to ENTER the URL of a SPECIFIC RSS feed that you are interested. 

A RSS aggregator, also called RSS reader, is software application that allows you to subscribe to many RSS feeds from various sources and read them in one place. A RSS aggregator usually provides a big list of RSS feeds from popular news providers. But it also allows you to enter the URL of a specific RSS feed that you are interested. 

A desktop RSS aggregator is a special RSS aggregator that you have download and install it on your computer.

EXAMPLES of desktop RSS aggregators are:

• FeedReader - A free OPEN-source desktop aggregator that supports RSS and Atom formats. FeedReader runs on Windows systems.
• Liferea - A free open source desktop RSS reader. Liferea is DESIGNED for Linux systems.
• BLOGBRIDGE - A free open source and multi-platform desktop RSS reader. BlogBridge is a Java application.

A desktop RSS aggregator is a special RSS aggregator that you have download and install it on your computer.

Examples of desktop RSS aggregators are:

Blogbridge is a free open source and multi-platform desktop RSS reader. BlogBridge is a BLOG, feed and RSS aggregator for "info-junkies." While there are other aggregators out there, BlogBridge is DESIGNED for people who are required to follow lots of FEEDS, not 10 or 20, but 200 or 400. You can't read that much, so BlogBridge gives you lots of ways to ORGANIZE, sort through, SKIM and discover what's important to you in this avalanche of information.

Blogbridge is a free open source and multi-platform desktop RSS reader. BlogBridge is a blog, feed and RSS aggregator for "info-junkies." While there are other aggregators out there, BlogBridge is designed for people who are required to follow lots of feeds, not 10 or 20, but 200 or 400. You can't read that much, so BlogBridge gives you lots of ways to organize, sort through, skim and discover what's important to you in this avalanche of information.

Feedreader is a FREE lightweight aggregator that SUPPORTS RSS and ATOM formats. FeedReader runs on Windows systems. Feedreader's functionality is focused on the main task - reading and organizing RSS feeds and offering seamless USER experience. Feedreader installation file is under 3.5MB. Feedreader is free and open source. Feedreader is COMPLETELY customizable application.

Feedreader is a free lightweight aggregator that supports RSS and ATOM formats. FeedReader runs on Windows systems. Feedreader's functionality is focused on the main task - reading and organizing RSS feeds and offering seamless user experience. Feedreader installation file is under 3.5MB. Feedreader is free and open source. Feedreader is completely customizable application.

The "feed" element has the following sub-elements defined:

• <author> - Specifying the personal information about an author of the contents provided in this feed. A feed element may have zero, one or more author sub-elements.
• <category> - Specifying the category information of the contents provided in this feed. A feed element may have zero, one or more category sub-elements.
• <CONTRIBUTOR> - Specifying the personal information about a contributor of the contents provided in this feed. A feed element may have zero, one or more contributor sub-elements.
• <generator> - Specifying the information about the software used to generate this feed. A feed element may have zero or one generator sub-element.
• <icon> - Specifying the URL location of an icon image that identifies this feed. A feed element may have zero or one icon sub-element.
• <logo> - Specifying the URL location of an logo image that identifies this feed. A feed element may have zero or one logo sub-element.
• <id> - Specifying a URI that universally and uniquely identifies this feed. A feed element must exactly one id sub-element.
• <link> - Specifying a URL location of a Web page as a reference to this feed. A feed element may have zero, one or more link sub-elements. However, at least one link sub-element with REL="self" is recommended.
• <rights> - Specifying the information about the copyrights for this feed. A feed element may have zero or one rights sub-element.
• <subtitle> - Specifying a description or a subtitle for this feed. A feed element may have zero or one subtitle sub-element.
• <TITLE> - Specifying a title for this feed. A feed element must have exactly one title sub-element.
• <updated> - Specifying a TIME stamp of when this feed was updated. A feed element must have exactly one updated sub-element.
• <entry> - Specifying an entry of a feed. A feed element must have one or more entry sub-elements.

The "feed" element has the following sub-elements defined:

The <category> element is not a required sub-element of the <feed> element. However, it is recommended to have ONE or more <category> elements to provide classifications for this feed.

The <category> element has 3 ATTRIBUTES:

• <TERM> - SPECIFYING a short term for this category.
• <label> - Specifying a LONG label for this category.
• <scheme> - Specifying a URI as a reference for this category.

The <category> element is not a required sub-element of the <feed> element. However, it is recommended to have one or more <category> elements to provide classifications for this feed.

The <category> element has 3 attributes:

XML (Extensible Markup LANGUAGE) is a GENERIC markup language to organize generic information into a structured DOCUMENT with embedded tags.

ATOM is an extension of XML DESIGNED to organize headlines of news or summaries of Web pages to feed to news aggregators.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a generic markup language to organize generic information into a structured document with embedded tags.

Atom is an extension of XML designed to organize headlines of news or summaries of Web pages to feed to news aggregators.

The "entry" element has the following sub-elements defined:

• <author> - Specifying the personal information about an author of the contents provided in this feed entry. A feed element may have ZERO, ONE or more author sub-elements.
• <category> - Specifying the category information of the contents provided in this feed entry. A feed element may have zero, one or more category sub-elements.
• <content> - Specifying the content of this feed entry. A feed element may have zero, or one content sub-element.
• <contributor> - Specifying the personal information about a contributor of the contents provided in this feed entry. A feed element may have zero, one or more contributor sub-elements.
• <id> - Specifying a URI that universally and uniquely identifies this feed entry. A feed element must exactly one id sub-element.
• <link> - Specifying a URL location of a Web page as a reference to this feed. A feed element may have zero, one or more link sub-elements. But if there is no content sub-element in a feed entry, at least one link sub-element with rel="alternate" is required.
• <PUBLISHED> - Specifying a time stamp of when this feed entry was originally published A feed element may have zero or one published sub-element.
• <rights> - Specifying the information about the copyrights for this feed. A feed element may have zero or one rights sub-element.
• <source> - Specifying a feed entry in ANOTHER feed document if this entry is a copy of that entry. A feed element may have zero or one source sub-element.
• <summary> - Specifying a summary for this feed entry. A feed element may have zero or one summary sub-element. However it is recommended that each feed entry to have one summary sub-element.
• <title> - Specifying a title for this feed. A feed element must have exactly one title sub-element.
• <updated> - Specifying a time stamp of when this feed was updated. A feed element must have exactly one updated sub-element.

The "entry" element has the following sub-elements defined:

The <title> element is a REQUIRED sub-element of the <entry> element. The title element should contain a short but human readable title of the feed entry. You should follow the same rules on Web page title elements to generate your Atom feed entry title elements.

One strategy is to USE the same title as the Web page that your Atom feed entry is based on. For example, if one of your page is included as an entry in your Atom feed document, and that page has a title CALLED: "Atom Feed INTRODUCTION and File Generation". Now you want to generate an Atom feed for that Web page. Obviously, you should the same title as that page:

 <title>Atom Feed Introduction and File Generation</title>

The <title> element is a required sub-element of the <entry> element. The title element should contain a short but human readable title of the feed entry. You should follow the same rules on Web page title elements to generate your Atom feed entry title elements.

One strategy is to use the same title as the Web page that your Atom feed entry is based on. For example, if one of your page is included as an entry in your Atom feed document, and that page has a title called: "Atom Feed Introduction and File Generation". Now you want to generate an Atom feed for that Web page. Obviously, you should the same title as that page:

 <title>Atom Feed Introduction and File Generation</title>

There are several ways you can tell your visitors that you have ATOM syndication feeds available on your Web site:

• Showing your syndication feed URLs as hyper links with the Atom syndication icon.
• Adding a <link&GT; tag in your regular Web pages to ALLOW browsers to show the RSS boomark icons.
• Making your Atom feed file name to be "atom.xml" to allow browsers and search ENGINES to auto discover feeds.

There are several ways you can tell your visitors that you have Atom syndication feeds available on your Web site:

Obviously, there are many ways to create Atom Feed files:

• Using Atom on-line scrapers - On-line scrapers are on-line services that can analyze your WEB pages and convert the result into Atom feed files automatically. All you need to do is to provide the URLs of your Web pages.
• Using Atom off-line scrapers - Off-line scrapers are software tools that can analyze your Web pages and convert the result into Atom feed files automatically. All you need to do is to provide your Web page CONTENTS to scrapers.
• Using Atom file editors - Creating Atom feed files by entering required data and let the editor to finish the XML elements for you. A good example of Atom file editor is Tristana Writer.
• Using generic text editors - Creating Atom feed files by entering all the required XML elements yourself with generic editors, like UltraEdit or vi.
• Using Atom file generation APIs - APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are programming packages, MODULES or libraries that you can interact with in your own programs to perform predefined FUNCTIONS. Atom file generation APIs helps you to write your own programs to generate Atom files. For example, XML::Atom is Atom file generation API for Perl language.

Obviously, there are many ways to create Atom Feed files:

A XSD (XML Schema DEFINITION) file contains a set of definitions of XML elements and ATTRIBUTES to form a new XML based language. The same DTD file can be used to validate XML files that comply with the new language.

ATOM feed files are XML based, but there seems to be no XSD files exist to validate Atom feed files.

A XSD (XML Schema Definition) file contains a set of definitions of XML elements and attributes to form a new XML based language. The same DTD file can be used to validate XML files that comply with the new language.

Atom feed files are XML based, but there seems to be no XSD files exist to validate Atom feed files.

A DTD (Document TYPE Definitions) FILE CONTAINS a set of definitions of XML elements and attributes to form a new XML based language. The same DTD file can be USED to validate XML files that comply with the new language.

Atom feed files are XML based, but there seems to be no DTD files exist to validate Atom feed files.

A DTD (Document Type Definitions) file contains a set of definitions of XML elements and attributes to form a new XML based language. The same DTD file can be used to validate XML files that comply with the new language.

Atom feed files are XML based, but there seems to be no DTD files exist to validate Atom feed files.

An Atom Syndication feed is just a file that:

• Is generated STATICALLY or DYNAMICALLY.
• Has an accessible URL.
• Confirms with Atom standard.
• Contains headlines or summaries of an entire Website, a Website SECTION, or a single Web page.

An Atom Syndication feed is just a file that:

ATOM files have its own MIME TYPE definition as:

• MIME type: application/atom+xml
• FILE extension: .atom, .xml
• Type of format: Syndication
• Extended from: XML

Atom files have its own MIME type definition as:

The Web BROWSER and WEBSITE syndication industry has adopted a standard ICON to IDENTIFY syndicated content as shown below:

Syndication Feed Icon

The Web browser and Website syndication industry has adopted a standard icon to identify syndicated content as shown below:

Syndication Feed Icon

Atom is an XML-based document format that describes lists of related information known as "feeds". Feeds are composed of a number of items, known as "entries", each with an extensible set of attached METADATA. For example, each ENTRY has a title.

The CURRENT VERSION of Atom is Atom 1.0.

Atom is an XML-based document format that describes lists of related information known as "feeds". Feeds are composed of a number of items, known as "entries", each with an extensible set of attached metadata. For example, each entry has a title.

The current version of Atom is Atom 1.0.

The Web BROWSER and Website syndication industry has adopted a standard ICON to IDENTIFY syndicated content as SHOWN below:

Syndication FEED Icon

The Web browser and Website syndication industry has adopted a standard icon to identify syndicated content as shown below:

Syndication Feed Icon

Main differences between Atom 1.0 and RSS 2.0:

• Atom has separate "SUMMARY" and "content" elements, while RSS only has one "description" element.
• Atom standardizes auto-discovery in contrast to the many non-standard variants used with RSS 2.0.
• In Atom, it is mandatory that each entry have a globally unique ID, which is important for reliable updating of entries.
• Atom 1.0 allows standalone Atom Entry documents whereas with RSS 2.0 only FULL feed documents are supported.
• Atom specifies that dates be in the format described in RFC 3339. The date format in RSS 2.0 was underspecified and has led to many different FORMATS being used.

Main differences between Atom 1.0 and RSS 2.0:

Atom is an XML-based DOCUMENT format that describes lists of related information KNOWN as "feeds". Feeds are composed of a number of items, known as "entries", each with an extensible set of ATTACHED METADATA. For example, each entry has a title.

The current version of Atom is Atom 1.0.

Atom is an XML-based document format that describes lists of related information known as "feeds". Feeds are composed of a number of items, known as "entries", each with an extensible set of attached metadata. For example, each entry has a title.

The current version of Atom is Atom 1.0.

RSS is RELATIVELY new. Many versions have been developed in recent years:

• RSS 0.90 - The earliest known version of RSS RELEASED to the public by Netscape in 1999. RSS 0.90 is based on RDF (Resource DESCRIPTION Framework). When RSS 0.90 was created, the RSS initialization STOOD for Rich Site Summary and not Really Simple Syndication.
• RSS 0.91 - Developed by UserLand in 2000.
• RSS 1.0 - PUBLISHED as a proposal by a group led by Rael Dornfest at O'Reilly in 2000.
• RSS 2.0 - Released through Harvard under a Creative Commons license in 2003.

RSS is relatively new. Many versions have been developed in recent years:

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a generic markup language to organize generic INFORMATION into a structured document with embedded tags.

RSS (Really SIMPLE Syndication) is an extension of XML designed to organize headlines of news or summaries of Web pages to FEED to news aggregators.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a generic markup language to organize generic information into a structured document with embedded tags.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an extension of XML designed to organize headlines of news or summaries of Web pages to feed to news aggregators.

RSS (Really Simple SYNDICATION) is technology that can be used on Websites to syndicate and distribute FREQUENTLY updated content VIA news aggregators.

Syndication benefits both users and publishers by helping users consume more information instead of visiting multiple web sites to see what's new, users can scan headlines or article summaries and click to read the full text. Some publishers also make their entire content (whether full-text or audio/video) available for users to access via RSS and view in other applications. It's "really simple" for publishers to make content available in this FORMAT.

RSS is also a special XML based language used to create RSS FILES on Websites that contains headlines or summaries of news, or site contents to allow news aggregators to fetch and redistribute.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is technology that can be used on Websites to syndicate and distribute frequently updated content via news aggregators.

Syndication benefits both users and publishers by helping users consume more information instead of visiting multiple web sites to see what's new, users can scan headlines or article summaries and click to read the full text. Some publishers also make their entire content (whether full-text or audio/video) available for users to access via RSS and view in other applications. It's "really simple" for publishers to make content available in this format.

RSS is also a special XML based language used to create RSS files on Websites that contains headlines or summaries of news, or site contents to allow news aggregators to fetch and redistribute.

When you use a FireFox browser visiting a Web page that has an ATOM feed define, FireFox will display a "live bookmark" icon in the status bar. You can click the "live bookmark" to ADD the Atom feed to the bookmark list.

If you want to see FireFox's "live bookmark" icon, you can use a FireFox browser to visit the "webmaster.html" page created in previous tutorials. You will the "live bookmark" icon displayed in the status bar at the right bottom corner as shown in the PICTURE below:

FireFox Live Bookmark Icon

Clicking on the "live bookmark" icon, the Atom feed file "atom.xml" will SHOW up to ALLOW you to select and add to the bookmark list.

When you use a FireFox browser visiting a Web page that has an Atom feed define, FireFox will display a "live bookmark" icon in the status bar. You can click the "live bookmark" to add the Atom feed to the bookmark list.

If you want to see FireFox's "live bookmark" icon, you can use a FireFox browser to visit the "webmaster.html" page created in previous tutorials. You will the "live bookmark" icon displayed in the status bar at the right bottom corner as shown in the picture below:

FireFox Live Bookmark Icon

Clicking on the "live bookmark" icon, the Atom feed file "atom.xml" will show up to allow you to select and add to the bookmark list.

Yes. Atom feed files are XML (eXtensible Markup Language) documents. Atom feed files must be well-formed XML documents, respecting the FOLLOWING XML rules.

1. The first LINE must be the "xml" processing instruction with "version" and "encoding" attributes.
2. There must be only one root ELEMENT in a single XML document.
3. All elements must be closed with the closing tags.
4. One element can be nested inside ANOTHER element.
5. One element can not be PARTIALLY nested inside another element.
6. Element attribute values must be quoted with double quotes.
7. Special characters in element attribute values or element contents must be protected using entities, like < and >.

Yes. Atom feed files are XML (eXtensible Markup Language) documents. Atom feed files must be well-formed XML documents, respecting the following XML rules.

There are 2 DOCUMENT types defined for Atom feed FILES:

1. Atom Feed Document - Representing an Atom feed, including metadata about the feed, and some or all of the ENTRIES associated with it. Its root element is the <feed> element.
2. Atom ENTRY Document - Representing only one Atom entry. Its root element is the <entry> element.

There are 2 document types defined for Atom feed files: