Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site

JustaWizard · 07-16-2009, 03:55 PM

Hi Warriors,

I know I can take my URL and put it into Feedburner or FeedYes.com and create an RSS feed for my HTML site, but I've heard that this is not necessarily a good idea because you don't "own" the feed and if those companies shut down, so does the feed I've created and published in a zillion different places.

Sooo, do you know of a way to create a feed for my site that I get to have control over and "own" in the same way that I would if my site was Wordpress-based instead of HTML based? (I've got far too many pages on this site to convert to Wordpress...)

THANKS!

Best,
David

Jared Alberghini · 07-16-2009, 04:12 PM

Hey David,

I used this freeware app quite a while ago, it should do what you need:

XML:Wrench - The simple XML Editor

"XML:Wrench also includes a number of XML tools for transforming and manipulating XML/HTML files. Use XML:Wrench to convert HTML to XML or to generate new XML/HTML from your XML source using XSL/XSLT style-sheets. This can be done one file-at-a-time or using a batch command on entire directories."

Hope that works for you,
Jared

JustaWizard · 07-16-2009, 04:15 PM

Much appreciation, Jared - I'm heading over to check that out right now.
Best,
David

MikeLantz · 07-16-2009, 04:17 PM

If there is some script that can turn your site into an RSS feed, than another equally complex script could take your HTML pages and put them in Wordpress.

If your site is all static HTML, this shouldn't be too difficult of a task.

Mike

JustaWizard · 07-16-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeLantz

If there is some script that can turn your site into an RSS feed, than another equally complex script could take your HTML pages and put them in Wordpress.

If your site is all static HTML, this shouldn't be too difficult of a task.

Mike

Thanks Mike - I'm sure you're right; it's just that I'm pretty skittish about doing any serious tinkering with the site in question because it's ranking well in Google and I've put a lot of time/effort into getting this far and don't want to blow it... I was *hoping* there was some *simple/easy* way to create an RSS feed out of at least the main page and then putting that in various places...

...which ostensibly reveals my not-complete understanding of how RSS works, eh? ;-)

David

truepers · 07-18-2009, 09:13 AM

David, don't mean to dumb down your post, but I too am looking for an easy way to create an RSS feed for my static html site. The XML Wrench site seems like it would be helpful eventually, but frankly I wouldn't know how to use most of those features just yet.

Still learning the basics of html, xml, etc.

I'm looking at a book that tells you how to write an XML document in Notepad to create an rss feed, and how to save it.

But where do you put that document on your website? Does it go in the <head> section?

I guess the writer assumes I would know. Guess what, I don't. It's the little details that bog you down. Have you figured that part out?

truepers · 07-18-2009, 02:17 PM

Thanks, Jeff! That clarifies things quite a bit.

Kurt · 07-18-2009, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by truepers

David, don't mean to dumb down your post, but I too am looking for an easy way to create an RSS feed for my static html site. The XML Wrench site seems like it would be helpful eventually, but frankly I wouldn't know how to use most of those features just yet.

Still learning the basics of html, xml, etc.

I'm looking at a book that tells you how to write an XML document in Notepad to create an rss feed, and how to save it.

But where do you put that document on your website? Does it go in the <head> section?

I guess the writer assumes I would know. Guess what, I don't. It's the little details that bog you down. Have you figured that part out?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Hope

Truepers,

It will be a standalone document - like whatever.xml - that you will upload from your local computer up to your server. The feed url would be something like yourdomain.com/whatever.xml

Jeff

Do what Jeff says, but also add an "autodiscovery" tag to your html page(s).

Put the following in the head of your page, where the metatags go. What it does it tell spiders and browsers that there's an alternate version of the page in RSS. Some ping services will need this tag.

Also, if a "modern" browser comes to the page and sees the autodiscovery tag, the browser will indicate there's an RSS pheed available. In IE7, the RSS icon will turn from gray to orange, if you have the RSS enabled in IE7.

Modify:
My Keyword Title
-and-
myfeed.rss

...for your own situation:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="My Keyword Title" href="myfeed.rss" />

JustaWizard · 07-20-2009, 06:53 PM

Hey Jeff (et al) where do I create that .xml file in the first place? - THANKS!
David

Kurt · 07-20-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustaWizard

Hey Jeff (et al) where do I create that .xml file in the first place? - THANKS!
David

Either online, search for "free online rss generator" or something similar.
RSS Feeds Submit - Automatic RSS and Blog submission software.

Or, find an RSS pheed, copy it and paste it into a text editor and modify it accordingly.

It is a really simple programming language. Spend an hour researching and you'll be an "expert" at creating your own RSS pheeds.

One important note: RSS is very finicky. There's some characters that just don't work with RSS, such as:
'

You will need to verify that your RSS pheed is correct. Upload it, then paste the URL of the pheed into:
Feed Validator for Atom and RSS

It will tell you what line and character is causing the problem. So use a text editor like www.textpad.com that has the ability to show line numbers.

Tip: Also research how to use the cdata tag, which will eliminate almost all problems with pheeds validating:
<description> [CDATA[ This is the description. ]] </description>

Note the code highighted in red above...Get in the habit of using the cdata tag, as it will cure a lot of headaches when trying to validate RSS...And if your pheed doesn't validate, it will be useless in many cases.

David Chung · 09-25-2009, 06:23 PM

If FeedYes can create an RSS Feed for you, can't you just use their site to make an .XML file, then upload that .xml file to your own server and host it yourself?

07-16-2009, 03:55 PM	#1
JustaWizard SEO Expert & Author War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vancouver, WA USA Posts: 486 Thanks: 201 Thanked 57 Times in 31 Posts Social Networking	Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... Hi Warriors, I know I can take my URL and put it into Feedburner or FeedYes.com and create an RSS feed for my HTML site, but I've heard that this is not necessarily a good idea because you don't "own" the feed and if those companies shut down, so does the feed I've created and published in a zillion different places. Sooo, do you know of a way to create a feed for my site that I get to have control over and "own" in the same way that I would if my site was Wordpress-based instead of HTML based? (I've got far too many pages on this site to convert to Wordpress...) THANKS! Best, David
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07-16-2009, 04:12 PM	#2
Jared Alberghini Godson of The Godfather War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The NorthEast Kingdom - Vermont, USA Posts: 2,163 Blog Entries: 25 Thanks: 786 Thanked 1,065 Times in 441 Posts Social Networking	Re: Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... Hey David, I used this freeware app quite a while ago, it should do what you need: XML:Wrench - The simple XML Editor "XML:Wrench also includes a number of XML tools for transforming and manipulating XML/HTML files. Use XML:Wrench to convert HTML to XML or to generate new XML/HTML from your XML source using XSL/XSLT style-sheets. This can be done one file-at-a-time or using a batch command on entire directories." Hope that works for you, Jared
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07-16-2009, 04:15 PM	#3
JustaWizard SEO Expert & Author War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vancouver, WA USA Posts: 486 Thanks: 201 Thanked 57 Times in 31 Posts Social Networking	Re: Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... Much appreciation, Jared - I'm heading over to check that out right now. Best, David
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07-16-2009, 04:17 PM	#4
MikeLantz www.warriorplus.com War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,779 Blog Entries: 4 Thanks: 4 Thanked 297 Times in 81 Posts Social Networking	Re: Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... If there is some script that can turn your site into an RSS feed, than another equally complex script could take your HTML pages and put them in Wordpress. If your site is all static HTML, this shouldn't be too difficult of a task. Mike
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07-18-2009, 09:13 AM	#6
truepers Active Warrior Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New World Posts: 41 Thanks: 12 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... David, don't mean to dumb down your post, but I too am looking for an easy way to create an RSS feed for my static html site. The XML Wrench site seems like it would be helpful eventually, but frankly I wouldn't know how to use most of those features just yet. Still learning the basics of html, xml, etc. I'm looking at a book that tells you how to write an XML document in Notepad to create an rss feed, and how to save it. But where do you put that document on your website? Does it go in the <head> section? I guess the writer assumes I would know. Guess what, I don't. It's the little details that bog you down. Have you figured that part out?

07-18-2009, 02:17 PM	#7
truepers Active Warrior Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New World Posts: 41 Thanks: 12 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... Thanks, Jeff! That clarifies things quite a bit.

07-20-2009, 06:53 PM	#9
JustaWizard SEO Expert & Author War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vancouver, WA USA Posts: 486 Thanks: 201 Thanked 57 Times in 31 Posts Social Networking	Re: Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... Hey Jeff (et al) where do I create that .xml file in the first place? - THANKS! David
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09-25-2009, 06:23 PM	#11
David Chung HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: , , Thailand. Posts: 149 Thanks: 30 Thanked 55 Times in 27 Posts	Re: Creating RSS Feed for HTML Site - Please Advise... If FeedYes can create an RSS Feed for you, can't you just use their site to make an .XML file, then upload that .xml file to your own server and host it yourself?
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