Page 1 of 1
XML feed content question
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:04 pm
by u6ik
Dear All
I'm quite new to the whole RSS/XML thing, but I am trying to set up an RSS feed on my website. I am using Magpie to create the RSS links - but what I would like is for the content of those links to appear within my website framework too. Generally, I'd like the content that the RSS feed is linking to, to look like it is contained within my site.
Could anyone point me in the right direction? I am finding it hard to find explainations on how to achieve this, although I have found several sites where this appears to be happening.
Any and all help appreciated

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:25 am
by u6ik
I guess this is a tougher topic than I thought. Clearly not a trivial task as no-one seems to have responded. My search for answers continues

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:07 am
by superdezign
Probably because it doesn't make sense.
RSS feeds correspond to the content on your website, not the other way around. Every other website that uses RSS feeds is set up in a manner where they have updated content on the website and, every time that it's updated, the RSS feed contains the last 10-15 entries, and everything else is archived.
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:58 am
by u6ik
Told you I was new to this
So the RSS feed is something I would broadcast from my site reflecting it's content. So, how would I go about retrieving another sites broadcast feed and making it's content appear as content on my site? Or is that not what RSS is about at all? What method would I need to investigate?
Cheers.
USe XSL
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:52 am
by NumberNineteen
RSS is just XML, so you could just write an XSL transform and render the data any way you want with XSLT. This assumes that your PHP server configuration allows XSL. You can make it available by uncommenting "extension=php_xsl.dll" in your php.ini, or request it activated from your ISP. Take a look at my example here:
viewtopic.php?p=389175
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:56 am
by superdezign
That's not was RSS is about at all. However, you can do that to an extent.
What you want to do is retrieve their feed and parse the XML to retrieve the titles and the links. You can also get the other elements (date, description/teaser, etc.), but they aren't essential. Then, you list them out, usually arranged by date. If you plan to archive them, you may want them to be automatically saved to the database since RSS feeds typically don't have too large of on amount of updated content on them. Just the latest.
What you don't want to do is actually take their content. That's oftentimes copyright infringement and doing so can get you in a lot of legal trouble. Developers put a lot of time into their content and won't take kindly to you stealing from them.
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:23 pm
by u6ik
Superdezign, the RSS you describe I can create. A XML parser that allows me to create a page of up-to-date links to the originators website. I understand the legal implications of transfering content - but if you have that sites permission, surely that is then not a problem.
So in the same way as parsing the original RSS from the XML file, would the content be parsed in the same way using content/image tags in the XML file? If that's the case, I can ask that this is added in the originators file - and away we go.
Would that work?
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:10 pm
by superdezign
Yeah. XML is XML regardless of the tags you put into the items.
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:19 pm
by u6ik
Excellent.
Thanks for the help.
