Web 2.0: Concepts
and Applications
3Syndicating Content
Overview
Syndication is the process of making a summary of a Web site’s information available to other Web sites and applications
A Web feed represents the list of items that are being shared
Feed reader applications and devices access the Web feed of each of the subscribed sites and deliver any new content
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Overview
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Exploring Web Feeds
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is one of the first and most popular types of Web feeds
Web sites providing feeds usually display an orange Web feed icon– Feed icon– RSS icon– XML icon
Google Reader is a popular feed reader application
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Exploring Web Feeds
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Publish / Subscribe Model
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Exploring Web Feeds
Many bloggers syndicate their blogs’ content as Web feeds
News sites syndicate news headlinesMonster provides an RSS feed with job
postingseBay alerts users of daily dealsAmazon keeps users informed about
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Exploring Web Feeds
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Subscribing to and Reading Feeds
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Subscribing to and Reading Feeds
The ability to subscribe to a feed is standard in many Web browsers
The method by which you subscribe to feeds varies with each Web browser
Every browser presents Web feeds differently– Feeds are syndicated the same
• XML (Extensible Markup Language)
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Subscribing to and Reading Feeds
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Features of Web-Based and Client Feed Readers
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Features of Web-Based and Client Feed Readers
Web-based feed readers– Google Reader
• Contains feed searching capability
– Bloglines
Client feed readers– FeedDemon– FeedReader– Microsoft Outlook
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Features of Web-Based and Client Feed Readers
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Features of Web-Based and Client Feed Readers Blogs can contain gadgets to display Web feeds in
sidebar gadgets– Gadgets update when blog is loaded or refreshed
Blogger defaults to automatically create feeds for its hosted blogs– Also syndicates full content
Professional bloggers manage their feeds and collect information about how users interact with them– Feed managing services– Metrics– Reach
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Features of Web-Based and Client Feed Readers
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Features of Web-Based and Client Feed Readers
Web-based applications incorporate data from Web feeds to present it visually
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Formats for Web Feeds
RSS 2.0 is the most widely used version of RSS– RSS is closed to further modifications
Atom is a newer, evolving alternative to RSS– Not as simple as RSS, but is becoming popular
Differences between RSS and Atom are transparent to the user
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Formats for Web Feeds
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the underlying technology used for describing content syndicated using RSS and Atom feeds– Tags describe information
• Opening tags• Closing tags
– RSS and Atom feeds are the most common types of content represented in XML
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Formats for Web Feeds
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Formats for Web Feeds
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Exploring Podcasts
A podcast is a series of audio or video files that are broadcast to a computer or personal media player over the Internet by a publication in an RSS feed– Podcast reader
• iTunes
– You can download and watch podcast episodes directly on a Web site, or with a Web-based application
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Exploring Podcasts
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Exploring Podcasts
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Exploring Podcasts
Web-based podcast services contain directory listings of audio and video podcasts– Odeo manages podcast selections
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Features of Podcast Readers
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Anatomy of a Podcast Feed
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Creating Podcasts
Requires basic equipment for recording and editing digital audio and video– Most laptops have built-in Webcams and
microphones, as well as recording software
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Creating Podcasts
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Configuring Blogger to Support Podcasts
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Configuring Blogger to Support Podcasts
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Configuring Blogger to Support Podcasts
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Summary
Syndication is a way to distribute and share Web content– Web feeds
Users can subscribe to Web feeds using a Web browser or a feed reader application
Content publishers syndicate their content as feeds using either the RSS or Atom formats, represented in XML
Podcasts are RSS feeds with an enclosed multimedia file
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Web 2.0: Concepts
and Applications
3Syndicating Content
Chapter 3 Complete