RSS Feeds and Convention

RP Birt · 2006-04-27 15:22:07

I just went to 20 sites, CBC, Globe and Mail, International Herald, New York Times, Slashdot, and then a random list of my links…in every case clicking on an RSS or Atom feed, either text or button, produced a page with a URL and feed … I went to 20 TXP sites and got the file download. Why is it that TPX doesn’t follow a convention that has been established and used by everyone else? We are trying to get users to understand the benifits of either RSS or Atom feeds and build develpment around them. It has been a long curve.

Is this not why we are taking the time to convert to XML and CMS applications?

What am I missing here?

KurtRaschke · 2006-04-27 15:52:50

http://forum.textpattern.com/viewtopic.php?id=10500

I took a look at the behavior of the CBC, just to see what you’re considering “the convention”…I get to http://www.cbc.ca/rss/, then click on a link and get raw XML in my browser. How is this any better than a file download? If I were an average user I wouldn’t know what to do with either a file download or scary-looking raw XML in my browser. Neither gives any hint as to what to actually do with the feed.

In fact, TXP is closer to “the convention”, because it actually serves feeds with the correct, official MIME type. The fact that browsers then choose to download the file rather than displaying it to the user is a matter of implementation.

-Kurt

RP Birt · 2006-04-27 16:10:58

and slashdot or ?…. try the RSS active feed below. This is what many users have become used to…why is the RSS feed on this forum or Textpattern Resources different than say, Textgarden?

Last edited by RP Birt (2006-04-27 16:15:38)

Mary · 2006-04-27 18:40:49

This has been talked about on this forum before. That’s how a browser usually works when it encounters a proper feed mime-type because it doesn’t understand what to do with it.

This forum’s RSS feed is “different” because I made it so for user convenience. If you turn off JavaScript in your browser, you’ll get a file download too.

RP Birt · 2006-04-27 19:47:10

This forum is on PunBB which has an available rss.php that generates a feed without java. What about Textpattern Resources which is on TXP? It does not use a pop up but generates a page view. But my point really is “user convenience”…

KurtRaschke · 2006-04-27 21:56:29

The Textpattern Resources site’s feeds are served with the wrong MIME type. If you really want “user convenience”, consider using an XSL stylesheet in the feed:

http://interglacial.com/~sburke/stuff/pretty_rss.html

-Kurt

Sencer · 2006-04-27 22:03:51

But my point really is “user convenience”…

How is it more convenient to look at raw xml in the browser? Even then, we do not get to make that choice, it’s the user-agent that decide how to display the feed.

The standard is very un-ambigious when it comes to the MIME-Type. Textpattern is doing the right thing. Changing it the way you suggest would make it invalid.
If you wish the Browser to behave differently for correctly served feeds, you should ask the browser developers. In fact, Firefox developers have acknowledged that they are working on it:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=155730
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=256379

And they have “complained” about the people who are doing it wrong (i.e. using the wrong mime type):
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/ben/archives/010116.html#more

hcgtv · 2006-08-21 18:05:01

While researching an RSS plugin issue, I’ve been playing with Filip Hajny’s site.

What I find interesting is that when I click on Filip’s RSS link, it opens up in Firefox. I’ve looked at the html source but I can’t find why Filip’s link acts differently from my own sites that ask to download the feed.

Does anyone have any insight to this oddity?

ruud · 2006-08-21 18:13:52

Hmm… for using the Live Bookmarks feature in Firefox more easily, I’ve added this in the HEAD section of my template. You can then bookmark the RSS feed by clicking the orange icon in the address bar:
<code><link rel=“alternate” type=“application/rss+xml” title=“RSS Feed” href=“http://example.com/rss/” /></code>

Last edited by ruud (2006-08-21 18:14:53)

hcgtv · 2006-08-21 18:54:11

ruud, once 4.0.4 comes out I’ll update all my sites to use the new link rel line in my header, it’s now in the default template.

I was just curious as to why Filip’s site works differently.

ruud · 2006-08-21 19:00:29

Filip’s site uses <code>Content-Type: text/xml;charset=UTF-8</code> instead of <code>Content-Type: application/rss+xml; charset=utf-8</code> in the HTTP response header for the RSS feed.

hcgtv · 2006-08-21 19:18:37

Thanks ruud, now I see the difference.

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#1 2006-04-27 15:22:07

RSS Feeds and Convention

#2 2006-04-27 15:52:50

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#3 2006-04-27 16:10:58

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#4 2006-04-27 18:40:49

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#5 2006-04-27 19:47:10

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#6 2006-04-27 21:56:29

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#7 2006-04-27 22:03:51

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#8 2006-08-21 18:05:01

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#9 2006-08-21 18:13:52

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#10 2006-08-21 18:54:11

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#11 2006-08-21 19:00:29

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

#12 2006-08-21 19:18:37

Re: RSS Feeds and Convention

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