Create and Modify a RSS Feed For Your Website - for the Non-Techie

I feel that if you can relate a technical process to something people are already used to doing, it makes it easier to understand. So that's how I'm going to explain this to you. To make it easy, we're using FeedForAll to create, update, and upload the rss feed (which is a .xml file). FeedForAll is a program that you can buy to help you. It makes it so much easier for the non-techie.

If your eyes begin to glaze over when you hear the words "xml" or "ftp" or "rss", then this is the article for you, and FeedForAll can be your best friend. If after reading a handful of articles on RSS feeds, you are still confused about what you're supposed to do to make it all work, then read on, my friend.

Let's start off with the assumption that the whole reason you want create a RSS feed for your website is because you want people to subscribe to it, and then receive notification when you've posted something new to your website.

We're not talking about a blog here, because they already come with a RSS feed.

This article is for those that want a RSS feed for their regular website.

It's really not as hard as it sounds. Basically, think of an xml file as just another file on your computer...like a Word document. You use the program, FeedForAll, to update that file, just like you would use Microsoft Word to update the Word file. So, when you want to add something new to your rss feed (which is the xml file), you open the xml file in FeedForAll, add new content, save the file on your local computer (remember, this part is just like opening a Word file using Microsoft Word, making changes, and saving it on your local computer). You'll name it something that makes sense to you, like rssfeed.xml, but you could name the .xml file anything you like.

The next part is to upload that modified xml file to your website. The xml file is just another file that you have for your website, like your html files. I'm just assuming here that you've got a website and maintain it yourself. If that is not the case, then perhaps the web person you have can upload your xml file to your website for you.

However, my recommendation is for you to learn how to upload the xml file to your website. You don't want to be stuck with an outdated rss feed (the xml file) if you lose your web person and are lost. Once you realize how easy it is, you'll wonder why you were so nervous about it before. FeedForAll does come with publishing capabilities to publish the xml file to your website. This is known as ftp. Get this set up in FeedForAll, and you're all set to do this on your own.

Then comes the part where you put a link on your website for people to subscribe to your rss feed (which is the xml file). Once you upload the xml file to your website, it'll have a url just like any other page you have on your website. It will look something like this -- http://www.yoursitename.com/rssfeed.xml, This could be as simple as adding a hyperlink on your website homepage that points to http://www.yoursitename.com/rssfeed.xml. The link could say "Subscribe to our RSS feed".

You just need to remember that when you put something new onto your website and you want that new information to be included on your rss feed, you'll have to manually update the rss feed (which is the xml file) using FeedForAll, then upload the newly modified xml file back up to your website. You will do this each and every time you add something to your website.

Oh also, just like you would use Microsoft Word to CREATE the Word file, you use FeedForAll to CREATE the xml file in the first place. Use the wizard in FeedForAll to walk you through the process.

The FeedForAll website does include an example of how to automatically update your rss xml file when you add something to your website, but I found it to be fairly complicated to set up and not nearly as flexible as most people want. Actually, when using FeedForAll, the process is the other way around. When properly set up, if you want to add something new to your website, you add it to your rss xml file through FeedForAll, and that updates your website automatically. The process ends up being backwards of what most people think. Again, you could have your web person help you with this.

Last year, I did create a sample page on my website to show people how the webpage could look when updating it automatically using FeedForAll to update the xml file. If you want to check it out, it's at http://www.virtualassist.net/momtalkfeed.php. I added something new yesterday to make sure I remembered the process accurately.

As I mentioned before, the webpage layout might not be as flexible as most people want. I think the hardest part is to get the webpage to look like you want it to look. It's what took me the longest time to get set up. But this is only if you want one less step in the process.

I still think it's very easy to do it in two steps:

1. Update your website the way you always have
2. Update your rss xml file using FeedForAll and upload it to your website

Once you get comfortable with the process, it's a piece of cake.

Don't forget to let the RSS search engines know that you've posted something new to your website RSS feed! This is called pinging.

Use free services, such as:

Pingoat - www.pingoat.com

OnlyWire - www.onlywire.com