Examples RSS

RSS tags

All RSS files have a certain structure. Any RSS feed has channel tags and Item tags. These tags can be mandatory, or optional.

Required channel elements
Title	The name of the RSS feed. It for example can coincide with the name of the site.
Description	Short description of RSS feed.
Link	Link to the site to which the channel is associated.

Optional channel elements
Language	The language the channel is written in.
Copyright	Information about authorship on RSS feed.
managingEditor	Email address responsible for the content of the channel.
webMaster	Email address of the person responsible for the technical part of the channel publication.
pubDate	Date of publication of the channel, in accordance with Date and Time Specification of RFC 822.
lastBuildDate	The last time the content of the channel is changed, according to the Date and Time Specification of RFC 822.
Category	Specify one or more categories that the channel belongs to.
Generator	Indicator of the program used to generate the RSS channel.
Docs	A link to the RSS Documentation Document file that was used to create the RSS feed.
Ttl	Ttl stands for 'time to live'. This is the number of minutes during which the channel remains relevant.
Image	Used to connect a graphic file (GIF, JPEG, or PNG), which will be shown along with the RSS channel. It has the following parameters:
Title	Usually the same text as in RSS Title.
Description	Description of the graphic file that will be displayed if the file is not available.
Link	Link to the page to which the channel is associated.
URL	URL to a JPEG, GIF or PNG file that is associated with an RSS feed.
Width	Width of the picture.
Height	Height of the picture.
skipHours	The number of hours during which RSS readers can not check the channel for updates.
skipDays	The number of days during which RSS readers can not check the channel for updates.

Required item elements
Title	The name of the item (news, messages) of the RSS feed.
Description	Short description of the item.
Link	Link to the page containing the full description of the event.

Optional item elements
Author	Email address of the author of the message.
Category	Item Category.
Comments	Link to the page with comments on the item.
Enclosure	Describes the media object attached to the item. Has the following parameters:
URL	Link to the object file.
Length	File size in bytes.
Type	The file type, according to the MIME specification.
Guid	A unique string used to identify the item.
pubDate	Date of publication of the item, in accordance with Date and Time Specification of RFC 822.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<rdf:RDF 
 xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
 xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/">

 <channel rdf:about="http://www.xml.com/xml/news.rss">
   <title>XML.com</title>
   <link>http://xml.com/pub</link>
   <description>
     XML.com features a rich mix of information and services 
     for the XML community.
   </description>
   <image rdf:resource="http://xml.com/universal/images/xml_tiny.gif"/>
   <items>
     <rdf:Seq>
       <rdf:li resource="http://xml.com/pub/2000/08/09/xslt/xslt.html"/>
       <rdf:li resource="http://xml.com/pub/2000/08/09/rdfdb/index.html"/>
     </rdf:Seq>
   </items>
   <textinput rdf:resource="http://search.xml.com"/>
 </channel>

 <image rdf:about="http://xml.com/universal/images/xml_tiny.gif">
   <title>XML.com</title>
   <link>http://www.xml.com</link>
   <url>http://xml.com/universal/images/xml_tiny.gif</url>
 </image>

 <item rdf:about="http://xml.com/pub/2000/08/09/xslt/xslt.html">
   <title>Processing Inclusions with XSLT</title>
   <link>http://xml.com/pub/2000/08/09/xslt/xslt.html</link>
   <description>
    Processing document inclusions with general XML tools can be 
    problematic. This article proposes a way of preserving inclusion 
    information through SAX-based processing.
   </description>
 </item>

 <item rdf:about="http://xml.com/pub/2000/08/09/rdfdb/index.html">
   <title>Putting RDF to Work</title>
   <link>http://xml.com/pub/2000/08/09/rdfdb/index.html</link>
   <description>
    Tool and API support for the Resource Description Framework 
    is slowly coming of age. Edd Dumbill takes a look at RDFDB, 
    one of the most exciting new RDF toolkits.
   </description>
 </item>

 <textinput rdf:about="http://search.xml.com">
   <title>Search XML.com</title>
   <description>Search XML.com's XML collection</description>
   <name>s</name>
   <link>http://search.xml.com</link>
 </textinput>
</rdf:RDF>

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>Liftoff Safe</title>
    <link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/</link>
    <description>Liftoff to Space Exploration.</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2003 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    
    <lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2003 09:41:01 GMT</lastBuildDate>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <generator>Weblog Editor 2.0</generator>
    <managingEditor>editor@example.com</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>webmaster@example.com</webMaster>
    
    <item>
      <title>Star City</title>
      <link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/news-starcity.asp</link>
      <description>How do Americans get ready to work with Russians aboard the
        International Space Station? They take a crash course in culture, language
        and protocol at Russia's Star City.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/06/03.html#item573</guid>
    </item>
    
    <item>
      <title>Space Exploration</title>
      <link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/</link>
      <description>Sky watchers in Europe, Asia, and parts of Alaska and Canada
        will experience a partial eclipse of the Sun on Saturday, May 31st.</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 30 May 2003 11:06:42 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/05/30.html#item572</guid>
    </item>
    
    <item>
      <title>The Engine That Does More</title>
      <link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/news-VASIMR.asp</link>
      <description>Before man travels to Mars, NASA hopes to design new engines
        that will let us fly through the Solar System more quickly. The proposed
        VASIMR engine would do that.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2003 08:37:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/05/27.html#item571</guid>
    </item>
    
    <item>
      <title>Astronauts' Dirty Laundry</title>
      <link>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/news-laundry.asp</link>
      <description>Compared to earlier spacecraft, the International Space
        Station has many luxuries, but laundry facilities are not one of them.
        Instead, astronauts have other options.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 20 May 2003 08:56:02 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/05/20.html#item570</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>