Greg
06-23-2006, 11:43 AM
Today RSS feeds are the greatest resource for fresh on topic free content for website publishers provided by other publishers. The source webmaster syndicates their content in XML format via an RSS feed. The other webmaster installs an RSS reader on their website to fetch and publish the syndicated content of the publishing webmaster.
Great, everyone is happy, the publisher spreads his message and the receiver gets free content. However, how the exchange of this information occurs is very important. RSS is set up so that the publisher of the RSS feed should not have to have a web page hit at his site's RSS feed every time someone reads a page at the webmasters site that is fetching the syndicated RSS from the publishing webmasters site. This is done through what is called caching.
The publishing webmaster tells the RSS reader through a timing parameter how often and what times and dates it may poll and pull RSS data. It is important that the reader understand and use this information to limit the number of calls it makes to the site supplying the RSS feed. If this is not adhered to, both sites can experience a lot of unnecessary bandwidth and resource usage.
This is done not only to conserve the publishes resources and your own as the feed reader, but to keep internet pollution down. Pulling information that has not changed from the source RSS feed rather then caching it is a waste of bandwidth and recourses that can be avoided with RSS reader caching.
It is important that you use an RSS feed reader that caches. With the rush to access free content, many free RSS readers have been written and published for use. But beware, they are not all up to spec and could be wasting your recourses and the recourses of those generous enough to share content with you. Some RSS feed publishers will ban your IP if you hit the RSS feed too often. Then your free content is gone.
Choose wisely when choosing an RSS feed reader. Respect the internet and especially respect the publisher of the RSS feed you choose to pull from. If you code RSS readers, please read the specs and follow the rules. This will benefit us all in the end. We'll have less traffic to wade through and RSS feed suppliers will be able to deliver content quickly with reduced traffic from compliant RSS readers.
Here is more information on the specs that should be followed when implementing RSS readers and Feeds.
RSS 2.0 Specification (http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss)
How to RSS Feed and Read (http://www.kbcafe.com/rss/rssfeedstate.html)
Be responsible and enjoy the free content.
Great, everyone is happy, the publisher spreads his message and the receiver gets free content. However, how the exchange of this information occurs is very important. RSS is set up so that the publisher of the RSS feed should not have to have a web page hit at his site's RSS feed every time someone reads a page at the webmasters site that is fetching the syndicated RSS from the publishing webmasters site. This is done through what is called caching.
The publishing webmaster tells the RSS reader through a timing parameter how often and what times and dates it may poll and pull RSS data. It is important that the reader understand and use this information to limit the number of calls it makes to the site supplying the RSS feed. If this is not adhered to, both sites can experience a lot of unnecessary bandwidth and resource usage.
This is done not only to conserve the publishes resources and your own as the feed reader, but to keep internet pollution down. Pulling information that has not changed from the source RSS feed rather then caching it is a waste of bandwidth and recourses that can be avoided with RSS reader caching.
It is important that you use an RSS feed reader that caches. With the rush to access free content, many free RSS readers have been written and published for use. But beware, they are not all up to spec and could be wasting your recourses and the recourses of those generous enough to share content with you. Some RSS feed publishers will ban your IP if you hit the RSS feed too often. Then your free content is gone.
Choose wisely when choosing an RSS feed reader. Respect the internet and especially respect the publisher of the RSS feed you choose to pull from. If you code RSS readers, please read the specs and follow the rules. This will benefit us all in the end. We'll have less traffic to wade through and RSS feed suppliers will be able to deliver content quickly with reduced traffic from compliant RSS readers.
Here is more information on the specs that should be followed when implementing RSS readers and Feeds.
RSS 2.0 Specification (http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss)
How to RSS Feed and Read (http://www.kbcafe.com/rss/rssfeedstate.html)
Be responsible and enjoy the free content.