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Knowledgebase: XSitePro Version 2 & 2.5
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Setting up an XML Feed in XSitePro
Posted by - NA - on 14 November 2008 01:40 PM
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To access the XML syndication tool, you can either launch it from the Other tab or from the right-click menu. If launching from the Other tab the button will resemble the one shown below:  If you are launching this module from the right-click menu, select the 'Insert XML Syndication Link' option off the right click menu, as shown below:  On loading the XML syndication module the screen will resemble the one shown below:  As you can see from the screen shot above there will not be any feeds for you to insert at first, and so we need to create our feed as per the instructions below, before then inserting it as described in a section following this one. Creating an XML feed From the XML window described above, click the 'Load Feeds Manager' button.  Clicking this button will load the XML Syndication Feeds Manager window, shown above. The Feeds Manager screen has a table with four columns: Feed title - The name you gave your feeds when creating them. Number of Pages - The number of pages featured in this feed. Edit - Features a link which, if clicked, will open the feed settings for editing. Delete - Features a link which, if clicked, will delete the feed in question. The feeds manager list will be empty the first time you load it, so we now need to add a new feed by clicking the 'Add New Feed' button.  The add new feed window that appears (on clicking the button above) will look like the illustration below:  As you can see from the screen shot, there are four steps to this tabbed screen, and each of them will be covered of in the sub-topics below this one. The sections we will review are: Step 1: Naming Step 2: Inclusions Step 3: Exclusions Step 4: Settings Step 1 - Naming The first step in the four-part process for adding a new XML feed is a simple screen, shown below:  This screen requires only one piece of information: Name of Feed - In the box provided you need to enter a logical name for your new XML feed. This name should reflect the nature of the content you propose to feature in it so that you will be able to quickly recognize the feed in amongst other feeds you may create at a later date. Once you have entered your feed name, click the 'Next' button at the bottom of the window to proceed to the next step.  Step 2 - Inclusions The second tab in this window will resemble the screen shown below:  The inclusions screen contains a list of all of the pages on your site. From this list you need to select those pages you would like to feature in your XML feed. Important Notes There are some important points to note at this point: If you select a parent page in the list (by parent page, we refer to a page with 'sub-pages') then by default all of its sub-pages will be selected too. By default this will mean that (with a parent page selected) any new sub pages added below that same parent page (added some time in the future) will automatically be added to our feed. In a similar way, if you select the 'Whole Site' option, right at the top of the page list, that will (by default) automatically add all your site's pages to the feed, along with any new pages you add, over time. When you select a parent page, any OTHER parent page (and sub-pages) selected will be unselected. In essence you can only select one parent page per feed. If you want to 'mix' content-types therefore, you should add mixed content sub-pages to ensure they are brought into their parent page. Selection of Pages To select your pages (be they parent pages, sub-pages or both) from the list, simply check the check-box to the left of the page name, in the list. A check denotes 'inclusion within the XML feed'. When selecting your pages, you will only be able to make one of the following three types of page selection: 1. Whole Site (all pages on your site will be initially selected) 2. Parent + Sub-Pages Selection (only one set can be selected) 3. Individual Page Selection The reason the selection process works in this way is to maintain the correct XML feed structure - you will have a chance to deselect individual sub-pages in the next step in this wizard. The below example shows an articles parent page selected (with its sub-pages automatically selected also, by default).  Once you have selected your pages for inclusion, you may now proceed to the next step by clicking the button.Step 3 - Exclusions The third step in the XML feed creation process is the exclusion of pages that you do not want to include in your XML feed. When you arrive at this third step, the screen will resemble the one shown below:  As was explained in the previous section, the initial page selection (inclusions) ensures that the correct structure is maintained for your feed. Now you need to deselect any individual pages in the list which we do not want to feature in the feed. A good example of the need to do this would be if you had selected the 'Whole Site' option in the previous step. Obviously there will be some pages in your site which are not viable RSS feed content and so should be removed. Such pages would include: Privacy Policy Contact Page Order forms Thank-you/Success Pages Search Results Pages Links Pages Site-maps and so on In many cases, where you have simply selected a parent page to, say, an articles section of your site, you will probably not need to remove any pages, and so could move straight on to the final tab. Deselecting pages To deselect a page from the list, left of your screen, simply click the check-box next to the page name in question. This will clear the check-box and remove the page from your XML feed. Once you have finished deselecting pages, and excluding them from the feed, click the button to continue.Step 4 - Settings The final tab, step 4 in the XML feed creation process, looks like the screen shot below:  As you can see from the image above, there are only two settings that we need to make here: the number of pages that you wish to include in the syndication feed, and whether or not to automatically add new pages (within the sub-page list) to the feed. How many pages - The logic behind this setting is that visitors subscribing to your feed(s) do so because they wish to receive updated content automatically to their feed-reader. They do not wish to see the same old articles over and over again in your feed list. If you have 200 articles, and you're adding only a couple of articles a week, then it's pointless having a feed length of 100 articles, because any time someone checked your feed they would find only a small portion of 'fresh' feed content near the top of the list of articles - the rest would be out-of-date content. So, think about the amount of 'fresh content' you are likely to be producing for this feed and set a number of pages that will ensure visitors see fresh content throughout the feed. The default setting is ten pages. This means that as new feeds appear (at the top of the feed list) the older articles would drop off the bottom of the list. It's an-ever changing list with fresh content right at the top. Setting the page value To set the value for the total number of pages that you wish to include in your feed, simply use the up/down arrows to increase/decrease the number appropriately. Alternatively, over-type the existing number with your desired value. You can enter a value anywhere between 1 and 100 pages.  Automatically add new pages - If checked, new pages (within the feed's sub-pages list) will automatically be added to your feed. This means that even if you never revisit your feed's settings it will always be fresh - constantly updating itself as you add more pages within the feed sub-pages list (articles pages, in our example).  Having adjusted these settings, click the 'Finish' button to complete the feed creation process. This will return you to the feeds list window.  Inserting a link to an XML feed Having created your XML feed(s) you may now quickly and easily insert them into your page using the XML Feeds tool. To load the XML Feed insertion tool you need to access it from the right-click menu. The below steps describe the process. 1. Position your cursor in the designer window where you would like the XML Feed link to appear. 2. Right-click at that cursor position and, from the right-click menu that appears, select the 'Insert XML Syndication Link' option off the menu, as shown below: On loading the XML syndication module the screen will resemble the one shown below:  The screen contains three settings that you need to adjust before inserting a link: Feed Selection: Select Feed - From the drop-down list you need to select the feed that you would like to feature on this page. Click the drop-down arrow a list of all the feeds you have created will appear. Select the preferred feed from this list. If there are no feeds listed then you need to create one. Link Settings: Select Icon - Click the drop-down arrow next to this box and you will see a list of different RSS/Syndication icons that you can select from, for use in your feed insertion. The images available include:  Text Link - If you enter some text into this text-box it will appear alongside the syndication icon selected above. This can be useful for ensuring that visitors understand what the link does (not everyone is familiar with RSS feeds, after all). If you would rather not include any text then simply leave this box blank. Having entered the details above, click the 'Insert' button to add your feed link to the page at the cursor-position. As with several other modules, your link will appear in the page as a 'placeholder frame'. This frame has special properties (described below) that will enable you to edit your link settings at a later date. Editing Feeds Already Inserted If you want to adjust the settings for a feed link already inserted in the page, simply right-click on the placeholder frame in the designer window and, from the menu that appears, select 'XML Link Properties'. This will load the link selector window in which you can change the feed, select a new icon or edit the link text as required.  | |
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