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Syndicating Content
Web 2.0:
Concepts and
Applications
Overview
Syndication is the process of making a
summary of a Web site’s information available
to other Web sites and applications
A Web feed represents the list of items that are
being shared
Feed reader applications and devices access
the Web feed of each of the subscribed sites
and deliver any new content
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Overview
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Exploring Web Feeds
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is one of the
first and most popular types of Web feeds
Web sites providing feeds usually display an
orange Web feed icon
– Feed icon
– RSS icon
– XML icon
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Publish / Subscribe Model
Q: Do you read any subscription-based web
content? What is it?
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Exploring Web Feeds
Many bloggers syndicate their blogs’ content
as Web feeds
News sites syndicate news headlines
Monster provides an RSS feed with job
postings
eBay alerts users of daily deals
Amazon keeps users informed about
bestsellers
Flickr notifies users of new photos
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Subscribing to
and Reading
Feeds
Internet
Explorer
Embedding
feeds in a
blog
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Subscribing to
and Reading Feeds
The ability to subscribe to a feed is standard in
many Web browsers
The method by which you subscribe to feeds
varies with each Web browser
Every browser presents Web feeds differently
– even though feeds are syndicated the same
• using XML (Extensible Markup Language)
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Subscribing to
and Reading Feeds (Firefox)
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Group Activity
Explore some interesting web feeds:
–
–
–
–
On Windows, use Internet Explorer/Firefox
On Mac OS, use Firefox
On iOS (iPhone/iPad), install Free RSS Reader or Feedly
On Android, install Feedly or gReader
Share among your group.
Pick an interesting/useful one and introduce
to the class.
Time:10 minutes (including break)
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Video: Feedly
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Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
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Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
Web-based feed readers
– Google Reader (2005-2013)
• Contains feed searching capability
– Bloglines (2003-2015)
– Feedly (2008-)
Client (standalone) feed readers
– FeedDemon
– FeedReader
– Microsoft Outlook
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Features of Web-Based and Client
Feed Readers (MS Outlook)
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Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
 Blogs can contain gadgets to display Web feeds in
sidebar gadgets
– Gadgets update when blog is loaded or refreshed
 Blogger defaults to automatically create feeds for its
hosted blogs
– Also syndicates full content
 Professional bloggers manage their feeds and collect
information about how users interact with them
– Feed managing services, e.g. feedburner
– Metrics
– Reach
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Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
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Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
Web-based applications incorporate data from
Web feeds to present it visually
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Formats for Web Feeds
RSS 2.0 is the most widely used version of
RSS
– RSS is closed to further modifications
Atom is a newer, evolving alternative to RSS
– Not as simple as RSS, but is becoming popular
Differences between RSS and Atom are
transparent to the user
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Formats for Web Feeds
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the
underlying technology used for describing
content syndicated using RSS and Atom feeds
– Tags describe information
• Opening tags
• Closing tags
– RSS and Atom feeds are the most common types
of content represented in XML
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Formats for Web Feeds
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Formats for Web Feeds
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Exploring Podcasts
A podcast is a series of audio or video files
that are broadcast to a computer or personal
media player over the Internet by a publication
in an RSS feed
– Podcast reader
• iTunes
– You can download and watch podcast episodes
directly on a Web site, or with a Web-based
application
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Exploring Podcasts
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Exploring Podcasts
Web-based podcast services contain directory
listings of audio and video podcasts
– Podnova manages podcast selections
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Group Activity 2
Explore some interesting podcasts on iTunes
–
–
–
–
On Windows, use iTunes
On Mac OS, use iTunes
On iOS (iPhone/iPad), use Podcasts app
On Android, use Podbean app
Share among your group.
Pick an interesting/useful podcast and
introduce to the class.
Time:10 minutes (including break)
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Group Activity 2
What’s the content type? Audio or video?
What’s it about?
How long is each episode?
How’s the sound/video quality of the
production?
What’s the publication frequency?
How can users provide feedback?
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Features of Podcast Readers
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Anatomy of a Podcast Feed
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Creating Podcasts
Requires basic equipment for recording and
editing digital audio and video
– Most laptops have built-in Webcams and
microphones, as well as recording software
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Creating Podcasts
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Summary
 Syndication is a way to distribute and share Web
content
– Web feeds
 Users can subscribe to Web feeds using a Web
browser or a feed reader application
 Content publishers syndicate their content as feeds
using either the RSS or Atom formats, represented in
XML
 Podcasts are RSS feeds with an enclosed multimedia
file
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