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Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Making RSS work in your institution:a workshop for IWMW2006
Oxford University Computing Services
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Welcome
1 Welcome to this workshop2 Agenda
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Welcome to this workshop
This document is available at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/presentations/iwmw2006/
I’m Barry Cornelius.I work for the Information Services group ofOxford University’s Computing Services.I’ve been at Oxford for about 15 months, and waspreviously at the University of Durham.How about you?
Who are you?Where are you from?What do you know about RSS and newsfeeds?Are you using a content management system, and,if so, has it got facilities for newsfeeds?
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Agenda
WelcomeNewsfeedsReading a newsfeedFormatsInstitutional usesProviding OXITEMSOXITEMS ExampleOther issuesHands-onFinal issues
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Newsfeeds
1 Newsfeeds: what are newsfeeds?2 Newsfeeds: how can I detect them?
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Newsfeeds: what are newsfeeds?
Establishing newsfeeds is a relatively new mechanismfor delivering information.Essentially, a newsfeed is a collection of related items.Many web sites are providing newsfeeds.For example, the BBC has several newsfeeds,one for UK News, one for World News, ... .The web pagehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3223484.stmprovides links to some of the BBC’s newsfeeds.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Newsfeeds: how can I detect them?
There are several icons that indicate a newsfeed isavailable from a web site, e.g.
,and
.If you click on a
or a, you will often be taken to a web page containing
the code of the newsfeed.For example, go to:http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/and click on a
icon.From the output, you can see that newsfeeds are codedusing a markup language (in the same way thatordinary web pages are coded in HTML).Hidden away in all this markup is a list of items.You do not need to understand this markup.In the Location textbox of your browser, you will find theURL of this newsfeed.The URL will be useful if you want to subscribe to thenewsfeed (as we will see later).
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed
1 Reading a newsfeed: overview2 Reading a newsfeed: different ways3 Reading a newsfeed: using Firefox4 Reading a newsfeed: using Thunderbird5 Reading a newsfeed: using a program6 Reading a newsfeed: from a Google page7 Reading a newsfeed: using Bloglines8 Reading a newsfeed: from a web page
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: overview
There are many ways in which you can read anewsfeed.Usually it is a two stage process.First, you tell a newsfeed reader which newsfeeds youwant to read.Then the newsfeed reader will do the hard work ofgetting the items of the newsfeeds and delivering theinformation to you.From time to time, the newsfeed reader will get newitems.Although newsfeed readers work in different ways, thecrucial idea is: you do not have to visit each of thewebsites yourself.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: different ways
Here are some of the ways of reading a newsfeed:
Some web browsers (e.g., Firefox) allow you toestablish a live bookmark to the URL of a newsfeed.Although currently Internet Explorer does not have thisfacility, something similar will be available in IE 7.Some email clients (e.g., Opera Mail and Thunderbird)allow you to get the items of a newsfeed delivered intothe email client like ordinary messages.You can install a feedreader program,e.g., Awasu, NewsGator, NewzCrawlerAnd there are web sites where you can subscribe tonewsfeeds, e.g., Bloglines, Google, Yahoo!If you know how to create web pages, you could providea web page that displays the contents of a newsfeed.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: using Firefox
Some web browsers (e.g., Firefox) allow you toestablish a live bookmark to the URL of a newsfeed.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: using Firefox
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: using Thunderbird
Some email clients (e.g., Thunderbird) allow you to getthe items of a newsfeed delivered into the email clientlike ordinary messages.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: using Thunderbird
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: using a program
You can install a feedreader program.Examples are:
Linux: Akregator, NewsFeedMacs: NetNewsWire, NewsfireWindows: Awasu, FeedDemon, Newz Crawler,RssReader
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: from a Google page
First go to http://www.google.co.uk/
Then use the link labelled Personalised Home.If you are not logged in, use the link labelled Sign in.You will need a Google account and you can either usea Google Mail e-mail address or some other e-mailaddress.You can subscribe to a newsfeed by using theAdd Content link.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: from a Google page
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: using Bloglines
Besides Google, there are other places where you cansubscribe to newsfeeds.Another one that I’ve used ishttp://www.bloglines.com/
Once again, you have to register using an e-mailaddress.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: using Bloglines
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Reading a newsfeed: from a web page
At the point in the web page where you want to output anewsfeed, include something like:<script type="text/javascript"src="http://rssxpress.ukoln.ac.uk/lite/viewer/?rss=http://www.jobs.ac.uk/rss/disc/0700.xml"></script>
where all the text between src=" and "> should be onone line (with no spaces). Replace the URLhttp://www.jobs.ac.uk/rss/disc/0700.xmlby the URL of the newsfeed that interests you.This uses a facility provided by UKOLN that first goesoff to the website containing the newsfeed and thendisplays the news items as a web page.Here is a link to a web page containing the above code:http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/presentations/iwmw2006/jobs.html
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Formats
1 Newsfeed formats: numerous standards2 Newsfeed formats: who will win?3 Newsfeed formats: does it matter?
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Newsfeed formats: numerous standards
As has already been mentioned, newsfeeds are codedusing a markup language.Unfortunately, there are several markup languages thatare often used.They include: RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3, Atom 1.0.You can see examples of the first three by visiting thefollowing:http://ramble.oucs.ox.ac.uk/blog/stuart/rdf.xmlhttp://ramble.oucs.ox.ac.uk/blog/stuart/rss.xmlhttp://ramble.oucs.ox.ac.uk/blog/stuart/atom.xml
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Newsfeed formats: who will win?
Atom 1.0 was released in August 2005.My view is that Atom 1.0 will become more dominant.Reasons are given at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/formats/
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Newsfeed formats: does it matter?
Does it matter that there are numerous formats?Although it is useful to know that there are differentformats, in many respects it is irrelevant.This is because many readers will read most formats.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Institutional uses
1 How do newsfeeds fit into your institution?2 Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
How do newsfeeds fit into your institution?
Time for you to get involved:How could your institution use newsfeeds?Think of different kinds of information that might usefullybe delivered through a newsfeed.What are the advantages/disadvantages of using anewsfeed for delivering this information?
Divide into pairs and discuss.Report back in 10 minutes.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
The University’s Press and Information Office producesnews stories every day.Go to http://www.ox.ac.uk/
The text at the top right underneath Latest news isproduced by outputting the first item of an OXITEMSnewsfeed (called offices/university-news).
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
If you use the link labelled More news stories, you willbe taken to the web pagehttp://www.ox.ac.uk/news/
All the items of the newsfeed are displayed on thispage.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
Go to http://www.history.ox.ac.uk/
Choose Current Job Vacancies from the Staff menu.That takes you to http://www.history.ox.ac.uk/faculty/jobs/index.htm
The information on this page is generated from readingthe OXITEMS newsfeed histfac/news.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
Go to http://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/
On the right hand side of the page under the headingsNews, Seminars and Studentships, three OXITEMSnewsfeeds are output (zoo/news, zoo/seminarsand zoo/studentships).
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
The Health Care Libraries provides services to the staffand students of the University’s Medical SciencesDivision and to staff of local healthcare organisationsand Trusts.It provides a main web page athttp://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/hcl/
The area with the light blue background has beengenerated from the medsci/hcl newsfeed.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
Go to http://www.materials.ox.ac.uk/
At the bottom left hand side of the page, click onInformation.The info and news page appears.In the menu on the right hand side, click onRecent News RSS.The Newsfeeds page at http://www.materials.ox.ac.uk/infoandnews/newsfeeds.htmlappears.On this page, three newsfeeds are output:mat/news, mat/seminars and mat/jobs.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Uses of newsfeeds at Oxford University
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Providing OXITEMS
1 Providing an institutional newsfeed system2 Requirements of an institutional n’feed system3 What is OXITEMS?4 Using OXITEMS to set up newsfeeds5 Societies/clubs can also produce newsfeeds6 OXITEMS uses three levels of authorisation
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Providing an institutional newsfeed system
Although there are numerous ways in which you canread a newsfeed, there are no common ways ofmaintaining news items.Often websites generate RSS/Atom automatically fromdatabases or from a content management system.In August 2005, we considered how newsfeeds couldbe provided at the University of Oxford.Oxford University’s IT is very devolved: all departmentsand all colleges have IT Support Staff (and, forexample, provide their own web servers).Few of these have a content management system.And few departments/colleges were using newsfeeds.So, in August 2005, we started work on an institutionalnewsfeed system.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Requirements of an institutional n’feed system
Authentication:people must authenticate to use the system(using webauth)(http://webauth.stanford.edu/)
Authorisation: we saw the need for three roles:administrator for each unitmanager for each newsfeedauthors for each newsfeed
It’s a bit similar to mailing lists.Devolved administration:
make the main IT Support Staff person of a unit themain newsfeed administrator for that unitallow that person to add other people as administratorsin this way, administration of the newsfeed systemwould not require intervention from Computing Services
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
What is OXITEMS?
OXITEMS is a system (developed byComputing Services) that all members of the Universitycan use to store news items.It assumes that any unit of the University will want tocreate news items.Here the word unit means any department, college,society, club or some other project.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Using OXITEMS to set up newsfeeds
An OXITEMS newsfeed can be set up by someone thatOXITEMS has been told is the administrator of the unit.Automatically, the main ITSS person of a unit is anOXITEMS administrator for that unit.That person (and any member of Computing Services)can add other people as administrators for that unit.An administrator can use OXITEMS to set upnewsfeeds without any involvement of ComputingServices.For example, the ITSS people of History, Materials andZoology have set up the newsfeeds:histfac/jobs, histfac/medieval,mat/news, mat/seminars, mat/jobs,zoo/seminars, zoo/studentships.The Press and Information Office has set up:offices/university-news.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Societies/clubs can also produce newsfeeds
For societies and clubs, the username associated withthe society/club is an OXITEMS administrator for thatsociety/club.So a person who authenticates with that username canset up newsfeeds (without any involvement ofComputing Services).He/she can also add other people as administrators forthe society/club.For example, a person who has webauthed with theusername ouoc has set up the newsfeeds:clubs/ouoc/news,clubs/ouoc/socials,clubs/ouoc/training.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
OXITEMS uses three levels of authorisation
It is appropriate for one or two people in a unit tocontrol what newsfeeds can be set up.E.g., to ensure a sensible naming scheme is employed.The administrator can delegate the day-to-day runningof a newsfeed to another person (called a manager ).For example, the administrator could make the head ofa research group the manager of a newsfeed.The latter can in turn allocate authors,people who add news items to the newsfeed.Although OXITEMS provides three roles(administrators, managers, authors),this need not be too much bureaucracy: ...... when an administrator creates a new newsfeed,they can quickly establish the initial values of themanager and the authors.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
OXITEMS Example
1 Example: reading a newsfeed2 Example: setting up a new newsfeed3 Example: adding an item to the newsfeed4 Example: reading the new newsfeed5 Example: coping with disabled JavaScript6 Example: advertising the newsfeed7 Example: handling events8 Example: viewing the newsfeed resource9 Example: configuring the resource
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: reading a newsfeed
Suppose some department (or college) has a web site.http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/demopages/zero.html
The University’s Press and Information Office displaysits news stories at:http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/
These are available in an OXITEMS newsfeed calledoffices/university-news.As mentioned earlier, the RSS icon can be used tolocate this newsfeed’s URL.It is: http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/offices/university-news/rss20.xml
Suppose the department wants to output the items ofthis newsfeed on its home page.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: reading a newsfeed
Earlier, we saw that ukoln.ac.uk provides a facilitythat goes off to a newsfeed site and delivers the itemsof the newsfeed in a web page.So, we can read a newsfeed by adding lines like thefollowing to a web page:<script type="text/javascript"src="http://rssxpress.ukoln.ac.uk/lite/viewer/?rss=http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/offices/university-news/rss20.xml"></script>
where all the text between src=" and "> should be onone line (with no spaces).Suppose we add those lines to the department’s homepage. Here is a link to a new version of the home page:http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/demopages/ukoln.html
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: reading a newsfeed
There is no need to go to ukoln.ac.uk.Instead, first add lines like the following to the head ofthe web page:<script type="text/javascript"src="http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/
output_newsfeed.js"language="JavaScript"></script>
And then, at the point in the web page where you wantto output a newsfeed, include something like:<script type="text/javascript">output_newsfeed("offices/university-news",1)</script>
Here is a link to a new version of the home page:http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/demopages/one.html
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: setting up a new newsfeed
The department now wants to produce its ownnewsfeed.The main ITSS person of the department can set upnewsfeeds.He/she needs to go to OXITEMS’s web page which ishttps://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxonly/oxitems/
As this has been webauthed, it is available fromanywhere.Then they select the Add an ordinary newsfeed link.They need to enter information such as thename of the newsfeed, its title, its description,who is going to manage the newsfeed, and so on.If the person is in Medical Sciences, they could set up anewsfeed with a name like medsci/news.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: adding an item to the newsfeed
Having set up the newsfeed, they will want to add anitem to the newsfeed.They need to go to the OXITEMS’s web page again:https://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxonly/oxitems/
This time, they click on the Add an item link.They enter the news item, preview it and then add thenews item to the newsfeed.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: reading the new newsfeed
Then at the point in the department’s home page wherethey want to output this newsfeed, they can include:<script type="text/javascript">
output_newsfeed("medsci/news",3)</script>
Here is a link to a new version of the home page:http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/demopages/two.html
Here is a mock-up page that illustrates otherpossibilities: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/demopages/lots.html
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: coping with disabled JavaScript
The above code assumes the visitor’s browser hasJavaScript enabled.We need to provide an alternative if JavaScript hasbeen disabled.Here is some code that deals with both possibilities:enabled or disabled.<script type="text/javascript">output_newsfeed("offices/university-news",1)</script><noscript><p>JavaScript is not enabled.Either enable itor use this link:<a href="http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/offices/university-news/newsfeed.html">University News</a>.</p></noscript>
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: advertising the newsfeed
You should add to the <head> element of the HTMLpage an element like the following:<link href="http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oucs/news/rss10.xml"
rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"title="OUCS News">
This causes some browsers to output an icon indicatingthat a newsfeed is available from this page.Alongside the output of the newsfeed, you shoulddisplay a button providing access to the newsfeed’sURL:<a href="http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oucs/news/rss10.xml"><img src="http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/images/rss.png" /></a>
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: handling events
Besides ordinary newsfeeds, OXITEMS hasevents newsfeeds that are better at handling events.If you add an item to an events newsfeed, OXITEMSwill ask you for lots of information about the event.The RSS/Atom formats do not have elements fordescribing events.One could augment the RSS/Atom with XML describingan event. However, would feedreaders understandwhatever XML you supplied?It is better to include HTML describing the event in thedescription element of an RSS feed or thecontent element of an Atom feed.The feedreader can use this HTML to render detailsabout the event.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: handling events
Because people will want to output different thingsand in a different order, OXITEMS allows you to providea template for the HTML.If you do not provide a template, a default is used.Go to http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/pages/events-demo.htmlto see an example of what is produced.Go to http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/templates/events-default.tplto see the code of the default template.Decided not to use Smarty (fromhttp://smarty.php.net/) because it allowspeople to do too many things.Instead we have invented our own templating language.It just has variable substitution and choose statements.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Example: handling events
It is best if the HTML conforms to the hCalendarspecification(http://microformats.org/wiki/hcalendar).It is then possible for others to scrape the RSS/Atom toproduce an iCalendar file (iCalendar).(iCalendar files enable event information to be importedinto calendaring programs.)OXITEMS provides ways of producing iCalendar filesfrom its newsfeeds.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Other issues
1 Other issues: adding categories2 Other issues: aggregating newsfeeds3 Other issues: automatic email of news items4 Other issues: feed validation
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Other issues: adding categories
When an author is adding an item, OXITEMS allowsthe author to categorise the item.For example, if you are providing news items for adepartment which has several research groups, youmight wish to add a category to each item to say that itis about a particular research group.Having categorised each item of a newsfeed, it ispossible for people to obtain from your newsfeed thoseitems referring to a particular category.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Other issues: aggregating newsfeeds
You can ask OXITEMS to display the result ofcombining the items of two or more newsfeeds.You can do aggregation by using a comma-separatedlist for the name of the newsfeed. Examples are:<script type="text/javascript">
output_newsfeed("oucs/news,ict/ict-news")</script><noscript><p>JavaScript is not enabled.Either enable itor use this link:<a href="http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oucs/news,ict/ict-news/newsfeed.html">Aggregated Newsfeeds</a>.</p></noscript>
http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oucs/news,ict/ict-news/rss10.xml
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Other issues: automatic email of news items
When you set up a newsfeed, you can associate anemail address with the newsfeed.Typically, this would be the email address of amailing list.Every time an item is added to the newsfeed,details of the item are also sent to the email address.If the newsfeed is an events newsfeed, the messagehas an attachment giving the details of the event iniCalendar format (iCalendar).The message is sent from the person who added theitem to the newsfeed.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Other issues: feed validation
It is tricky to ensure that a newsfeed system isgenerating RSS/Atom that is correct.The following web site provides you with the ability toget an RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0 newsfeedvalidated:http://feedvalidator.org/
For example, the OXITEMS newsfeed for the UniversityNews is accessible athttp://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/offices/university-news/rss20.xml.It can be validated by going to:http://feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http://rss.oucs.ox.ac.uk/offices/university-news/rss20.xml.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Hands-on
An exercise sheet that gives you some hands-onexperience of OXITEMS is available at:http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/presentations/iwmw2006/exercises.xml
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Final issues
1 How easy is this to do?2 Selling this to your institution3 Final thoughts4 Thank you
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
How easy is this to do?
What does OXITEMS use behind the scenes:a web server able to handle PHP(or some other scripting language) (e.g., Apache)(with forms to obtain information from the user)a database server (e.g., PostgreSQL) to storeinformationan authentication server (e.g., webauth)an authorisation server:
Assumes a person belongs to a unit. So how does it getthe person’s unit?Assumes a person has an e-mail address and a displayname. But these are not essential.Assumes a unit has an administrator.
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Selling this to your institution
Here is a list of some of the things we did to sell this todepartments and colleges at the University of Oxford:
Talk to people in departments about their requirements.This led to the following being added:
items automatically sent to a mailing listability to add categories to an itemproviding better handling of items that are events
Make the system devolved so people help themselvesProvide information about the system in various ways:
documentation at different levelslunchtime one hour sessionsgetting people past the initial shock barrier
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Final thoughts
Time for you to get involved again:If you were sceptic about the role of newsfeeds whenwe started today, are you now more convinced?Have you had any other thoughts about other uses ofnewsfeeds?What stops you from adopting these ideas in yourinstitution?
Making RSSwork in yourinstitution:
a workshop forIWMW2006
Welcome
Newsfeeds
Reading anewsfeed
Formats
Institutionaluses
ProvidingOXITEMS
OXITEMSExample
Other issues
Final issues
Thank you
Making RSS work in your institution:a workshop for IWMW2006Barry Cornelius,Computing Services,University of [email protected]
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/oxitems/