1. 3
Syndicating Content
Web 2.0:
Concepts and
Applications

2. 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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3. Overview
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4. 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
 Google Reader is a popular feed reader
application
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5. Exploring Web Feeds
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6. Publish / Subscribe Model
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7. 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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8. Exploring Web Feeds
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9. Subscribing to
and Reading Feeds
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10. 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
– Feeds are syndicated the same
• XML (Extensible Markup Language)
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11. Subscribing to
and Reading Feeds
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12. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
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13. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
 Web-based feed readers
– Google Reader
• Contains feed searching capability
– Bloglines
 Client feed readers
– FeedDemon
– FeedReader
– Microsoft Outlook
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14. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
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15. 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
– Metrics
– Reach
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16. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
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17. Features of Web-Based and
Client Feed Readers
 Web-based applications incorporate data from
Web feeds to present it visually
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18. 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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19. 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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20. Formats for Web Feeds
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21. Formats for Web Feeds
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22. 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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23. Exploring Podcasts
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24. Exploring Podcasts
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25. Exploring Podcasts
 Web-based podcast services contain directory
listings of audio and video podcasts
– Odeo manages podcast selections
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26. Features of Podcast Readers
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27. Anatomy of a Podcast Feed
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28. 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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29. Creating Podcasts
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30. Configuring Blogger
to Support Podcasts
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31. Configuring Blogger
to Support Podcasts
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32. Configuring Blogger
to Support Podcasts
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33. 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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34. 3
Syndicating Content
Chapter 3
Complete
Web 2.0:
Concepts and
Applications