RSS and HTML (href) links

Hi

 

We have a small collection of internal websites, and we
share some
content between them via RSS.  This content sharing has been
fairly
successful so far, but there is one piece of the puzzle that
I cannot
make fit no matter what I try, making me wonder I'm trying
to use RSS in
a way that it isn't meant to work.

 

Here's my setup:

I have a blog, and the blogging software (WordPress) I use
creates a
feed (RSS 2 and Atom) that contains the full text of my
post.

Within the body of a hypothetical blog post, I include a
basic href=""
link to another website.

 

When I view the source of the RSS feed, I see two versions
of my blog
post's content; one is bracketed with <description>
tags and DOES NOT
contain my href link; the other is bracketed with
<content:encoded> tags
and DOES contain my href link.  When I look at the RSS in a
feed reader,
the href link does not appear.  The RSS feed does contain
the usual link
from the title back to my blog post.

 

Aside from the title link, it seems that RSS does not
currently support
href links; is that true?  If so, is there a way to
re-assert links as
clickable links in the body content either in the feed
directly or once
the feed reader reads the feed?  Am I trying to use RSS in a
way that it
isn't meant to work?

 

I've tried searching for clues via Google search already
with no useful
results, though I've had difficulty coming up with
meaningful search
phrases.

 

Thanks

 

Ryan Engel

Librarian | CNN News Research and Archives | Atlanta

ryan.engelturner.com

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
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I'm not quite sure I understand the problem, but I might
have a solution. First, my question: Does your link not work
in the RSS feed? Is the link live in the blog post?
 
The solution I use when creating XML/RSS by hand is to
replace the brackets (<a href="">) with the
character entities &lt; and &gt; (&lt;a
href=""&gt;). Does that help?
 
Marcie Pierson
Reference Librarian
Grafton Public Library
35 Grafton Common 
Grafton, MA 01519
508-839-4649
508-839-7726 FAX

________________________________

From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org on behalf of Engel, Ryan
Sent: Wed 4/16/2008 3:32 PM
To: web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] RSS and HTML (href) links



Hi



We have a small collection of internal websites, and we
share some
content between them via RSS.  This content sharing has been
fairly
successful so far, but there is one piece of the puzzle that
I cannot
make fit no matter what I try, making me wonder I'm trying
to use RSS in
a way that it isn't meant to work.



Here's my setup:

I have a blog, and the blogging software (WordPress) I use
creates a
feed (RSS 2 and Atom) that contains the full text of my
post.

Within the body of a hypothetical blog post, I include a
basic href=""
link to another website.



When I view the source of the RSS feed, I see two versions
of my blog
post's content; one is bracketed with <description>
tags and DOES NOT
contain my href link; the other is bracketed with
<content:encoded> tags
and DOES contain my href link.  When I look at the RSS in a
feed reader,
the href link does not appear.  The RSS feed does contain
the usual link
from the title back to my blog post.



Aside from the title link, it seems that RSS does not
currently support
href links; is that true?  If so, is there a way to
re-assert links as
clickable links in the body content either in the feed
directly or once
the feed reader reads the feed?  Am I trying to use RSS in a
way that it
isn't meant to work?



I've tried searching for clues via Google search already
with no useful
results, though I've had difficulty coming up with
meaningful search
phrases.



Thanks



Ryan Engel

Librarian | CNN News Research and Archives | Atlanta

ryan.engelturner.com

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/



_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

Have you tried the CDATA element? (http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xml-20060816/#sec-cdata-
sect) It 
allows you to enter content markup, as opposed to your RSS
feed markup, without having to escape or 
replace characters.

For example, from http://commandl
ine.org.uk/index.rss20
---------------------------------------------------------
<item>
    <title>Linus Torvalds on ...</title>
    <guid
isPermaLink="false">more/linus-quotes-2008-04-1
6-21-20</guid>
    <link>http://commandline.org.uk/more/lin
us-quotes-2008-04-16-21-20.html</link>
    <description><![CDATA[
<p>Linus Torvalds writes the Linux kernel, he also
likes a good mailing list flamewar, not least 
because he has a very sarcasatic wit. Here he is, writing
about various topics.</p>

<p>On fair use:</p>

<blockquote><p>When you start thinking that you
have absolute control over the
content or programs you produce, and that the rest of the
worlds opinions
doesn't matter, you're just
_wrong_.</p></blockquote>
.......

.......
]]>
----------------------------------------------------------
Notice how the <p> and <blockquote> tags are
entered unaltered. The same should happen with anchor 
tags, or any HTML tag.

c.



Marcie Pierson wrote:
> I'm not quite sure I understand the problem, but I
might have a solution. First, my question: Does your link
not work in the RSS feed? Is the link live in the blog
post?
>  
> The solution I use when creating XML/RSS by hand is to
replace the brackets (<a href="">) with the
character entities &lt; and &gt; (&lt;a
href=""&gt;). Does that help?
>  
> Marcie Pierson
> Reference Librarian
> Grafton Public Library
> 35 Grafton Common 
> Grafton, MA 01519
> 508-839-4649
> 508-839-7726 FAX
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org on behalf
of Engel, Ryan
> Sent: Wed 4/16/2008 3:32 PM
> To: web4libwebjunction.org
> Subject: [Web4lib] RSS and HTML (href) links
> 
> 
> 
> Hi
> 
> 
> 
> We have a small collection of internal websites, and we
share some
> content between them via RSS.  This content sharing has
been fairly
> successful so far, but there is one piece of the puzzle
that I cannot
> make fit no matter what I try, making me wonder I'm
trying to use RSS in
> a way that it isn't meant to work.
> 
> 
> 
> Here's my setup:
> 
> I have a blog, and the blogging software (WordPress) I
use creates a
> feed (RSS 2 and Atom) that contains the full text of my
post.
> 
> Within the body of a hypothetical blog post, I include
a basic href=""
> link to another website.
> 
> 
> 
> When I view the source of the RSS feed, I see two
versions of my blog
> post's content; one is bracketed with
<description> tags and DOES NOT
> contain my href link; the other is bracketed with
<content:encoded> tags
> and DOES contain my href link.  When I look at the RSS
in a feed reader,
> the href link does not appear.  The RSS feed does
contain the usual link
> from the title back to my blog post.
> 
> 
> 
> Aside from the title link, it seems that RSS does not
currently support
> href links; is that true?  If so, is there a way to
re-assert links as
> clickable links in the body content either in the feed
directly or once
> the feed reader reads the feed?  Am I trying to use RSS
in a way that it
> isn't meant to work?
> 
> 
> 
> I've tried searching for clues via Google search
already with no useful
> results, though I've had difficulty coming up with
meaningful search
> phrases.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> Ryan Engel
> 
> Librarian | CNN News Research and Archives | Atlanta
> 
> ryan.engelturner.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
> 
> 
> 

-- 
___________________

Carlos Lopez
Assistant Cataloguer
The Dalton McCaughey Library
1 Morrison Close
Parkville, Vic. 3052
Australia
Ph:   +61 3 93408885
Fax: +61 3 93408889
www.dml.vic.edu.au


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I'm not entirely sure I understand the problem but, assuming
that the
crux of it is that the feeds are improperly formed, try
reformatting
them using Feedburner. It does a lot of heavy lifting in
cleaning up
feeds and making sure they are valid. Plus, the service can
add extra
services such methods to track click-throughs, monitor
subscribers,
allow email subscriptions, etc.

Tom


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