Web Manager University - Spring 2007

Class Title: How to Create Your Own RSS Feed

Webinar Description

This webinar is designed for non-technical web managers who want to learn more about why and how to use RSS feeds and who want to gain a basic understanding of the underlying technology.

By the end of the seminar, you'll have a through understanding of why RSS feeds are useful and how you can easily put a feed up on your site.

Learn more about RSS (short for "Really Simple Syndication") which is quickly becoming a defacto standard for distributing web content updates to end users. Users subscribe to RSS feeds and receive updates whenever content is changed on a site; they can scan feeds from multiple sites within a single feed reader or web browser instance and more efficiently digest the tsunami of information produced each day. Government publishers that offer RSS feeds can more easily keep site visitors updated, encouraging visits to the web site. RSS feeds are additional online tools that complement regular web publishing and email newsletters.

In this seminar we'll provide a quick overview of RSS and discuss the many ways feeds are consumed. We'll discuss feed creation (including feeds for podcasts) and review some basics of feed publishing, management, and measurement. There will be plenty of time for participant questions.

About the Instructors

Steve Fleckenstein has been involved in Internet strategy, implementation, and operations since 1994. At the federal level he has worked on projects at the Naval Research Lab, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Food & Drug Administration, General Services Administration, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and the Executive Office of the President. He is a strong advocate for user-centered design and the use of distributed technologies to deliver content to end users.

Russell O'Neill is a Senior Software Engineer for USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov. Russell holds a Master's degree in Software Engineering from George Mason University. He manages the operations of the USA.gov Content Management System, and designs and develops enterprise solutions for the USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov websites. In this role, Russell helped develop the strategy for RSS for USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov. He was a presenter at NOAA's RSS, Podcasts, Blog Conference.

Reference Materials from this Webinar

Creating, Publishing, and Managing RSS Feeds
(MS PowerPoint, 3,107 KB, Apr 2007)

Webinar Reference Guide
(MS Word, 2,517 KB, April 2007)