ProductMash: What is the RSS feed for and how do I add it to my website?
Some people provide an RSS version of their products in the same way as a sitemap. It is a quick and simple way of potential customers keeping up to date with new and changed products on your website.
For an example, look at the subscribe link in the bottom left of the main Mole End page.
Examples below show how to set up RSS feeds, using the RSSReader, for the website http://www.jesterstrickbits.co.uk
When you click on a subscribe link, for any RSS feed, you are given a choice of RSS Readers to use. There are various feed readers (such as http://www.rssreader.com/ �or http://www.feedreader.com) that can monitor RSS feeds and report on any changes being made.
ADDING A FEED TO RSSREADER
VIEWING FEED IN RSSREADER
Basic functionality is also built into variouis web browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer or FireFox).
ADDING A FEED IN FIREFOX
When you view this information through any of the supported browsers or readers it shows you a list of all the information and pages on your website.
If someone goes back to your RSS feed at a later date they have the option (which is the default) to only see what has changed or been added.
Most of the RSS reader products run in the background on your PC and will automatically tell you when the feed has changed so, if you have 1000 subscriber to your feed, they will all know very quickly when you have new products on your website (note: your prices are not put into the RSS feed).
This means that all your subscribed customers can keep up to date with your website updates without having to visit your website every day.
You may see this is a bad thing (visits being good!) however regular RSS updates mean that potential customers are frequently reminded about you and your product ranges.
The Product Mash creates the feed and uploads it your website.
To create the feed you simply have to enter the name of the feed that you want to create on your PC, e.g. RSSFeed.xml.
You can then get your Actinic settings and upload the file to your server. By default it will be put into your main Actinic folder, which is acatalog. If you prefer, once your get your Actinic settings, you can adjust the location to where you want to put the file (e.g. to put in the root of your website add .. to the end of the 'Path to root' value)
Remember to make your selections on the main Product Mash Options page to include/exclude zero stock items, duplicates, hidden items etc.
SETTING YOUR PRODUCT MASH RSS FEED OPTIONS
You also need to tell people about your RSS feed and allow them to access the information.
To do this, you need to add a small amount of code, in a suitable location on your front page/website.
EXAMPLE CODE TO ADD IN ACTINIC
HOW IT MIGHT LOOK ON YOUR WEBSITE
Your link will then appear on your website in a similar way to our site at http://www.mole-end.biz in the bottom left hand corner of the main page (which links to http://www.mole-end.biz/RSSMoleEnd.xml).
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