Embedding RSS w/ Grace and Style

November 30, 2007 11:09 AM

I've been using FeedDigest to convert and embed an RSS feed into an HTML page, and love the simplicity of it and the ability to customize the look of the embedded results. I don't love, though, FeedDigest's slowness in updating the feed content, or that I'm relying on a third-party to middleman the content onto the page. Is something dead simple, be it code in the page, or on the server, a Flash app, etc., that I could replace FeedDigest with?

Qualities I'm seeking:
• Simplicity of implementation and maintenance
• Ability to control the amount of times the feed refreshes
• Ability to style the content to match other stuff on the page

posted by boombot to technology (6 comments total)

I've used a PHP script called rss2html. The script files can live on your server. You create a template to format the details from the RSS feed into HTML. I think it requires curl. So that might not be dead simple, but it requires no maintenance after setup, reads the the feed fresh every time the page loads, and can be styled and formatted any way you want.
posted by expialidocious at 11:51 AM on November 30, 2007

I use feed2js which has all those qualities except controling refresh rates but I've been pretty happy with how quickly updates show up. I use it on several sites and it runs the sidebars on librarian.net including AskMe so you can look right now (an hour later) and see your question there. Not bad.
posted by jessamyn at 12:04 PM on November 30, 2007

I'm loving SimplePie.
posted by deern the headlice at 1:06 PM on November 30, 2007

I use Carp to accomplish this on the site I run for work. It looks intimidating, but it's actually really simple. And Antone Roundy, who created Carp and maintains it, is really helpful if you ever have any issues.
posted by gemmy at 4:42 PM on November 30, 2007

Disclaimer: I was the owner of Feed Digest until a few months ago :)

If you can put together something of your own, then it's nearly always an improvement over using a middleman (who could go down, although this was extremely rare with FD).

I'd probably advise using SimplePie (linked by deern above). It'll require you doing a little bit of coding, but as long as you know PHP it's not much. Someone who knows PHP could probably put it in for you real cheap.

If you're a complete novice or hate the idea of touching code, then your options are limited as to run the feed processor locally requires you install some sort of script. However.. I have definitely seen a JavaScript only technique that uses Yahoo Pipes in some way.. but they're no more reliable than Feed Digest, and again make you rely on an external service!

One of the really nasty things you need to be VERY careful of (and one of the reasons Feed Digest is so successful) is that you don't rig up some script that requests the source RSS feed every time the "digest" is loaded. If so, your Web server's IP will be most likely banned from accessing your source feed.

Lastly, if you are a paying Feed Digest user, it's also worth dropping a note on the forum or sending an e-mail as times can nearly always be turned down.
posted by wackybrit at 4:53 PM on November 30, 2007

BTW, there are Flash RSS readers that you can embed on your page, but one major downside is that the Web sites with the source feed require a special XML file to give permissions for cross-domain Flash access to the files.. and not many people have this.
posted by wackybrit at 4:55 PM on November 30, 2007