Class Blogs: Using the Bells and Whistles

Posting RSS Content to Your Blog

1. Download the RSS parser
2. Parse the RSS feed and store in a local object
3. Display the feed on your website

In UThink, look for the small link saying “Syndicate this Site (XML)” at the bottom of the sidebar in your blog page. This is the link to the RSS feed itself. All blogs on Movable Type have by default this RSS feed file already created and ready to use.

Step 1

Most parsers are written in scripting languages such as Javascript, Perl and PHP.
UTHINK uses lastRSS which is a php script. Download it to your webserver.

Step 2

You need to write a small script like this one.
Include this script at the beginning of your main index file.
You may need to modify the file extension to .phtml to recognize PHP. This acts as a header file, parses the RSS feed and stores in a local object.

Step 3

Now we are ready to display the actual information. This involves writing another script to access the necessary objects. This script may be included wherever you want on your blog page. Usually a good place is the sidebar.

Here's an example.

Posted by kilam002 at March 3, 2005 1:01 AM