Introduction to RSS

Want more traffic? An easy way to distribute your news? Then you
need an RSS news feed. To start all you need is content you want broadcast,
and one RSS text file.

What is RSS?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a lightweight XML format designed for sharing
headlines and other Web content. Think of it as a distributable "What's New"
for your site. Originated by UserLand in 1997 and subsequently used by Netscape
to fill channels for Netcenter, RSS has evolved into a popular means of sharing
content between sites (including the BBC, CNET, CNN, Disney, Forbes, Motley
Fool, Wired, Red Herring, Salon, Slashdot, ZDNet, and more). RSS solves myriad
problems webmasters commonly face, such as increasing traffic, and gathering
and distributing news. RSS can also be the basis for additional content distribution
services.

RSS Syntax

RSS defines an XML grammar (a set of HTML-like tags) for sharing
news. Each RSS text file contains both static information about
your site, plus dynamic information about your new stories, all surrounded
by matching start and end tags.

Each story is defined by an <item> tag, which contains a headline
TITLE, URL, and DESCRIPTION. Here's an example:

...
<item>
  <title>RSS Resources</title>
  <link>http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/xml/rss/</link>

  <description>Defined in XML, the Rich Site Summary (RSS) format has
  quietly become a dominant format for distributing headlines on the Web.
  Our list of links gives you the tools, tips and tutorials you need to get
  started using RSS. 0323</description>
</item>
...

Each RSS channel can contain up to 15 items and is easily parsed using Perl
or other open source software. If you want more details on creating RSS files see Jonathan Eisenzopf's excellent article in the February issue of Web Techniques. But you don't have to worry about the details, we've made it easy to create your own RSS channel with free open source scripts, all Web based. More on these later.

Once you've created and validated your RSS text file, register it at the various aggregators, and watch the hits roll in. Any site can now grab
and display your feed regularly, driving traffic your way. Update your RSS file, and all the external sites that subscribe to your feed will be automatically updated. What can be easier? But wait, there's more.

Contents

• Introduction
  
• Syndication and Aggregation
  
• WebRef and the Future of RSS
  

Next: Syndication and Aggregation

10 reasons for web standards

Here are ten reasons to develop with web standards:

1. The learning curve of old school methods is steeper than it is when standards are embraced.



2. It takes less time to do more work when using standards.


3. It is easier to re-use standards-compliant code, allowing developers to build portable libraries of tools.


4. Standards-friendly documents can be repurposed with ease.


5. Site maintenance is made easier with streamlined code, reducing costs and increasing time available for content.


6. The bandwith needed for a standards-based page is significantly less. More like a toeprint than a footprint.



7. Using web standards enhances accessibility, leading to more consumers.


8. Developing with standards creates site longevity, due to greater compatibility with future user agents.


9. It is much easier to create cross-browser solutions by embracing web standards.


10. Standards-based sites are more optimized for search engines, leading to increased traffic.

Basically, web standards save time and money. They make the job of the developer easier, with increased productivity and efficiency. Best of all, using web standards can make a developer look good for a client. "It's only going to take 2 minutes to change the font of all my pages? That's really cool!"

Source: http://jessey.net

Webmaster as a profession

Webmasters are practitioners of web communication. Typically, they are generalists with HTML expertise who manage all aspects of Web operations.
On larger sites, the webmaster will act as a coordinator and overseer to the activities of other people working on the site and is usually an employee of the owner of the Web site, hence webmaster can also be listed as an occupation. If the webmaster is hired by a larger Web site, or promoted to the position, they could do things from web design, to project management, or employee supervision.
In the early days of the use of the term "webmaster" (a take-off on the term "postmaster", the administrator of an e-mail system), this role encompassed all aspects of planning, coding, production, and user interface. The webmaster may have many of the duties of an information architect, including ensuring site usability, user experience and menu taxonomy.
However, since the late 90s, this type of webmaster role was typically only found working on small Web sites that could be managed by one person, or in environments where there was not a great deal of role definition. The current model tends to be more team oriented with a website manager or online producer leading a team consisting of web developers, designers, programmers, QA lead, Adobe Flash developers and often at least one usability expert or a UI/UE team. In established web development companies, especially those existing since the 90s, the term webmaster may be used by senior officers of the company, and may include usage such as "Webmaster-in-chief."
A broader definition of webmaster is a businessperson who uses online media to sell products and/or services. This broader definition of webmaster covers not just the technical aspects of overseeing Web site construction and maintenance but also management of content, advertising, marketing and order fulfillment for the Web site.
Core responsibilities of the webmaster include the regulation and management of access rights of different users of a web site, the appearance and setting up web site navigation. Content placement can be part of a webmaster's responsibilities, while content creation is typically not.
Typically, the webmaster is the agent who reads user feedback and complaints about site functionality.
The webmaster is actually in charge of the server more so than the actual web pages. The web pages are handled by the senior designer.

What is HTML?

What is HTML?

HTML is a computer language devised to allow website creation. These websites can then be viewed by anyone else connected to the Internet. It is relatively easy to learn, with the basics being accessible to most people in one sitting; and quite powerful in what it allows you to create. It is constantly undergoing revision and evolution to meet the demands and requirements of the growing Internet audience under the direction of the » W3C, the organisation charged with designing and maintaining the language.

The definition of HTML is HyperText Markup Language.

• HyperText is the method by which you move around on the web — by clicking on special text called hyperlinks which bring you to the next page. The fact that it is hyper just means it is not linear — i.e. you can go to any place on the Internet whenever you want by clicking on links — there is no set order to do things in.


• Markup is what HTML tags do to the text inside them. They mark it as a certain type of text (italicised text, for example).


• HTML is a Language, as it has code-words and syntax like any other language.

How does it work?

HTML consists of a series of short codes typed into a text-file by the site author — these are the tags. The text is then saved as a html file, and viewed through a browser, like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. This browser reads the file and translates the text into a visible form, hopefully rendering the page as the author had intended. Writing your own HTML entails using tags correctly to create your vision. You can use anything from a rudimentary text-editor to a powerful graphical editor to create HTML pages.

What are the tags up to?

The tags are what separate normal text from HTML code. You might know them as the words between the <triangle-brackets>. They allow all the cool stuff like images and tables and stuff, just by telling your browser what to render on the page. Different tags will perform different functions. The tags themselves don’t appear when you view your page through a browser, but their effects do. The simplest tags do nothing more than apply formatting to some text, like this:

These words will be bold, and these will not.


In the example above, the b tags were wrapped around some text, and their effect will be that the contained text will be bolded when viewed through an ordinary web browser.

If you want to see a list of a load of tags to see what’s ahead of you, look at this tag reference. Learning the tags themselves is dealt with in the next section of this website, My First Site.

Is this going to take long?

Well, it depends on what you want from it. Knowing HTML will take only a few days of reading and learning the codes for what you want. You can have the basics down in an hour. Once you know the tags you can create HTML pages.

However, using HTML and designing good websites is a different story, which is why I try to do more than just teach you code here at HTMLSource — I like to add in as much advice as possible too. Good website design is half skill and half talent, I reckon. Learning techniques and correct use of your tag knowledge will improve your work immensely, and a good understanding of general design and the audience you’re trying to reach will improve your website’s chances of success. Luckily, these things can be researched and understood, as long as you’re willing to work at it so you can output better websites.

The range of skills you will learn as a result of running your own website is impressive. You’ll learn about aspects of graphic design, typography and computer programming. Your efficiency with computers in general increases.You’ll also learn about promotion and your writing will probably improve too, as you adapt to write for certain audiences.

Do I have to be online all the time?

Not at all. You can code your entire website offline, storing it all on your own computer, and then just transfer all the files onto the web. Then whenever you have new content, you just add that to the existing online version of your site. It’s really quite simple.

Is there anything HTML can’t do?

Of course, but since making websites became more popular and needs increased many other supporting languages have been created to allow new stuff to happen, plus HTML is modified every few years to make way for improvements.

Cascading Stylesheets are used to control how your pages are presented, and make pages more accessible. Basic special effects and interaction is provided by JavaScript, which adds a lot of power to basic HTML. Most of this advanced stuff is for later down the road, but when using all of these technologies together, you have a lot of power at your disposal.

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Why not get a quick view of times gone by with The History of HTML? If you think you’re ready to start coding, head over to the My First Site section and begin creating!

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Still using Internet Explorer? This site, and most others, look and perform much better if you’re using a modern browser like Mozilla Firefox instead. Using this browser means you’ll browse the web faster, more securely, with no popups, and you’ll be able to use sites that use the latest CSS and JavaScript. And it’s free! Get a better browser

Source: http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/

What Is JavaScript?

JavaScript. It has all the hallmarks of "flavor of the month"—its name is appearing everywhere and there's panting and foaming at the mouth over learning to use it. So what is it? And why should you care?


First, a formal description:

JavaScript is an object-oriented scripting language that lets you build interactions between page content, the state of the browser, and the actions of the reader.

In other words, JavaScript is a language that lets you make your pages interact with your readers and respond to what they do.

It is a programming language that can make your pages feel more dynamic and give feedback to your user. This is a good argument for learning and incorporating it into your web techniques basket.

It is a programming language that also has a learning curve in order for you to use it well. But don't let this scare you away from it—if you aren't a programmer, you can start out by learning a few basic concepts and then adapt existing JavaScript scripts for your needs.

If you don't want to tackle JavaScript, that's OK too. You can still make attractive pages that your readers will like, using standard HTML. Don't let the "flavor of the month" mentality convince you that only programmers or big budget outfits can have a Web page. But take a look through this section—you might surprise yourself by knowing more about scripting than you think.

Read more...

What is ASP.NET?

ASP.NET

ASP.NET, the next version of ASP, is a programming framework used to create enterprise-class Web Applications. These applications are accessible on a global basis leading to effecient information managment. The advantages ASP.NET offers is more than just the next version of ASP.

Why ASP.NET?

Since 1995, Microsoft has been constantly working to shift it's focus from Windows-based platforms to the Internet. As a result, Microsoft introduced ASP (Active Server Pages) in November 1996. ASP offered the efficiency of ISAPI applications along with a new level of simplicity that made it easy to understand and use. However, ASP script was an interpreted script and consisted unstructured code and was difficult to debug and maintain. As the web consists of many different technologies, software integration for Web development was complicated and required to understand many different technologies. Also, as applications grew bigger in size and became more complex, the number of lines of source code in ASP applications increased dramatically and was hard to maintain. Therefore, an architecture was needed that would allow development of Web applications in a structured and consistent way.

The .NET Framework was introduced with a vision to create globally distributed software with Internet functionality and interoperability. The .NET Framework consists of many class libraries, includes multiple language support and a common execution platform. It's a very flexible foundation on which many different types of top class applications can be developed that do different things. Developing Internet applications with the .NET Framework is very easy. ASP.NET is built into this framework, we can create ASP.NET applications using any of the built-in languages.
Unlike ASP, ASP.NET uses the Common Language Runtime (CLR) provided by the .NET Framework. This CLR manages execution of the code we write. ASP.NET code is a compiled CLR code instead of interpreted code (ASP). CLR also allows objects written in different languages to interact with each other. The CLR makes developement of Web applications simple.

Advantages Using ASP.NET

• ASP.NET drastically reduces the amount of code required to build large applications
• ASP.NET makes development simpler and easier to maintain with an event-driven, server-side programming model
• ASP.NET pages are easy to write and maintain because the source code and HTML are together The source code is executed on the server. The pages have lots of power and flexibility by this approach
• The source code is compiled the first time the page is requested. Execution is fast as the Web Server compiles the page the first time it is requested. The server saves the compiled version of the page for use next time the page is requested
• The HTML produced by the ASP.NET page is sent back to the browser. The application source code you write is not sent and is not easily stolen
• ASP.NET makes for easy deployment. There is no need to register components because the configuration information is built-in
• The Web server continuously monitors the pages, components and applications running on it. If it noticies memory leaks, infinite loops, other illegal software or activities, it seamlessly kills those activities and restarts itself
• ASP.NET validates information (validation controls) entered by the user without writing a single line of code
• ASP.NET easily works with ADO .NET using data-binding and page formatting features
• ASP.NET applications run fater and counters large volumes of users without performance problems
  

Differences between ASP.NET and Client-Side Technologies

Client-side refers to the browser and the machine running the browser. Server-side on the other hand refers to a Web server.

Client-Side Scripting
Javascript and VBScript and generally used for Client-side scripting. Client-side scripting executes in the browser after the page is loaded. Using client-side scripting you can add some cool features to your page. Both, HTML and the script are together in the same file and the script is download as part of the page which anyone can view. A client-side script runs only on a browser that supports scripting and specifically the scripting language that is used. Since the script is in the same file as the HTML and as it executes on the machine you use, the page may take longer time to download.

Server-Side Scripting
ASP.NET is purely server-side technology. ASP.NET code executes on the server before it is sent to the browser. The code that is sent back to the browser is pure HTML and not ASP.NET code. Like client-side scripting, ASP.NET code is similar in a way that it allows you to write your code alongside HTML. Unlike client-side scripting, ASP.NET code is executed on the server and not in the browser. The script that you write alongside your HTML is not sent back to the browser and that prevents others from stealing the code you developed.

Source: StartVBdotNet.com

What is WebLog?

1) A weblog, sometimes written as web log or Weblog, is a Web site that consists of a series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order, often updated on frequently with new information about particular topics. The information can be written by the site owner, gleaned from other Web sites or other sources, or contributed by users.

A weblog often has the quality of being a kind of "log of our times" from a particular point-of-view. Generally, weblogs are devoted to one or several subjects or themes, usually of topical interest, and, in general, can be thought of as developing commentaries, individual or collective on their particular themes. A weblog may consist of the recorded ideas of an individual (a sort of diary) or be a complex collaboration open to anyone. Most of the latter are moderated discussions.

Since there are a number of variations on this idea and new variations can easily be invented, the meaning of this term is apt to gather additional connotations with time. A popular weblog is Slashdot.org, the product of programmer and graphic artist Rob Malden and several colleagues. Slashdot.org carries discussion threads on many subjects including: Money, Quake (the game), Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Hardware, and Linux. Slashdot.org solicits and posts interesting stories reported by contributors, includes a link to the story, and manages the threads of the ensuing discussion by other users. Another well-known weblog is Jorn Barger's Robot Wisdom Log, which is more of collection of daily highlights from other Web sites. Jessamyn West's librarian.net is a daily log of items interesting to librarians and possibly others, too.

As a format and content approach for a Web site, the weblog seems popular because the viewer knows that something changes every day, there is a personal point-of-view, and, on some sites, there is an opportunity to collaborate or respond with the Web site and its participants.

2) Weblog is the name of a software product from South Korea that analyzes a Web site's access access log and reports the number of visitors, views, hits, most frequently visited pages, and so forth.

What is Flash, when and why to use it?

Flash is a vector animation (read about vector animation software) software, originally designed to create animations for display on web pages. Vector graphics are ideal for the web because they are so lightweight.

Over the releases of new versions of Flash, Macromedia has made Flash more and more controllable
via programming, where they have it positioned as a competitor to HTML to build interactive web sites and applications such as an e-commerce store. Macromedia argues that Flash is the way to go instead of HTML because of the following reasons:

• Flash movies load faster and save on download time because Flash is vector based whereas HTML is not.
  
• Flash intelligently ‘caches’ it’s movies so they don’t have to be reloaded.


• Flash gives the user (the person viewing/using the Flash movie) a more responsive ‘rich-client’ like experience.
  

All of these points are true, but they can be true for HTML pages as well (except for the vectors). I will address these points now:

Flash pages can be made to load faster, but most of the time, the way they are designed in the real world, they do not. That is not a Flash problem, it is more an issue of the Flash developers going nuts with fancy and heavy Flash movies.

HTML caches pages as well, once images are downloaded they are held in your browser's cache. The cached images are then used instead of dowloading them from the server again.

With new technology like ASP.net and Java Server Faces, HTML now can react just like a ‘rich-client’ application. Even without these new tools, properly designed HTML for most dynamic sites can
provide a good user experience.

What DO I have against Flash?

Before I start trashing Flash, I have to first say that I think it is a great tool, but not in all things and certainly not in the all-encompassing way that Macromedia would suggest. Here’s why:

Flash handles text very poorly. The web for the most part is about text, we go to the web to read about things, whether it be articles like this one, or what is in your shopping cart, or the latest baseball stats, it is all text.

Flash text rendering/displaying is much slower than HTML and noticeably less clear. Macromedia knows this and that’s why they include the ability to display basic HTML in Flash and that’s
why on their own site, they make heavy use of HTML.

Flash development usually takes much longer than the HTML equivalent. This has been helped to a great degree starting with the release of FLASH MX where they essential provided HTML form components, but it is still slower to create a Flash site than an HTML site.

What I like about Flash development?

1. You can do some really nice work in Flash that would be difficult and sometimes impossible in HTML alone. Things like complex animations and playing video spring to mind.

2. Practically no browser issues: For the most part, Flash movies will work the same if the user is on Netscape or IE, on Mac or PC. The browser issues (where people coming to your site have different browsers that can ‘break’ your pages) are quickly becoming a thing of the past since most people (thank the web gods) are using IE. But even today, I still have to deal with people who may be using some old browser that can break all but the simplest of HTML code.

So when should you use Flash?

In my humble opinion, I would use Flash to create a presentation that is similar to a television commercial. This type of presentation is something where the user sits back and enjoys the show as the Flash movie delivers the message to the client with animation, sound, and possibly
video. Please do not get this confused with those ubiquitous ‘intro’ animations that still plague many Flash sites. Rather I am talking about informative movies that the user can decide to view to learn about something like a product or a service.

I can also see Flash being used in straight animations, like what your kids watch Saturday morning. One last use where I find Flash handy, is with so called ‘rich-ui’ components like calendars
or fancy navigational systems. The only danger here is that if the user doesn't have the proper Flash plug-in, they won't be able to use those components and as such in many cases (like with a Flash based navigation bar) the user will not be able to use your web site!

Instead of Macromedia’s vision, I see Flash being used selectively to enhance an HTML based site.

Stefan Mischook

How to become a webmaster in one afternoon!

Being a webmaster is not difficult especially if you have a simple site. You just need a few hours on a weekend afternoon to learn the basics, and the rest of it is fairly intuitive and you can learn it as you go.

To begin, you will need a domain name and a web host. If you haven’t gotten either of these yet, I recommend the following vendors:

• Name.com – for domain name registration. It’s prices start at $5.9 a year!
  
• Godaddy.com – for domain name registration. It’s hard to beat at $9.20 a year (with tax included)
  
• Lunarpages.com – for web hosting. I’ve tried several web hosts in the past, and these guys have been the best by far. One of the best qualities about them is the excellent support that they provide.

If you decide to go with a web host , it’s a good idea to make sure that they have cPanel or Plesk, a program that allows you to easily manage the features on your account.

Got your domain name and web host? Well, let’s go ahead and launch a site on your domain. Here are the steps that we’ll go through:

1. Point your domain name to your host


2. Download a sample website


3. Obtain FTP software and connect to your host via FTP


4. Transfer sample website files to your host
   

Point your domain name to your host

When you signed up with your web host, they should tell you what your login information and DNS information is. You will need the DNS information in order to point your domain name to your web host. There should be two addresses that look something like:

NS1.SOMETHING.COM

NS2.SOMETHING.COM

And there may also be corresponding IP Addresses.

NS1: 12.345.678.99

NS2: 13.452.345.88

You will then have to go into your domain name registrar account and point your domain name to the DNS and IP Addresses (if required by registrar) you were given. If you’re doing this in Godaddy, here are the steps you would take:

1. Log in at godaddy.com


2. Go to Domains (at the top) > My Domain Names.


3. Make sure that the domain is unlocked. If you see a yellow padlock next to your domain name, then it’s locked. You can unlock it by checking the box to the left of the domain and click on “Set Locking” at the top


4. Click on the domain, allowing you to administer it


5. Go to “Nameservers Summary” on the right hand side and click “Click here to see details or to modify” and insert the DNS addresses that you were given and click on “Save Changes.” In Godaddy’s case, you don’t need to do anything with the corresponding IP Addresses as long as you’re given actual DNSes from your web host.

That’s all there is to pointing your domain name to your web host. For the change in DNS to be reflected across the web it may take 24-48 hours. This is called propagation.

Download a sample website

If you have the files for your own website, that’s great. Otherwise, we’ll go ahead and download a sample website that someone else put together and posted. A good place to find one is at Open Source Web Design. Lets try this one. Download and unzip the file and you will notice that there are 2 files and one folder in the packet. One of the 2 files that you see is the index.html file, which serves up the content for your homepage. The file called “onlinebusiness” is a CSS file, which tells the web browser what type of styling should be used on your site. The folder called “images” contains all the graphics.

If your site is a simple, static site with only a handful of pages and doesn’t use content management software, this will be the format of your site. Each page will be controlled by a single html file – for example, if you have an about us page, you’d have a file called about.html or something similar to that containing all your text for the page, you’ll have one CSS file that controls how your site will look and you’ll have a folder with all the graphics and images in it.

Obtain FTP software and connect to your host via FTP

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is how you will transfer the web files that you downloaded to your web host’s server and make them publicly viewable to anyone on the Web. There is a bunch of free FTP software available for download. I’ve been using FileZilla for some time now, and recommend it (when downloading, select “FileZilla” and not “FileZilla Server”).

With FileZilla, you can add the FTP information for as many of your websites as you want, so you’ll easily be able to transfer files to and from them. When you install and run FileZilla on your computer, the first thing you’ll want to do is add the FTP information for your web host. This includes an FTP address, a username and password. This information should all have been provided to you by your web host. With Lunarpages, the FTP username and password is the same as your general login and they send it to you in a welcome e-mail.

When you’re adding your site to FileZilla, first you’ll want to come up with a site name that will get associated with your login -this can really be anything. Then enter in the “Host” or FTP address, the username and password. Logontype should set to “normal.” Then, try connecting. Your FTP software should attempt to connect to the host, validate the login information and then output the directory structure for your server. If login is successful, it should say something like, “Directory listing successful.” Some web hosts may require you to sign on under passive mode instead of default mode, so if the FTP software seems to be logging in, but you’re not getting “Directory listing successful” or you’re getting some kind of error message, try changing the advanced settings for that site from “default mode” to “passive mode” in your FTP software. If you’re still having difficulty, ask for help from your web host.

Transfer files to your host

When you’re logged into the FTP host, you should see the host folder structure on the right hand side and a local (on your computer) folder structure on the left. You should also see a bunch of different folders that may not make much sense like “logs”, “etc”, and “public_ftp”. You should locate a folder called “www” or “httpdocs” or “public_html”. If you have more than one of the ones mentioned, it shouldn’t matter which one you go into. Lets say you have a “www” folder. You can double-click on it to dive into it. This is the folder in which your live web files will should be placed. To transfer the files, simply drag and drop them from the folder structure on the left to the right and FileZilla will begin transferring the files. Using our sample website as an example, you would transfer the index.html file, the allbusiness.css file and the “image” folder.

Once the files are transferred, they should be live on the web. Try navigating to your domain to see them. If it hasn’t been 48 hours after changing the domain DNS to point to your server, it may not have propagated yet, so you may have to wait for 48 hours before seeing the site live. Often a web host will give you an alternate URL where you’ll be able to see your live files. For example, I can see my site at domain.com but also at http://servername.lunarpages.com/~loginname. Once you have files for your site, whether you’ve gotten them from an html coder or from a Frontpage design you did yourself and are ready to make them live on the web, you can simply delete the sample files from the ftp server and replace them with your own.

Conclusion

One thing that confuses people is the index.html file. The index.html file is there to control what gets displayed on your website homepage – domain.com. You don’t have to navigate to domain.com/index.html to see it. You can simply go to domain.com and the contents of the file will be displayed. The web server knows to display the content of index.html when someone navigates to domain.com. All the other files, however, will have to be navigated to directly, so a “contact us” page would live at domain.com/contact.html.

Some other things you may want to do as part of managing your site include setting up e-mail addresses or seeing how much traffic your site is getting. Both of these tasks, as well as a lot of others, can be done easily from the cPanel. Below is a screenshot of what it looks like. Spend some time acclimating yourself with cPanel, and you will be able to see that it provides you with a good number of features including many you may not have heard of. Always feel free to ask your web host questions if you don’t understand how to do something or if something seems broken.