CHAPTER 13 INTRODUCING WORDPRESS 375 Syndication Feeds: (Web host server)
CHAPTER 13 INTRODUCING WORDPRESS 375 Syndication Feeds: Most blogging software supports a way of reading your blog contents other than with a browser. It uses the concept of feeds, which are XML-based presentations of your blog contents. They are consumed by feed readers or aggregators special software that will regularly retrieve your blog s feed and compare it to the feed read last time. In this way, the software notices changes to your blog and highlights them to you. Feed readers allow you to aggregate the feeds from all the blogs and news sites you regularly read and be informed in a central place of the ones that have changed. A simple click takes you to the site in question with its new content. Another advantage is that it takes a lot less bandwidth for a feed reader to download your XML feed than to grab your web page. Some blogging software or their plug-ins allow you to incorporate the feeds into your own blog. This way, you could have the latest headlines in your own page automatically, instead of just a link to the latest industry news site. Common formats for XML feeds are Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Atom, and Resource Description Framework (RDF). Most feed readers can understand them all. Feed readers are available for many platforms. Some are desktop applications like FeedDemon for Windows (http://www.bradsoft.com/feeddemon/), NetNewsWire for Mac OS X (http://ranchero.com/ netnewswire/), and RSSOwl for UNIX and other platforms (http://www.rssowl.org/). Some are add-ons and plug-ins that add feed reader functions to other packages; for example, RSS Popper for Microsoft Outlook (http://rsspopper.blogspot.com/2004/10/home.html), Safari RSS for Safari on the Mac (http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/safari/), and Wizz RSS for Firefox on all platforms (http://www.wizzcomputers.com/WizzRss.php). There are also online feed aggregators, like Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) and Syndic8 (http:// www.syndic8.com/). Podcasting: Podcasting is where you distribute audio or multimedia content (usually MP3 files) via your RSS feed. You can find tools that will let your readers subscribe to the RSS feed and automatically download the audio files to their MP3 players. Permalinks: A permalink (contraction of the phrase permanent link) is a type of URL designed to refer to a specific information item (often a news story or weblog item) and to remain unchanged permanently, or at least for a lengthy period of time. Permanence in links is desirable when content items are likely to be linked to from, or cited by, a source outside the originating organization. Permalinks are also desirable within organizations when the complexity of web sites grows to more than a modest number of pages. In particular, the growth of extensive commercial web sites built on database-backed CMS necessitated deliberate policies with regard to URL design and link permanence. Moblogging: Moblogging is blogging photographs taken with a mobile phone camera. Often, these can be posted directly from the phone. Why WordPress? And so we come to WordPress, the blogging software this part of the book will be discussing. Why WordPress? WordPress is a state-of-the-art, semantic, personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. That s quite a mouthful, but what does it all mean?
Note: In case you are looking for affordable and reliable webhost to host and run your j2ee application check Vision J2ee Web Hosting services.