Recipe for Putting an RSS Feed into Your WebCT Course

"The RSS (also known as Rich Site Summary format) has quietly become the dominant format for distributing news headlines on the Web," according to Webreference.com. The RSS feed is a method for pushing selected headlines or stories on a particular subject to the end user.

Instructions: (You might want to print these out.)

1. First, find an RSS feed you would like to share with your students. The Maricopa Feed2JS site contains links to a number of articles and sources on RSS feeds.
2. Identify the RSS (XML) feed(s) and copy the RSS/XML address to the clipboard. (Using Control + C works fine.)
3. Click on Feed2JS Build. This page will take you to another window where you can build your RSS feed.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions:
   • URL - This is where you paste the .RSS or .XML URL address that you copied into your clipboard in step 2.
   • Click on check that it is valid to be sure your URL is correct.
   • Show Channel? (yes/no/title) - Set the default to no. (You can read the explantion and choose. You can preview all choices before finishing, so you can change your mind later if you wish)
   • Number of Items to Display - Do you want the first 1 - 10 items or more? Try 5 - 7 for a start.
   • Show Item Descriptions - Here you can select the amount of information you want to show your students about the feed item. A setting of "1" will display the entire description; a setting of "0" will display no description. You can control the amount of description by typing in a number. For example, start with "100" (which will display the first 100 characters) and when you preview (see below), you can decide if you want more or fewer characters of description.
   • Show item posting date? (yes/no) - Take the default ("yes").
   • Use HTML in item display? - The default of "no" is recommended. This will ensure your RSS displays as text only, without showing confusing coding,
   • Open links in a new window? - The default setting of n is recommended.
   • Preview - Definitely preview and make changes you want. You can preview as many times as you wish until you like how it looks.
5. When you are satisfied with how your RSS feed looks, click on the Generate JavaScript button.
6. A window containing all the JavaScript opens. Copy this page and save it to your computer. (You can do this as a Word file or on your notepad). Highlight all of the code and Control + C or Edit copy, etc.
7. Open up WebCT and access your course. From the Control Panel, select Add Page or Tool and choose the type page you want to use to display the feed.
8. One suggestion is to put the feed on an organizer page which is linked to your menu. If that is what you want to do, these are the steps to follow:
   • Choose Control Panel, then Add Page or Tool, and select Organizer Page. A new screen opens.
   • Fill in the blanks for title, choose "course menu" and click on Add at the bottom of the screen.
   • Go to the organizer page and add a upper text block. Edit the Text block and paste the JavaScript code (you can use Contol +V) into the box labeled Text. You can also add a title above it in the Text Heading box if you wish.
9. Save it and see what you get! You will see your RSS feed in a WebCT text block.