Re: [syndication] Re: Independent Online Newspaper RSS Feeds

["Bill Kearney" <wkearney@syndic8.com>]

> Well yes, without a database this whole thing is suicide.

Maybe not suicide but perhaps an exercise in futility.  XML is expected to
be VERY precise in handling of stuff like character encodings.  Attempting
to create something like a newsfeed in XML without using templates and
machine-driven code is asking for a fair amount of trouble.  There are,
frankly, just too many little details that XML *requires* for a mere mortal
to keep track of during manual edits.

So yes, it's VERY likely and a VERY good idea to create feeds from database
output.

> You mentioned a number of news sites, meaning lots and lots of texts -
> you can't just generate static html's forever, you need a CMS and then
> let the editors enter stuff.

Well, things like MovableType, Wordpress and others can well be thought of
as a "CMS for one" or a lightweight CMS.  CMS is a bit of misnomer as many
different products call themselves a "CMS" when they're little more than
template-driven editors.  Truly sophisticated CMS have features like flow
control, version tracking and a lot more.  But most environments neither
need nor have the budget to obtain and run such beasts.

> Usually, yes.
> Depends on what you want though. For a small site, and if you are
> happy with a ready-made system that comes with features that somebody
> else planned - OK. But if you intend to have unique features, if you
> want to customize, if you are in any way different than the standard
> case... maybe you should start from scratch.

Eh, probably not.  Stuff like the various *nuke portals, zope, drupal,
slash, wordpress and a host of others already handle more than enough for
most situations.


> > I mean when I  think of scripts I think
> > of PHP or ASP that get executed before it gets to my browser.
> > Right?

There are server-side and client-side scripts.  When your browser loads up a
page from, say, our site via http://www.syndic8.com you're seeing the
results of a great many server-side scripts.  We happen to use PHP for most
pages there.  Our RSS ouput is all database driven.

-Bill Kearney
Syndic8.com