[pmwiki-users] WebFeeds does not seem to work properly

[Daniel Roesler]

An RSS feed is basically just a format for a list of items. Each item
on the list has several fields (title, date, description, etc.). It
was originally created to make it easier to monitor updates to
websites. For example, say a blog adds a new post. If the blog has an
RSS feed (feedburner or something), that new post will get added to
their list. There are many software programs (called RSS aggregators)
out there that can subscribe to RSS feeds and let you know when there
is a new item on the list. If you are using RSS feeds for other sites
now, you are probably using an aggregator. Here's a comparison of many
aggregators:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_feed_aggregators

PmWiki can generate RSS formatted lists using feeds.php. It creates
that list based on a WikiTrails list on the page where you request a
feed be generated (i.e. Group/Page?action=rss). So if you add an item
to the WikiTrail, the RSS feed will be updated with the new item.
Anyone subscribed to the RSS feed for that page will see the new item.

The information that goes in the item fields (title, date,
description, etc.) can be customized in your config.php file. The
WebFeeds page (http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/WebFeeds) has some
pretty good examples of customizing your RSS feed format. If you want
to see the whole page in for each item on the RSS feed, you will need
to change the description field in your RSS feed format to get the
whole page displayed.

Something like this (untested):
function rssGetWholePage($pagename) {
  $page = RetrieveAuthPage($pagename, 'read', false);
  return MarkupToHTML($pagename, $page['text']);
}
$FmtPV['$rssWholePage'] = 'rssGetWholePage($pn)';
$FeedFmt['rss']['item']['description'] = '$rssWholePage';

However, PmWiki can only generate RSS feeds of internal pages. It
can't go out and grab an external page and put it inside an RSS feed.
As a rule, if it is a valid item on a WikiTrail, it can be created
into a RSS feed item. The WikiTrails page in the documentation has
examples of WikiTrail formatting:
http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/WikiTrails

Hope this helps.

Avast!
Daniel
diafygi at gmail.com

On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:28 PM, kirpi at kirpi.it <kirpi at kirpi.it> wrote:
> Daniel, thank you for your detailed explanation.
> The more I read it, the more I feel I probably miss the real meaning
> of rss, and the less I understand what you say.
> :-|
>
> I've tried to read about rss on the internet, but no way to understand.
> So I try and put things in the reverse order: maybe it helps me to understand.
>
> I often get *full* pages (title, text, images, whatever) delivered
> through through feedburner.
> How can I do the same thing? How can I let feedburner grab the whole
> page? As I read instructions, I need an rss of that page, but then you
> tell me about links, and formatting, and anchors inside the page...
> It's all confusing.
>
> So, what is really that "rss" thing, please? Just links? If so, how do
> I get all those full articles by mail through feedburner?
>
> Luigi
>