ListGarden RSS Feed Generator: Create RSS Files Simply and Quickly ListGarden to the Rescue Lee Underwood
ListGarden to the Rescue
Most blogging and content management systems now have RSS file creation capability built into the program, but if you're not using one of those programs, it can be a bit tedious. The RSS file is written in XML, a format generally not used for making basic Web sites. XML is not as forgiving as HTML; the formatting is very strict and a little more complicated.
There is some good news on this front. Dan Bricklin, of VisiCalc fame, has created the ListGarden RSS Feed Generator, a program that has taken all of the work out of the RSS
file creation process.
I run a small news service Web site in my "spare time," and recently I decided to offer an RSS news feed highlighting the week's news. Not being all that comfortable with the XML format, I started to look around for a simple method that didn't involve much programming. That's when I stumbled upon Dan's RSS feed generator.
While you could make a template from an existing RSS file and just copy and paste the information into it, that would be labor intensive to maintain every week, as I found out the hard way. The ListGarden RSS Feed Generator makes it much easier.
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The program, which is free, requires no knowledge of XML or the RSS data format. It is about 1.5 MB in size and can be run locally, on your own computer, or directly from your Web site. Running it locally is more secure as the program does not have any built-in security features.
ListGarden comes in three flavors: an executable version for Microsoft Windows, a generic Perl version for Mac OS X, and a plain generic Perl version. Perl is usually already installed on the Mac, as well as on most Web servers. The Windows version, according to the Web site, "is a version of the product that is bundled together in a single file with a Perl system that can be executed by just running it as a normal program."
I use the Windows version and it works like a charm. There is no installation process, so you need to note where you place the program, as that's where it saves the working files. Since the program doesn't load anything into the registry or use any other files, it's easy to move it by just dragging the directory to a new location.
When the program is launched, an icon appears in the task tray. From there, the program is opened in the default Web browser.
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