Talk:Web feed

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Much of this article is not in the encyclopedic style of the rest of Wikipedia. I suggest taking the "technical" definition and moving it to the top of the page. The rest is written in the style one would find in an email explaining things to grandma. 67.171.43.170 19:33, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

ow do you get a web feed of wikipedia itself?

Try Wikipedia:Syndication

/Tina

[edit] Proposal to Merge Web Syndication into Web feed article

My feeling is that both of these articles are underdeveloped and are describing the same thing. A decent solution is to merge web syndication into the web feed article. --Ben Houston 15:54, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Why merge web syndication into web feed instead of the other way around? Web feed is far more popular term:

• "web syndication" - 104,000 Google hits
• "web feed" - 931,000 Google hits

--Ben Houston 16:07, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Ben that merging these is a good idea. betsythedevine 19:05, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Did ben just suggest something and then argue with himself? Does it really matter that much that they are two seperate articles? If they're linked to each other, why not keep it the way it is? If I'm blogging and I want to write syndication instead of feed, or the other way around, and then link to Wikipedia's definition of it, it's more convenient for me to have the two seperate articles at my disposal.

If they are merged, I think that "Web Syndication" is a better title regardless of its popularity; it's a more accurate term. How many ways can you use the word "syndication" vs. how many ways can you use the word "feed." Besides, if it's under the "Web Syndication" title, it ought to still show up in google.

--jdoolittle 23:07, 17 February 2006 (JST)

Hey jdoolittle. I don't think I contradicted myself -- can you clarify. Both article titles will still work, its just that web syndication will be redirected (with a notice) to the web feed article. Thus you can still link to it as "web syndication" and get the content. We will also still explain web syndication in the article and use that term where appropriate. I guess I am trying to consolidate similar topics so that effort isn't diffused between too many articles. --Ben Houston 15:46, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Hey Ben. I didn't mean that in a hostile way, and I can see that you weren't; I just _assumed_ that your first post indicated that you wanted the "Web Syndication" title over the "Feed" title, and then, in your second post, you clearly state your preference for the "Feed" title over "Web Syndication." I should have made that assumption.

I think that what you're proposing sounds reasonable, and I'd like to thank you for expalinging it further. --jdoolittle 20:38, 20 February 2006 (JST)

these two articles should be merged... (unsigned comment by 151.193.220.27)

For what it's worth, I kind of disagree. As I've seen the terminology, feed (ie, the RSS file or whatnot) is what the web server offers; syndication is the act of offering the feed for users. At least that's how I've heard it most often. So I think it should be merged the other way around! --wwwwolf (barks/growls) 13:23, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Oreilly sells a .pdf called "What Are Syndication Feeds?" by Shelley Powers. I don't know if that is the "official" term or not but it presents a compromise. The term "feed" refers to the way in which the information is distributed. Syndication refers to its format. You can have live news feeds on the web; live radio feeds on the web. Would you consider them to be "web feeds?" Web syndication could refer to any blog or news site. "Syndication Feed" refers specifically to reverse chronological entries that are distributed as feeds.--Blaise Freeman March 6, 2006

These two articles should definitely NOT BE MERGED, there are tons of cases where web content is syndicated but no feeds exist. The goal here should not be to force people into reconsidering what syndication is, or what it is called, based on the convenience of Wikipedia authors. And for the record, Syndication is clearly the parent topic and Feed the child, so if they're merged, Syndication should be the ultimate destination with a "section" on Feeds.--Concerned Citizen April 28, 2006

These two articles should NOT BE MERGED because they do not describe the same exact concept. Web syndication emcompasses the concept of Web feed.

I *OPPOSE* to a merge for reasons stated above. Martijn Hoekstra 08:02, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

As of present the count is 2-5 *against* a merger. The tag is now 5 months old, so I think I can safely take it down.... Martijn Hoekstra 08:02, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] use of second person

Shouldn't the "how to use it" section be less second person and more third?

-bizznot

For my money, no. It may offend traditional stylists, but Wikipedia doesn't pretend to be traditional in any other way, so I don't see why it should be traditional in this way without a good reason. In terms of being a "how to" article (and no-one I know says an encyclopaedia can't be (partly) a "how to" guide, the second person singular is the friendliest and most intuitive voice. When reading the article at first, I confess the second person voicing jarred, but then I thought, "hey, I like this". In terms of telling me what I wanted to know about RSS (I knew nothing), the use of second person was really effective. ElectricRay 09:14, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Many to many ?

I have no (very little) direct knowledge of Web Feeds etc. I manage mailing lists which they have many short comings do work for many people. (Any idea relative useage??) I noted the "benefits" on this page. But my question is to what degree are Web Feeds capable of being used by modestly savvy folks for many to many discussions? Fholson 00:47, 14 February 2007 (UTC) BTW I'm not a big contributor to wikis either - is it customary to add things to the bottom of Talk pages? If not how do you