RSS
Replay Help
For
RSS Replay version 1.6
Last Updated on
Thu, March 6, 2009
Contents
- Known Issues
- Browser Support & AJAX
- Server-Side Issues
- RSS Format Notes
- Installing RSS Replay
- Placing RSS Content (an RSS Replay) in Your Dreamweaver
Layout
- Inspecting an RSS Replay
- Defining Sources of RSS Content
- Methods of Retrieving RSS Content
- Formatting an RSS Replay
- Previewing/Playing an RSS Replay
- Advanced Formatting
- Tutorial
- Registering RSS Replay
Known Issues
The following are known errors or bugs in RSS Replay. We are steadily working
on resolving these issues, but thought that RSS Replay was useful enough to
be issued as it stands today. We hope to have these issues addressed in upcoming
versions. If you encounter problems other than these please email us at support
at rnsoft.com.
Preview in Dreamweaver.
When previewing in Dreamweaver, RSS Replay sometimes displays a Dreamweaver
HTTP error even after the sources are confirmed. This can be caused by Dreamweaver
deciding that it has taken too long to gather the RSS feeds. If the sources
are correct addresses for remote RSS feeds Dreamweaver may still download these
files and cache them. If you simply wait a moment for the downloads to complete,
then turn the preview off and then back on, you may discover that the content
has been properly download and is previewing correctly.
RSS Replay Inspector problems with Undo.
The property inspector of RSS Replay may not reflect the current state of the
object after the user issues an Undo command. The Undo command does change the
source code of the document to its previous state but the inspector does not appear
to update itself. This can be corrected by changing the selection within the
document, and then reselecting the RSS Replay object.
Preview in Browser with Temporary Files.
When using the Preview in Browser command, if you have your preferences set
to use Temporary Files for previewing, Dreamweaver will display the RSS Replay
in the same way it is displayed in your Dreamweaver Layout -- regardless of
what browser you choose to use. That's because the preview is calculated by
Dreamweaver, not by the browser, and the content is translated before it gets
to the browser. So you should probably check the real file, and not the temporary
one, in your browsers.
Browser Support & AJAX
RSS Replay relies on AJAX technology (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) to
place RSS content onto your layout. AJAX doesn't work in all browsers. We've
done as much as we can to make it degrade gracefully for browsers that are not
supported. You should carefully consider which browsers are relevant to the
market you choose to serve with your website. The following browsers have been
tested and are known to work with RSS Replay.
Internet Explorer: 5.5, 6, 7, 8
Firefox: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0
Netscape: 6.0, 7.0, 8.0
Safari: 1.2, 2.0, 3.0
Server-Side Issues
If you decide to replay feeds from another website you need to choose a method
that uses a server-based proxy. This is because browsers will not request content
that is outside of the current page's domain. The server-based proxies are provided
in PHP and ASP. The server-based proxy (rssReplayProxy.asp/php) will cache any
content into a directory (rssReplayProxyCache) in order to keep remote traffic
to a minimum and to reduce server-load on RSS sources.
In previous versions of RSS Replay, Caching posed a small but real security risk
in that remote system could ask
to cache RSS files that are large, or from many sources, because Replay allowed bare URL passing.
This also made RSS Replay incompatible with the modSecurity Apache module.
With version 1.6 all URLs are stored internally in the proxy script and only those URLs may be
requested by common ID. URLs are no longer passed, substantially relieving security concerns
over this script.
However, if you are at all concerned
about the caching risk you can change the code of the rssReplayProxy file to
disable this feature.
Open the file and find a line that looks like this (it should be near the top)
neverCache=false
Change "false" to "true" so it looks like this
neverCache=true
RSS Format Notes
RSS Replay supports both of the primary formats for content syndication: RSS
and Atom. We currently support the following versions of the formats and will
continue to add more formats as newer versions of these tools become available.
RSS Versions: 0.91, 0.92, 1.0, 2.0
Atom Versions: 0.3, 1.0
Installing RSS Replay
Use the Extension Manager to install the RSS Replay Extension.
RSS Replay installs several components across multiple directories in the Configuration
directory for Dreamweaver (Commands, Inspectors, Objects/Media, Translators
and the bulk of files in Shared). On multiuser systems each user has their own
Configuration folder, and each user will have to install RSS Replay separately.
Extension Manager Issues
Several people have had problems with installing RSS Replay because of
problems with Extension Manager. The problem stems from the fact that Extension
Manager doesn't always recognize all the other programs that are installed,
even though it is supposed to manage their extensions. If you are having this
problem you will notice that the application selection popup in Extension Manager
does not list your version of Dreamweaver. Because it doesn't know that it is
supposed to manage Dreamweaver files it will not install the RSS Replay
extension.
The solution for this problem requires following a few simple steps:
- Quit Extension Manager
- Launch Dreamweaver and leave it running
- Launch Extension Manager. It should now list your copy of Dreamweaver in
its applications popup.
- Quit Dreamweaver
- Now you can install RSS Replay
Placing RSS Content (an RSS Replay) in
Your Dreamweaver Layout
RSS Replay is a page object (translated javascript) that you may include in
your pages just like you include flash movies. You can insert an RSS Replay
object using the menu command or the Insert panel.
Via Menu: Insert > Media > RSS Replay

Via Insert Panel's Media Section (DW MX)

Via Insert Panel (DW 8)
The RSS Replay content is represented on the page with this icon .
This icon represents a set of JavaScript commands that are placed in the source
of the document. Selecting the icon displays the RSS Replay Inspector which
allows you to modify the JavaScript's settings.
Inspecting an RSS Replay
The RSS Replay content is represented on the page with this icon .
This icon represents a set of JavaScript commands that are placed in the source
of the document. Selecting the icon displays the RSS Replay Inspector which
allows you to modify the JavaScript's settings.
The RSS Replay Inspector adheres to standard Dreamweaver inspector behaviors
for the small buttons on the right. These are: the circle-enclosed question
mark in the top right corner displays help; the yellow tag with the pencil edits
the source code; the disclosure triangle on the bottom-right hides the lower
half of the inspector display (to save screen space).

- Object ID
Identifier for each RSS Replay object. This is really important -- each RSS
Replay must be unique on the page. So if you put multiple RSS Replays on your
page make sure to give each a unique name.
- Number of Stories
The maximum number of stories to display. If empty or 0, all stories are displayed.
If the feed has less than that many stories, then only the number available
within the feed can be displayed. I can't just make up stories to get to the
number you want.
- Content Sources (RSS Sources)
Define which RSS feeds to use as the source of the content you want to Replay.
You may have multiple sources for a single Replay. For more on sources see
the section of the FAQ on Defining Sources of RSS Content.
- Headline/Title CSS Class
The headline or title of the feed can be displayed using a CSS style (if the
format you specified provides it). This menu allows you to select which style
to give it.
- Story/Description CSS Class
The story or description of the feed can be displayed using a CSS style (if
the format you specified provides it). This menu allows you to select which
style to give it.
- Format (Control Content Display)
Select how you want to display the content from a list of pre-built methods,
or create your own formatting. For more on formatting see the section of the
FAQ on Formatting or Advanced
Formatting.
- Script Methodology
The methodology being used to display the content on the page. For local feeds
(feeds on your own website) any method will do. However, for feeds replayed
from remote websites you should choose the method that is available on your
webserver (ASP/PHP). For more on methods see the section of the FAQ on Methods
of Retrieving RSS Content.
- About RSS Replay
The about button displays a dialog with content about your version of RSS
Replay, including edition, version number, and other information. When you
are finished reviewing this information press the "OK" button at
the right of the dialog to dismiss it.
- Register RSS Replay
The register button displays a dialog with a field where you can enter and
validate your registration number for RSS Replay. When you are finished entering
this information press the "OK" button at the right of the dialog
to dismiss it. This will confirm the registration number and unlock the JavaScript
files used to create RSS Replay. For more on registering see the section of
the FAQ on Registering RSS Replay.
- Cache the RSS Feeds
If you are using a method that collects remote feeds you can request that
the proxy cache that content. Caching is useful because it minimizes server
loads and network traffic, so its a good idea to use it. If caching is enabled,
RSS replay will store the cached content in a folder called rssReplayProxyCache
on the server.
- Suppress Error Messages
In some cases, for example when there are errors retrieving feed content,
RSS Replay will display those errors within the layout of the page. These
messages are useful when creating and verifying that a Replay is working.
However, these messages might be distracting to your readers, so you may want
to suppress them once you have confirmed that your settings are correct.
- Lifetime/Time to Live for Cached Files
If you have specified caching for your Replay you might also want to specify
how long the cache files can live. TTL (time to live) is measure in minutes.
So if you want a fresh copy of the feed every 2 hours, you'd enter 120. If
you don't enter a value, the default of 4 hours is used.
- Play/Preview the RSS Replay
RSS Replay can preview the content it will generate in the Dreamweaver layout.
Press this button to see the results of your settings rather than the little
Replay icon.
- Sort Order
RSS Replay will sort feed entries by their date and will display them based on
this setting. You may choose to have the newest content at the top of the list
(normal RSS content display) or the oldest content at the top (for RSS
feeds of calendars/events).
Defining Sources of RSS Content
Click the "RSS Sources" button in the RSS Replay Inspector and you
will be presented with a dialog box that allows you to enter the sources of
RSS content to be replayed on your website.

An RSS Replay may have multiple sources of RSS content. All content is sorted
by date (if the feed has data information) and then sorted in reverse chronological
order -- so the newest content comes to the top of the display. Of course, the
more sources you have the longer it will take to collect the content and display
it.
To add a new source of RSS content press the Plus ("+") button. A
new entry will be added to the list. Modify the content of that entry. Make
sure you have the URLs correct, and for remote feeds be sure to specify the
"http://" part. For now, only HTTP is supported. More protocols may
be added later if you request them.
Methods of Retrieving RSS Content
There are three methods of retrieving RSS content and the one you choose depends
on where the content you want to Replay resides and on what languages your web
server supports.
If your feed sources are RSS feeds on your own website then they are considered
local. Local content (content that has the same domain as the current page)
can be requested directly. However, browsers do not allow remote content to
be requested. To circumvent this limitation a proxy that is local must be used
to request remote information and present it as if it were local. The proxy
is a server-side script and have been provided in ASP and PHP variants (more
will be provided in future versions of RSS Replay if you ask for them - send
an email to support at rnsoft.com).
- AJAX/JavaScript (local feeds only)
Use this option if you are Replaying only local feeds from your own website.
- AJAX+ASP Proxy (feeds anywhere)
Use this option if you are Replaying remote feeds (feeds from other people's
websites) and your webserver supports ASP.
- AJAX+PHP Proxy (feeds anywhere)
Use this option if you are Replaying remote feeds (feeds from other people's
websites) and your webserver supports PHP.
Formatting an RSS Replay
RSS content, for the most part, falls into headlines, links, and stories or
descriptions that go along with those headlines. RSS Replay comes with a set
of content display options that are built around those elements. Essentially,
these pre-built options cover the basics of the sort of things you might want
to place on your page. The Advanced option that allows you to build your own
custom formatting (for more, see the section on Advanced Formatting).
And of course, you could select one of the basic formats, modify it, and save
it -- and it will then be added to your list of formats. The basics we've provided
with this version are
- Headlines (Paragraphs)
Display just headlines with each headline as a new paragraph.
- Headlines (Line Breaks)
Display just headlines with each headline as a new line (BR tags between).
- Headlines (40 Characters w BRs)
Display just headlines with each headline on a new line and trimmed to 40
characters.
- Headlines (Bullet List)
Display just headlines with each headline as a bulleted list entry.
- Headlines w Stories
Display full headlines and stories.
- Headlines w Stories (Remove HTML form Stories)
Display headlines and stories, but remove any HTML tags from the stories.
- Headlines w Stories (Definition List)
Display full headlines and stories with the story indented underneath the
headline (accomplished using a definition list / DL tag).
- Headlines w Stories (25 Word Stories w UL)
Display the headline and the first 25 words of the story as a bulleted list
entry.
- Podcast Entries
Display just headlines with each headline linked to the enclosed podcast entry
(MP3 file).
- Photocast Thumbnails (64px)
Display just thumbnails from Apple's iPhoto Photocasts. Sorry this one is
so specific. We plan to include flickr thumbnails and other sources soon,
but for now this is a start.
- No Settings
No Settings -- this is where all RSS Replays begin.
- Custom
If you have modified a format using Advanced, but have not saved that format
with a name.
- Advanced...
Displays a dialog so that you can modify the HTML code used to display the
Replay (for more, see the section on Advanced Formatting).
- Manage Formats...
Displays a dialog so that you can remove custom formats you have created.
Beyond the basics of selecting from these pre-built options, you can also
customize these options by selecting the CSS style to attach to the headline/title
or story content. The Title Class and Story Class
popups will display a list of CSS styles that you can choose from to control
your formatting with even more precision.
Previewing/Playing an RSS Replay
To
see what the results of your settings will look like in the browsers press the
"Play" button on the right side of the RSS Replay Inspector. This
will use Dreamweaver to go out and download the remote RSS content you have
specified and apply the formatting you selected. When previewing, the RSS Replay
icon in the layout will be replaced with the content that will be visible in
the web browsers that support RSS Replay. There are some known issues with larger
files or slow downloads that can cause preview problems (see the section on
Known Issues) but otherwise it works well with most
RSS content preview.
Advanced Formatting
When selecting "Advanced..." from the Format menu in the RSS Replay
Inspector you will be presented with the RSS Replay Format dialog. If you select
an existing form first, and then select "Advanced..." the Format dialog
will be pre-loaded with the existing configuration.
Formatting entries contain the simple HTML codes, along with a few special
codes, to be entered into the web page when the content is rendered by RSS Replay.
The formatting is broken into 4 segments:
- Prefix
Elements to enter before the content is displayed
- Headline
The formatting for each headline/title to be repeated with each entry in the
feed
- Story
The formatting for each story/description to be repeated with each entry in
the feed
- Suffix
Elements to enter after the list of entries has been displayed

You can save a feed with a given name. This will add it to your list and store
the settings so you can use them across multiple documents or websites without
having to come to advanced and change everything manually each time so its a
big time-saver.
Content Codes
RSS Replay replaces codes with content from RSS feeds and then places this
compiled content into your layout. To control this you need to learn these codes.
Not all RSS feeds necessarily have all of this content. You'll have to pick
the correct elements for the feeds you want to display. Content codes all adhere
to the double-tag format common to database applications -- that is all special
content placement is identified by tags that look like <<format>>.
For additional control underscores ("_") are used to add additional
commands.
- <<headline>> or <<title>>
Places the headline content -- title and headline are interchangeable identifiers
of the same RSS content
- <<story>> or <<description>>
Places the story content -- story and description are interchangeable identifiers
of the same RSS content
- <<link>>
Places the URL of the link to the content (or a link to the full resolution
image when photocasting)
- <<enclosure>>
Places the URL of the enclosed content -- typically used for podcasting, photocasting,
etc
- <<enclosureorlink>>
Places the URL of the enclosure if there is one, of if not, then it uses the
link
- <<thumbnail>>
Places the URL of the thumbnail used when photocasting -- currently only works
with Photocasts from Apple's iPhoto (but we plan to add more soon)
- <<firstimage>>
Places the URL of the first image from the story, so if you want to use the
image but not the rest of the formatting you can. As it turns out, this is
where Flickr and Google News put their images so its pretty handy.
- <<thumbnailorfirstimage>>
Places the URL of the thumbnail or the first image.
- <<strip_IDENTIFIER>> (like <<strip_story>>)
Strip removes HTML tags from the identified content -- useful for displaying
stories without their formatting
- <<trim_#?_IDENTIFIER>> (like <<trim_25w_story>>)
Trims content of the identified to the defined size measured in words (w)
or characters (c). Content is first stripped of any HTML and then trimmed.
- <<date>> (like <<strip_story>>)
Displays the date of the feed content -- of course you'll want to control
the format for the date so
- <<date_DATEFORMAT>> (like <<strip_story>>)
Displays the date of feed content with a particular format (see the next section
on Date Formatting)
Date Formatting
Date formatting for RSS Replay is very similar to date formatting in PHP. The
codes are not always easy to remember so I like to be able to look them up.
Here's the list of date codes that are to be combined with <<date_>>
to get the date display you are after.
For example: <<date_l dS of F Y>> should produce something that
looks like "Monday 15th of August 2006".
format character | Description | Example returned values |
---|
Day | --- | --- | d | Day of the month, 2 digits with leading zeros | 01 to 31 | D | A textual representation of a day, three letters | Mon through Sun | j | Day of the month without leading zeros | 1 to 31 | l (lowercase 'L') | A full textual representation of the day of the week | Sunday through Saturday | N | ISO-8601 numeric representation of the day of the week (added in
PHP 5.1.0) | 1 (for Monday) through 7 (for Sunday) | S | English ordinal suffix for the day of the month, 2 characters |
st, nd, rd or
th. Works well with j
| w | Numeric representation of the day of the week | 0 (for Sunday) through 6 (for Saturday) |
Month | --- | --- | F | A full textual representation of a month, such as January or March | January through December | m | Numeric representation of a month, with leading zeros | 01 through 12 | M | A short textual representation of a month, three letters | Jan through Dec | n | Numeric representation of a month, without leading zeros | 1 through 12 |
Year | --- | --- |
Y | A full numeric representation of a year, 4 digits | Examples: 1999 or 2003 | y | A two digit representation of a year | Examples: 99 or 03 | Time | --- | --- | a | Lowercase Ante meridiem and Post meridiem | am or pm | A | Uppercase Ante meridiem and Post meridiem | AM or PM |
g | 12-hour format of an hour without leading zeros | 1 through 12 | G | 24-hour format of an hour without leading zeros | 0 through 23 | h | 12-hour format of an hour with leading zeros | 01 through 12 | H | 24-hour format of an hour with leading zeros | 00 through 23 | i | Minutes with leading zeros | 00 to 59 | s | Seconds, with leading zeros | 00 through 59 | Timezone | --- | --- |
O | Difference to Greenwich time (GMT) in hours | Example: +0200 | P | Difference to Greenwich time (GMT) with colon between hours and minutes (added in PHP 5.1.3) | Example: +02:00 |
Z | Timezone offset in seconds. The offset for timezones west of UTC is always
negative, and for those east of UTC is always positive. | -43200 through 43200 |
U | Seconds since the Unix Epoch (January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT) | | | Copied and modified from the PHP documentation for
date(). | |
Tutorial
There is an extensive tutorial available on the RNSoft website at
http://www.rnsoft.com/en/products/rssreplay/content/tutorial/
Registering RSS Replay
It is very important to register your version of RSS Replay, not just because
you should pay for the software if you want to use it, but because it directly
effects the content of your pages. All RSS Replays generated from an unregistered
version of RSS Replay will only display "RSS Replay is Unregistered"
outside of Dreamweaver. To unlock RSS Replay outside of Dreamweaver you must
enter your registration number in the text field in the Register dialog and
click the OK button.

Access the Register dialog by clicking on the Register button at the bottom-left
of the RSS Replay Inspector. If the inspector is not already visible, you will
have to select an RSS Replay object on the layout.
Get your registration code from the RNSoft website at
http://www.rnsoft.com.
Unregistered versions will have a red Register button on the bottom of the
panel. This button turns white with a green key when a valid registration code
is entered.


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