Discussion Forums  >  Plugins, Customizing, Source Code

Replies: 7    Views: 72

maverick96
Lost but trying
Profile
Posts: 174
Reg: Jan 22, 2014
Orlando
3,390
03/27/15 08:50 AM (9 years ago)

RD Simple RSS plugin tutorial

Ok. New to the RSS feed thing so wondering if I could get a quick rundown on how to find the URL link info needed to enter in the plugin. Understand each one needs its own button/tab but a little confused on the item info, etc. Thanks!
 
AlanMac
Aspiring developer
Profile
Posts: 2612
Reg: Mar 05, 2012
Esher, UK
37,120
like
03/27/15 09:42 AM (9 years ago)
I use this plug-in quite a lot and once you get your head around it, you can get some nice results. The thing that is fundamental is to get the RSS feed parameters. If you look at an rss feed in firefox and then go view source, you will notice the raw xml heading, some of which need to be matched to XML element fields in the plugin. Here is an example. If you load http://feeds.bbci.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/rss.xml The xml element feed values to use for this feed are: item (for Story XML element) title (for Title XML element) description (for Description XML element) media:thumbnail (for Image XML element) Thats probably all you need to get up and running (I hope), but shout if you need more help. If you'd like to see a working example, try https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-gp-race-fan-app-free/id497967317?mt=8 I was quite pleased with the final look of the news output. Cheers, Alan
 
maverick96
Lost but trying
Profile
Posts: 174
Reg: Jan 22, 2014
Orlando
3,390
like
03/27/15 07:36 PM (9 years ago)
Ok. I downloaded the app. Nice! So maybe a stupid question but where do you locate a rss feed (ex. yours has BBC, PlanetF1, Crash.net? Is it already available or do you create it first before linking it?
 
AlanMac
Aspiring developer
Profile
Posts: 2612
Reg: Mar 05, 2012
Esher, UK
37,120
like
03/28/15 08:14 AM (9 years ago)
I used yahoo pipes to merge all those feeds into one. This article might give a decent overview : http://fluffanutta.hubpages.com/hub/yahoo-pipes-guide
 
maverick96
Lost but trying
Profile
Posts: 174
Reg: Jan 22, 2014
Orlando
3,390
like
03/28/15 07:04 PM (9 years ago)
Awesome. Got it working. A couple questions. 1. What font size did you feel works best for the feed font (Title and description). 2. I dont have any images showing up in the feed list. Is this common or am I missing something? 3. How do you change the top nav color on the article page? 4. Is there a limit on how many articles show up in the feed list? Just curious. Thanks man!
 
AlanMac
Aspiring developer
Profile
Posts: 2612
Reg: Mar 05, 2012
Esher, UK
37,120
like
03/29/15 12:46 PM (9 years ago)
For small devices, font size 15 / 13, for large, 18/15 is my starting point. And if the images don't show, you need to analyse the source xml, the correct lable for that feed might not be media:thumbnail. If you don't get there, post the feed url and I'll have a peek. You might need to ask the plug-in author on the other questions, I don't know the answers to those. Cheers, Alan
 
maverick96
Lost but trying
Profile
Posts: 174
Reg: Jan 22, 2014
Orlando
3,390
like
03/29/15 02:55 PM (9 years ago)
Thank you Alan. Appreciate the feedback. Reason I was asking about the color on the nav bar on the article page is yours was the same color as you other nav bars wasn't sure if I was missing something. Thanks again! Update: Figured out the nav color. :)
 
AlanMac
Aspiring developer
Profile
Posts: 2612
Reg: Mar 05, 2012
Esher, UK
37,120
like
03/30/15 01:21 AM (9 years ago)
Sorry, I mis-read the question, I was thinking about the feed title! I set the navbar in a theme. I remember now I chose it to be compatible across multiple versions of IOS, as that colour background looked reasonable with white text or black text. Glad you figured it out.
 

Login + Screen Name Required to Post

pointerLogin to participate so you can start earning points. Once you're logged in (and have a screen name entered in your profile), you can subscribe to topics, follow users, and start learning how to make apps like the pros.