RSS Where None Exists

A friend at DVCO Technology recommended EContent Magazine, so I took a look. They have some great stories and articles concerning content management systems. As I poked around on their site, I instinctively searched for that familiar orange RSS button, but I couldn't find one. I rarely subscribe to newsletters anymore, and if a site doesn't have RSS, they're not likely to make it on my radar.

At MyST we leverage RSS (and many other formats) for competitive intelligence systems, so we naturally ascribe to the benefits of syndication and pub-sub processes. It was apparent that the project I was presently working on could benefit from eContent information, but there was not a single RSS feed available.

Armed with a plethora of MyST aggregation machinery, I decided to create a comprehensive RSS integration service for this site (one of the services we provide for companies that want to make the leap to RSS, but lack the resources, technology, or time to do it in-house).

When I completed the eContent RSS service, there were two things that stood out and seem worthy of deeper reflection.

1. I didn't have to ask the eContent Webmaster or their IT group to do anything. This is pretty cool - it reflects the value of loosely-coupled architectures as much as the power of the MyST aggregation machinery. The fine folks at eContent awoke to an array of RSS support; overnight it magically appeared.
2. The implementation crosses eContent's category boundaries. By integrating their search system with RSS, I was able to provide an open-ended feature. Anyone can generate a custom RSS feed about any subject that eContent covers; even where stories cross their categories of information. An RSS search for RedDot pulls articles from multiple content categores.