Getting started

This screen is part of a Web Feed Reference section for the Web Feed Generator. Please ask us if you cannot find the answer to your question.

• Is the feed URL case sensitive?
• How does this service work?
• What is a virtual directory?
• What is a service token?
• Why doesn't my frame page work with this service?
• What is a feed URL?
• What is Simple Syndication?
• What is a virtual path?
• What is a Base URL?
• What is a Site ID?
• How do I add an auto-discovery link?
• I've forgotten my login!
• Where can I check my service charges?

Q:Is the feed URL case sensitive?

A: Yes, Web addresses are normally case sensitive and you should be careful to copy your feed URL exactly. To check you are using the correct address, open your page in your Web browser, copy and paste the URL from the browser's address bar.

See also:

• What is a feed URL?

Q:How does this service work?

A: The Web Feed Generator works in three stages. First, you test your feed and create news feed buttons and auto-discovery links. Second, you publish your news feed and visitors subscribe free of charge. Third, you pay 30 days in arrears for your use of the service.

See our "big picture" service overview for a visual guide to our news feed services.

Q:What is a virtual directory?

A: A virtual directory, or feed directory, is another name for a folder on a Web site. Web sites are organised like folders on your own computer; one directory can contain another, and each directory may contain any number of Web pages.

Directories are normally separated by forward slashes in a Web address:

http://www.yoursite.example/dir1/dir2/page.htm
      

The directories on a Web site do not necessarily match one-for-one with the directories on the server, which is why they are called "virtual".

The Web Feed Generator uses directories as the base point for authorising and publishing feeds. That's why we also call it a feed directory.

Q:What is a service token?

A: A service token is a plain text file that you can add to your Web site to show that you own the site and want to claim a feed for it. The service token should be named metacentric.txt and contain a special code of 8 letters and numbers for your Web Feed Generator account.

Feeds are allocated on a first served basis, so you may find that someone else has created a feed from your site. By adding a service token to your site you can claim your feed back. The Claim a feed screen verifies your service token and gives you control over the feeds generated from your site.

Q:Why doesn't my frame page work with this service?

A: The Web Feed Generator is targeted at primary content pages rather than the frameset document that defines the framed panels.

Solution: Use the address of an individual framed page to create your feed URL.

Q:What is a feed URL?

A: A feed URL is the Web address of your news feed, Javascript include or RDF metadata. The feed URL is made of three parts:

1. The Base URL for the service is the part that points to the Metacentric Web site.
2. Your unique Site ID identifies your own Web site.
3. The relative Page URL specifies the source of your feed.

Base URL

There is a different base URL for each service we provide. The services are all based on the Metacentric Web site, so they all start with www.metacentric.net. The part after the dot net decides which service applies. Your site details are added after the question mark at the end.

http://www.metacentric.net/RSS?

Use this base URL for our News Feed service.

http://www.metacentric.net/JS?

Use this base URL for our Simple Syndication service.

http://www.metacentric.net/RDF?

Use this base URL for our RDF Metadata service.

Site ID

When you join our service, we will issue a unique identification number for each Web site you activate. The Web Feed Generator uses your site ID to match the base address of your Web site so we can fetch the right Web page. For example, siteID=1234 will be converted to http://www.yoursite.example.

Page URL

The relative URL of your Web page will be added to your site address to make the full address of the page that will be the source of your news feed. The URL part must start with a forward slash, e.g. &url=/events/WhatsNew.htm.

The first slash marks where the Base URL ends and the page URL completes the address. This example would make the feed URL:

http://www.metacentric.net/RSS?siteID=1234&url=/events/WhatsNew.htm
      

This feed URL would deliver a news feed for the Web page at:

http://www.yoursite.example/events/WhatsNew.htm
      

When you publish a feed URL on your Web page it is important to use the HTML entity & for the & in the address. Web browsers will convert this entity to a real ampersand symbol.

See also:

• Is the feed URL case sensitive?
• What is a Javascript include?
• What is metadata?

Q:What is Simple Syndication?

A: Simple Syndication is a way to show your news feed in another Web page. You can use it to list your news items as a "sidebar" summary on other pages of your site, or carry the news on a completely different Web site. You could invite associates or affiliates to put your news on their site as a form of link exchange or Web ring.

Syndication means to club together to share the benefits. Our service is simple because you only have to add one line of HTML to your page and the job is done.

<script type="text/javascript"
  src="http://www.metacentric.net/JS?siteID=12345&amp;url=/example.htm"></script>
      

See also:

• What is a Javascript include?

Q:What is a virtual path?

A: A virtual path is the part that follows the domain name in a Web address. Web addresses are like the way we organise files and folders on a computer. Each forward slash after the domain name indicates a new directory. The part that follows the slash represents another directory or file.

The nesting of folders and files on a Web site does not necessarily match those on the server, which is why we call them "virtual" directories, and they make a virtual path to a Web page.

http://path.example/dir1/dir2/file.html
      

See also:

• What is a virtual directory?

Q:What is a Base URL?

A: A Base URL is part of a feed URL that points to a Web Feed Generator on the Metacentric Web site. For instance, the URL for RSS format news feeds start:

http://www.metacentric.net/RSS?
      

The Simple Syndication Base URL is:

http://www.metacentric.net/JS?
      

The RDF Metadata Base URL is:

 http://www.metacentric.net/RDF?
      

Q:What is a Site ID?

A: A Site ID is a unique number the Web Feed Generator uses to make a URL for your site and download your Web page. The parameter siteID=12345 is used to look-up your site records and find the source URL for your Web page.

Q:How do I add an auto-discovery link?

A: The Web Feed Generator will create auto-discovery links for you to copy and paste into your Web page. On the service home page, select the News Feed option, check the box labelled Make feed links and submit.

The feed link page that follows will include HTML for a news feed button and auto-discovery link for your feed, with instructions on how to add them to your site.

See the finding feeds with auto-discovery guide on our screen shots page to see how these links work.

Q:I've forgotten my login!

A: This is a surprisingly common problem, use our lost login help page to get a reminder. This screen lets you use your user name or registered email address to get a reminder of either, or use both to generate a new password.

Reminders are only sent to registered email addresses and new passwords must be activated with a special email key, so nobody can change your password without your knowledge.

Please note that Metacentric staff do not know your password. All customer passwords are encrypted in a way that cannot be reversed; when you type your login it is encrypted and matched against the stored copy.

Q:Where can I check my service charges?

A: When you log in to the Metacentric site, go to the Account statement link on the Service settings navigation bar. This page shows the charges for your current period of service, which will contribute to your next invoice when it falls due. The charges are set out in the form of a balance sheet with details of the service bands that apply over the period to date.

Any previous invoices can be selected by due date from the same page.