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Now that browser developers did their best to kill RSS/Atom... Does a Web site practically need to do anything to advertise their feed to the diehard RSS/Atom

by neilv 10mo ago

Now that browser developers did their best to kill RSS/Atom... Does a Web site practically need to do anything to advertise their feed to the diehard RSS/Atom users, other than use the `link` element? Is there a worthwhile convention for advertising RSS/Atom visually in the page, too? (On one site, I tried adding an "RSS" icon, linking to the Atom feed XML, alongside all the usual awful social media site icons. But then I removed it, because I was afraid it would confuse visitors who weren't very Web savvy, and maybe get their browser displaying XML or showing them an error message about the MIME content type.)

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
rednafi 10mo ago
I removed all the bullshit social media icons and made sure that the rss icon is the first thing you notice on the landing page[1]. [1]: https://rednafi.com https://rednafi.com
- neilv 10mo ago
  For a personal site, I'd probably just do that. (My friends are generally savvy and principled enough not to do most social media, so no need for me to endorse it by syndicating there.) But for a commercial marketing site that must be on the awful social media, I'm wondering about quietly supporting RSS/Atom without compromising the experience for the masses.
  - rednafi 10mo ago
    Fair. For commercial sites and pretty much anything you want more eyeballs on, you need to put them on the social media.
- ModernMech 10mo ago
  With the lack of styling, I'm sorry to say I didn't notice the RSS icon at first at all. Adding the typical orange background to the icon would fix that.
  - rednafi 10mo ago
    Fair criticism. I'm trying to find a way to present that without being obnoxious.
    - uhoh-itsmaciek 10mo ago
      Maybe a rounded border? I agree it's too subtle as is. Also, your Segal's Law link seems to have an encoding issue with the apostrophe.
      - rednafi 10mo ago
        Yeah rounded border seems like a good idea. Also, weird, seems like I don't see the encoding issue on the segal's law.
    - rambambram 10mo ago
      I think you did just fine. The orange can be very obnoxious indeed, and just the icon is more than enough for people actually looking for it. PS: I found out I was already subscribed to your feed.
      - rednafi 10mo ago
        Thanks for the sub :) Yeah, the idea was that since RSS is still considered niche by the broader audience, those who are looking for it will probably find it just fine.
data_base 10mo ago
I use RSS Style[1] to make the RSS and Atom feeds for my blog human readable. It styles the xml feeds and inserts a message at the top about the feed being meant for news readers, not people. Thus technically making it "safe" for less tech savvy people. [1]: https://www.rss.style/ https://www.rss.style/
- neilv 10mo ago
  What about Google killing XSLT? https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/deprecating-xslt https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/deprecating-x...
  - _heimdall 10mo ago
    Browsers really should have embraced XSLT rather that abandoned it. Now we're stuck trying yet again to reinvent solutions already handled by REST [1]. [1] https://tonysull.co/articles/mcp-is-the-wrong-answer/ https://tonysull.co/articles/mcp-is-the-wrong-answer/
    - wwweston 10mo ago
      XSLT is the solution domain specialists and philosophers. Abandoning it is the vote of the market and market interests, the wisdom of crowds at work. This is the era of scale not expertise, enjoy the fruits.
      - _heimdall 10mo ago
        Its more the market makers that made the vote rather than the market itself.
        wwweston 10mo ago
        Effectively no one was using XSLT at any point (certain document pipelines or Paul Ford like indie hackers being the exceptions that proved the rule). Browsers keep all kinds of legacy features, of course, and they could well have kept this one, and doing so would’ve been a decision with merit. But they didn’t, and the market will ratify their decision. Just like effectively no one was using XSLT, effectively no one will change their choice of browser over its absence.
crabmusket 10mo ago
Shout out to Vivaldi, which renders RSS feeds with a nice default "card per post" style. Not to mention that it also has a feed reader built in as well.
- andai 10mo ago
  Isn't ironic that browsers do like 10,000 things nowadays, but Vivaldi (successor to Opera) is the only one that does the handful of things users actually want? I don't use it myself because my computer is too slow (I think they built it in node.js or something). But it makes me happy that someone is carrying the torch forward...

by neilv 10mo ago

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

rednafi 10mo ago

I removed all the bullshit social media icons and made sure that the rss icon is the first thing you notice on the landing page[1]. [1]: https://rednafi.com https://rednafi.com

neilv 10mo ago
For a personal site, I'd probably just do that. (My friends are generally savvy and principled enough not to do most social media, so no need for me to endorse it by syndicating there.) But for a commercial marketing site that must be on the awful social media, I'm wondering about quietly supporting RSS/Atom without compromising the experience for the masses.
- rednafi 10mo ago
  Fair. For commercial sites and pretty much anything you want more eyeballs on, you need to put them on the social media.
ModernMech 10mo ago
With the lack of styling, I'm sorry to say I didn't notice the RSS icon at first at all. Adding the typical orange background to the icon would fix that.
- rednafi 10mo ago
  Fair criticism. I'm trying to find a way to present that without being obnoxious.
  - uhoh-itsmaciek 10mo ago
    Maybe a rounded border? I agree it's too subtle as is. Also, your Segal's Law link seems to have an encoding issue with the apostrophe.
    - rednafi 10mo ago
      Yeah rounded border seems like a good idea. Also, weird, seems like I don't see the encoding issue on the segal's law.
  - rambambram 10mo ago
    I think you did just fine. The orange can be very obnoxious indeed, and just the icon is more than enough for people actually looking for it. PS: I found out I was already subscribed to your feed.
    - rednafi 10mo ago
      Thanks for the sub :) Yeah, the idea was that since RSS is still considered niche by the broader audience, those who are looking for it will probably find it just fine.

data_base 10mo ago

I use RSS Style[1] to make the RSS and Atom feeds for my blog human readable. It styles the xml feeds and inserts a message at the top about the feed being meant for news readers, not people. Thus technically making it "safe" for less tech savvy people. [1]: https://www.rss.style/ https://www.rss.style/

neilv 10mo ago
What about Google killing XSLT? https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/deprecating-xslt https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/deprecating-x...
- _heimdall 10mo ago
  Browsers really should have embraced XSLT rather that abandoned it. Now we're stuck trying yet again to reinvent solutions already handled by REST [1]. [1] https://tonysull.co/articles/mcp-is-the-wrong-answer/ https://tonysull.co/articles/mcp-is-the-wrong-answer/
  - wwweston 10mo ago
    XSLT is the solution domain specialists and philosophers. Abandoning it is the vote of the market and market interests, the wisdom of crowds at work. This is the era of scale not expertise, enjoy the fruits.
    - _heimdall 10mo ago
      Its more the market makers that made the vote rather than the market itself.
      - wwweston 10mo ago
        Effectively no one was using XSLT at any point (certain document pipelines or Paul Ford like indie hackers being the exceptions that proved the rule). Browsers keep all kinds of legacy features, of course, and they could well have kept this one, and doing so would’ve been a decision with merit. But they didn’t, and the market will ratify their decision. Just like effectively no one was using XSLT, effectively no one will change their choice of browser over its absence.

crabmusket 10mo ago

Shout out to Vivaldi, which renders RSS feeds with a nice default "card per post" style. Not to mention that it also has a feed reader built in as well.

andai 10mo ago
Isn't ironic that browsers do like 10,000 things nowadays, but Vivaldi (successor to Opera) is the only one that does the handful of things users actually want? I don't use it myself because my computer is too slow (I think they built it in node.js or something). But it makes me happy that someone is carrying the torch forward...