Creating RSS Feeds

OVERVIEW

RSS Feeds allow a Content Administrator to send important headlines directly to end users’ desktops and mobile devices that have the SnapComms App installed. The information is displayed as a scrolling news feed across the bottom of users' screens.

Note: On a mobile device such a phone or tablet, the list of headlines will appear as a bulleted list of items with no scrolling.

 

HOW TO CREATE A RSS FEED

1. On your Dashboard click on Create Content

2. Select Build Your Own and then choose RSS Feed

3. Select a Theme to use for the RSS Feed

4. Select a folder to save your content in and give the RSS Feed a name:

EDITING SETTINGS AND CONTENT FOR THE RSS FEED

The initial view of an RSS Feed is a Summary View showing your organization's default values.

To edit the settings for the RSS Feed click on Ticker Settings.

• Ticker position: The positioning of the Ticker determines whether the Ticker displays at the bottom or the top of the screen. For Windows, the Ticker resizes the open windows so that it does not display in front of any open window. For the Mac, the Ticker does not resize open windows and so may appear in front of an open window.

• Scroll speed: This sets the speed of the Headlines scrolling across the users' screen.

• Direction: This sets the scrolling direction - left to right or right to left.

• Headline Scroll Frequency: This controls the number of times all Headlines will appear on the recipient screen before the Ticker automatically closes. A recipient can choose to close the Ticker at anytime. For RSS Feeds, this defaults to Continuous, i.e. the RSS Feed will continue to scroll until the user closes it.

• Number of Occurrences: This setting controls the total number of times the RSS Feed will open during its published duration. Leave as Recur til read to ensure the users see all updates during this time.

• Recurrence Interval: This sets the interval between each RSS Feed recurrence. On each recurrence the Feed with refresh the Headline list to show the latest content from the RSS server.

• Notification sound: This will cause a sound to play on the users desktop when the RSS Feed displays.

• Keep notifying when read: To ensure all users see updates to the RSS Feed it is recommended that this is setting is on (on by default).

To add an RSS Feed, click on the scrolling text and enter the URL in the input field.  You can use the Check button to test if the URL is valid.  An RSS Feed URL generally ends with ".xml", e.g. http://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml

Use the Automatic Refresh toggle switch to enable automatic refresh of the feed and to set the refresh rate in minutes. When Automatic Refresh is enabled, the App will check for new Headlines while the Ticker is running and then display any new Headlines at the start of the feed. If Auto Refresh is disabled, the Headlines will not be updated while the Ticker is running (but will be updated on the next recurrence).
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To add additional content areas, click on the Designer icon:

To return to the Summary View from the full Designer Canvas, click again on the highlighted Designer icon. 

 

PREVIEWING AND PUBLISHING THE RSS FEED

Use the Preview button to see how the message will appear to your end users:

Once you are comfortable with everything, press the Publish button to send it to your chosen Targets:

REPORTING

An RSS Ticker will be marked as read and successful in reports and in the Message History once it has been displayed and the recipient has clicked on the close button.