I've been studying web feeds and this is what I got so far. Feeds are specifically designed to be read by aggregators and news readers without visiting your site. A good example is a blog where readers can actually see the new headers for each topic and they are given the choice whether to see the whole page or not. It's a time saving feature for most type of websites. In directories, either the news or new directories added are added by the rss/atom/xml generator within the scripts. Engines who seek out high PR or content sites aggregate this feeds with or without your consent. It will be like them broadcasting what you have for you. Can cause either positive or negative effect. That's why the feature can be disabled in the first place. So it's a matter of choice as I see it and that's the main purpose of the programmers putting feeds in those directory scripts. Blogs, carts, podcast related sites have a bit of a different story and biography when it comes to RSS. Just my two cents worth of opinion.
BINGO! I've been using RSS as something I call "Super Links" on List My Niche from the very start. I don't offer them as supplemental to the directory though. They are a more of a way for drawing attention to a specific product, or web site. The value of the link resides with the SERPS, not PR. They can also be added to other sites in the form of FEEDS which expand exposure. I really don't think RSS is just a passing fancy. As soon as people broaden the way they think about them as well as the way it's used, I think you'll see the popularity grow even more. I haven't even scratched the surface of it's uses yet.
Rod : I know where you're coming from and that's actually where I'm starting to read stuff. RSS/Atom feeds will soon be the norm in a few years and the first few people to actually use its potentials in this age would have the edge when new features come out.
I suppose that depends on the size and scope of your directory. If you have a large and very active directory, I suppose it would be more useful to see the latest sites added in each category, than the latest sites added accross the directory as a whole.
RSS feed now is usually used for reading blogs and news. Personally, that's no useful for most sites.
Antonio : What about say a company is subscribed to your directory's RSS Feed and is waiting for new websites/entries under a certain category. Doesn't that have any benefit at all? I'm just speaking of one category though. It's like an email subscription on Amazon or ebay without the hassle of opening your inbox. Someone waiting for certain products in a category that might catch their interest.
This is true. But if you can run your own RSS syndicate and allow others to post news about their company or web site (moderated of course), you will have another valuable use for this type of media. There are a lot of benefits to those who would post their links and information using RSS and generalizing it as a news reader for blogs would be a miscalculation. RSS in my opinion is a perfect companion to a directory as long as you don't simply run news feeds from some other place. It needs to be used to the advantage of both the directory and the poster.
If you have a fresh news on your site, using rss is very effective. That's the main purpose really. But directories got less content really. Each description for the link is not enough unless you allow 50 links to be listed on a page. Either way I feel the same that RSS is not necessary in directories if no news to provide.
You guys need to realize that RSS is a specific subset of XML. Outputting your directory in the vanilla RSS format that is standard in phpLD is like running the default template. Spice it up a bit! Learn which tags are available to you and switch it around a bit. For example, spice it up a bit and do like Google News does: encapsulate your data in cdata tags and format it with html. Or do like I've done and use your directory as a resource for something else (in my case, Article Distributor reads in the XML feed of my category thus creating a dynamic and up-to-date submission list). Or do as others are suggesting and use the RSS feeds to get more deep links to your directory by including a link to the category the listing is found in. Include a textInput box in your feed and allow people to comment on your links from other sites. RSS and XML are simply highly portable ways of transfering data. To limit your thinking to news feeds and travel deals is just silly. It is not a tool like a wrench or hammer with a well defined purpose. It is a tool like clay or paint: useless unless you put some imagination into it.
it can be used by Directory Submitter to send as report and the next person can keep a track of update about the link submitted by them. Tim, got a real nice point here.