This guide provides a general overview of how to configure and use RSS notifications for comments and events.
Overview
- What are RSS notifications and how are they used?
- Events Notifications
- Comments Notifications
- Receiving RSS Feed Notifications
What Are RSS notifications and How Are They Used?
Readers of your website may contribute content in two forms; by submitting comments to any of the content types or by submitting an event to your event calendar. In both cases, Editors and/or Admins may want to be notified in order to log into Metro Publisher and take action in a timely manner. In the admin pages for comments and events, you may subscribe to an RSS feed that will notify you whenever new events or comments are submitted for approval.
Events Notifcations
To get to the events overview page, click "Events" from the main navigation of your Metro Publisher work site. There you can configure your RSS notification.
1. Search Filters
To set up your feed, first set up the search filters to show new user submitted events:
- Submitted By: Select 'User Submitted'
- Categories: Select a specific event category or all categories to be included in your feed.
- State: Select 'Only Draft' if you want to be notified every time a new event is submitted. By default, user submitted events appear in the admin in 'Draft' state until approved by an editor or admin. This selection is what will trigger your RSS feed to notify you of new submissions.
2. Generate RSS feed
Once you have set up the search filters, you can generate your RSS feed.
- RSS Link: Once you have filtered the events how you want them, click the 'RSS Notifications' link to generate the RSS feed. An RSS URL will be generated that you may subscribe to via your preferred method.
- Generate new Link: This is the private URL for this user. Don't share this with others unless you want them to see all comments. If at some later date you want to change that link and restrict access for a feed, click the 'Refresh' button to create a new URL for your RSS feed.
Comments Notifications
To get to the comments overview page, go to the start page of your Metro Publisher work site. On the right side navigation, click "Comments."
1. Search Filters
To set up your feed, first set up the search filters to show new user submitted comments:
- Content Types: Select a specific content type or all content types to be included in your feed.
- State: Comments may be set to go live automatically or require manual approval from an editor or admin. This global setting is configured under Admin > Settings > Content. For more information, please refer to the following document: Content Settings.
Auto Approve = Yes
If your comments are set to go live automatically, then you will need to filter your search to show 'Only Published' comments. This selection is what will trigger your RSS feed to notify you of every time a new submission goes live.
Auto Approve = NO
If your comments are NOT set to go live automatically, then you will need to filter your search to show 'Draft Only' comments. Select 'Only Draft' if you want to be notified every time a new comment is submitted. By default, user submitted comments appear in the admin in 'Draft' state until approved by an editor or admin. This selection is what will trigger your RSS feed to notify you of new submissions.
2. Generate RSS feed
Once you have set up the search filters, you can generate your RSS feed.
- RSS Link: Once you have filtered the comments how you want them, click the 'RSS Notifications' link to generate the RSS feed. An RSS URL will be generated that you may subscribe to via your preferred method. Subscribing to the feed via your email program is a very good way to be notified of new events. Most mail programs allow you to set the frequency to which the feed will be updated.
- Generate New Link: This is the private URL for this user. Don't share this with others unless you want them to see all events. If at some later date you want to change that link and restrict access for a feed, click the 'Refresh' button to create a new URL for your RSS feed.
Receiving RSS Feed Notifications
There are several ways you can receive RSS update notifications.
- Email: Subscribing to the feed via your email program is a very good way to be notified of new user-submitted events and comments. Most mail programs allow you to subscribe to a feed and set the frequency at which the feed will be updated.
- Browser Plugins: You can install a RSS reader for your browser. Each browser is different, and there are many plugins available. Here is a free plugin available for Chrome users:
Chrome RSS Alert Plugin - RSS Notification Service: There are also third party services that generate notifications for RSS updates. Here is one that you can subscribe to which generates an email when your feed is updated:
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