XML-RPC pings with RSS 2.0 don't provide description tag

[elwood_j_blues]

Hi folks,

as I am automagically pinging blogg.de blog service when posting something new to my weblog, I recently wondered why there is no text excerpt displayed on their site.

When asking their support guys, we realized that the RSS 2.0 feed from serendipity doesn't provide a description tag anymore.

I really think besides the content:encoded stuff in the feed there should also be a description item containing a (if you want so, shortened) excerpt of the posting (HTML tags stripped).

Thus blog services as blogg.de could read it well again.


What do you think about it?

Greetz
Elwood

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

Well, it would be easy to add the description tag. But it would seriously increase the filesize of the RSS feed, as we would have to put the excerpt twice inside the document.

Regarding the RSS specs, it's perfectly alright to use the content:encoded element as an alternative to the description tag. But the latter allows for more flexibility, which is why we use it.

I advise the blogg.de guys instead to add support for that element, so that they fully support the RSS specs.

I'd really like to add it, but I know of soem RSS readers which would have trouble displaying an RSS feed with both elements, where they would then only show the description-tag, and not the fully formatted encoded description. Which is why the best place to correct this issue is at the XML-RPC service of blogg.de

HTH and thanks for your input,
Garvin

[elwood_j_blues]

I'd really like to add it, but I know of soem RSS readers which would have trouble displaying an RSS feed with both elements...

Okay I will talk to the blogg.de guys about that - and until they change it, I will probably patch my s9y to ping with version 1 rss

Thanks a lot
Elwood

[garvinhicking]

Hi Elwood!

You could also patch your s9y easily to include the description-tag. Just open serendipity_functions.inc.php and search for 'content:encoded' - duplicate the line and rename the tag to 'description' and you should be done...

And please drop us a note about what the blogg.de guys said. If they have issues with it or suggestions to make, you can forward them to me, if you prefer.

Regards,
Garvin.

[elwood_j_blues]

okay, right - I did so and it works now. (The patch you can find here.)

Of course I will let you know what the blogg.de people said.

In fact this redundancy is so weird. Why not burn the net traffic at once

[elwood_j_blues]

okay - good news. They put it on the list for the next workaround

But the guy I talked to still mentioned that he thought, the description directive had always to be included in an RSS 2.0 feed according to the specification.

Reading it again, I think he's right. "Required channel elements" I read there, and below: "description".

Where do you have the content:encoded stuff got from? Strange

[elwood_j_blues]

Am I crazy answering to my own post for the third time?

It WORKS now. blogg.de now also reads the content:encoded tags.

More information is found in my (of course s9y) weblog.


Greets to all
Elwood


P.S.: Nevertheless: are you 100% sure you meet the RSS standard correctly? I can't tell :-/

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

Hey, that's great -- I'll even benefit from that now.

Regarding the RSS specs, I don't really have the time to wade through that again. However the RSS Validators all don't complain about our missing description tag...

Thanks for your (and Martin's) effort,
Garvin.