evennia/docs/sphinx/source/wiki/RSS.rst

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RSS
===
`RSS <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS>`_ is a format for easily
tracking updates on websites. The principle is simple - whenever a site
is updated, a small text file is updated. An RSS reader can then
regularly go online, check this file for updates and let the user know
what's new.
Evennia allows for connecting any number of RSS feeds to any number of
in-game channels. Updates to the feed will be conveniently echoed to the
channel. There are many potential uses for this: For example the MUD
might use a separate website to host its forums. Through RSS, the
players can then be notified when new posts are made. Another example is
to let everyone know you updated your dev blog. Admins might also want
to track the latest Evennia updates through our own RSS feed
`here <http://code.google.com/feeds/p/evennia/updates/basic>`_.
Configuring RSS
---------------
To use RSS, you first need to install the
`feedparser <http://code.google.com/p/feedparser/>`_ python module. It
should be easily available through most distributions as
*python-feedparser*, otherwise you can download it directly.
Next you activate RSS support in your config file by settting
``RSS_ENABLED=True``.
Start/reload Evennia as a privileged user. You should now have a new
command available, ``@rss2chan``:
::
@rss2chan <evennia_channel> = <rss_url>
Setting up RSS, step by step
----------------------------
You can connect RSS to any Evennia channel, but for testing, let's set
up a new channel "rss".
::
@ccreate rss = RSS feeds are echoed to this channel!
Let's connect Evennia's code-update feed to this channel. Its full url
is ``http://code.google.com/feeds/p/evennia/updates/basic``.
::
@rss2chan rss = http://code.google.com/feeds/p/evennia/updates/basic
That's it, really. New Evennia updates will now show up as a one-line
title and link in the channel. Give the ``@rss2chan`` command on its own
to show all connections. To remove a feed from a channel, you specify
the connection again (see the list) but add the ``/delete`` switch:
::
@rss2chan/delete rss = http://code.google.com/feeds/p/evennia/updates/basic
You can connect any number of RSS feeds to a channel this way. You could
also connect them to the same channels as `IRC <IRC.html>`_ and/or
`IMC2 <IMC2.html>`_ to have the feed echo to external chat channels as
well.