Windows : How to get RSS into offline HTML page?

MarcLister · 29-10-2010, 01:03

So I work in a special needs school in London and we have a 32" plasma screen that currently displays a single page with the BBC News RSS scrolling at the bottom of the screen. My boss gave me the 'project' of learning the software and all I've done is re-designed what we already have to show more information, show the school logo, and use the school colours. It's still just a single page which I find a bit limiting.

So I found a neat program called ViewIT from a thread on Hexus. It's either $5 or $12 we'll pay for the full version if I can demonstrate it to be better and more powerful than the crock of donkey doo-doo we currently use. I think we were conned into buying that, but luckily this was all before my time.

I've trialed ViewIT at home and I've got two HTML pages that I can set how long they stay on screen for, independently of each other.

Both are set to 10 seconds each. This means I could have multiple HTML pages (this is already better than what we have right now!!) and tell each page to have its own duration period.

I think a title page showing the name of the school and a picture of the school would be a good 'title' page and I think a few pages of photos and videos of events and scenes around the school would enhance what we can use the display for. Considering the plasma screen is aimed right at where parents/visitors sit when they arrive I want to maximise the plasma screen's full potential.

So my problem? I'd love to have the RSS feed still there on its own page but I've not worked out how to do this yet. I've downloaded a few solutions and have been outfoxed by all of them.

But then most of them look to be more for online HTML RSS inclusion whereas I'm being difficult by wanting up-to-date RSS on a static offline HTML page.

I've tried some sample scripts I've found but whenever ViewIT loads up that particular page I get a script error message. The readme for ViewIT on the JPElectron site says to turn off script debugging in IE. I checked that out and it was already done.

I'm perfectly capable of writing a nice little XHTML page and using CSS to make it all look nice and have big fonts and good contrast of colours (special needs school so good for people with vision/reading problems) but getting a flipping RSS feed to display, scroll and update itself is a bit beyond me.

So I am asking if anyone has any ideas how to get RSS to display as a scrolling, updating source of news to display on our plasma screen. I'd like to mimic the current RSS action which is that we have one story appear for about 5-7 seconds and then a new one appears. As new stories appear the feed updates itself and shows new stories. I DO NOT want to have what happens if you look at the BBC News RSS feed, i.e. all the stories show up at the same time. I have looked at the Google AJAX code but a) I can't find the code and b) since its for an offline HTML/plasma screen I don't want to put a website in for a key, although I could put my personal website in to get a key I suppose.

Sorry to be so demanding but if anyone has any ideas I'd be a happy bunny. Mainly because I get to show off to the headteacher how me and $12 piece of software are better than the rubbish software we have now that we probably paid a few £££ for.

Mark · 29-10-2010, 01:11

If the machine is offline, how are you going to get the feed?

JavaScript is a good way to go here, but to craft your own, you'll need to know a bit of JavaScript and some XML DOM too. There are other alternatives like XSL or XSLT, but that's even more learning for you.

Forget about the software and get a basic standalone page working first. Then you can do nice fancy stuff with it.

MarcLister · 29-10-2010, 01:19

The machine itself is connected to the Internet as the current setup allows for RSS but the pages I'll create will be stored on the computer and not online.

The current system is a file stored on the machine grabbing data from the RSS feed. I'm trying to change the system to a set of HTML files stored locally on a machine with the RSS page grabbing the RSS data from the feed.

I do have two basic pages working already. They are both basic copies of the school website, one is the front page and the other is a page with a properly made table in it since my boss has just scanned the table from a piece of paper and made it a picture. I made the two HTML files just to see how much better looking, and easier for special needs people to use, I could make the school website. When I tried ViewIT out I just decided to use those two HTML files as I had them lying around so to speak.

MarcLister · 31-10-2010, 13:27

Bump. Any more thoughts?

29-10-2010, 01:03	#1
MarcLister Absinthe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Leighton Buzzard Posts: 1,282	How to get RSS into offline HTML page? So I work in a special needs school in London and we have a 32" plasma screen that currently displays a single page with the BBC News RSS scrolling at the bottom of the screen. My boss gave me the 'project' of learning the software and all I've done is re-designed what we already have to show more information, show the school logo, and use the school colours. It's still just a single page which I find a bit limiting. So I found a neat program called ViewIT from a thread on Hexus. It's either $5 or $12 we'll pay for the full version if I can demonstrate it to be better and more powerful than the crock of donkey doo-doo we currently use. I think we were conned into buying that, but luckily this was all before my time. I've trialed ViewIT at home and I've got two HTML pages that I can set how long they stay on screen for, independently of each other. Both are set to 10 seconds each. This means I could have multiple HTML pages (this is already better than what we have right now!!) and tell each page to have its own duration period. I think a title page showing the name of the school and a picture of the school would be a good 'title' page and I think a few pages of photos and videos of events and scenes around the school would enhance what we can use the display for. Considering the plasma screen is aimed right at where parents/visitors sit when they arrive I want to maximise the plasma screen's full potential. So my problem? I'd love to have the RSS feed still there on its own page but I've not worked out how to do this yet. I've downloaded a few solutions and have been outfoxed by all of them. But then most of them look to be more for online HTML RSS inclusion whereas I'm being difficult by wanting up-to-date RSS on a static offline HTML page. I've tried some sample scripts I've found but whenever ViewIT loads up that particular page I get a script error message. The readme for ViewIT on the JPElectron site says to turn off script debugging in IE. I checked that out and it was already done. I'm perfectly capable of writing a nice little XHTML page and using CSS to make it all look nice and have big fonts and good contrast of colours (special needs school so good for people with vision/reading problems) but getting a flipping RSS feed to display, scroll and update itself is a bit beyond me. So I am asking if anyone has any ideas how to get RSS to display as a scrolling, updating source of news to display on our plasma screen. I'd like to mimic the current RSS action which is that we have one story appear for about 5-7 seconds and then a new one appears. As new stories appear the feed updates itself and shows new stories. I DO NOT want to have what happens if you look at the BBC News RSS feed, i.e. all the stories show up at the same time. I have looked at the Google AJAX code but a) I can't find the code and b) since its for an offline HTML/plasma screen I don't want to put a website in for a key, although I could put my personal website in to get a key I suppose. Sorry to be so demanding but if anyone has any ideas I'd be a happy bunny. Mainly because I get to show off to the headteacher how me and $12 piece of software are better than the rubbish software we have now that we probably paid a few £££ for. __________________ Website (sod all on there!) \| MSN \| Email

29-10-2010, 01:11	#2
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	If the machine is offline, how are you going to get the feed? JavaScript is a good way to go here, but to craft your own, you'll need to know a bit of JavaScript and some XML DOM too. There are other alternatives like XSL or XSLT, but that's even more learning for you. Forget about the software and get a basic standalone page working first. Then you can do nice fancy stuff with it. Last edited by Mark; 29-10-2010 at 01:15.

29-10-2010, 01:19	#3
MarcLister Absinthe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Leighton Buzzard Posts: 1,282	The machine itself is connected to the Internet as the current setup allows for RSS but the pages I'll create will be stored on the computer and not online. The current system is a file stored on the machine grabbing data from the RSS feed. I'm trying to change the system to a set of HTML files stored locally on a machine with the RSS page grabbing the RSS data from the feed. I do have two basic pages working already. They are both basic copies of the school website, one is the front page and the other is a page with a properly made table in it since my boss has just scanned the table from a piece of paper and made it a picture. I made the two HTML files just to see how much better looking, and easier for special needs people to use, I could make the school website. When I tried ViewIT out I just decided to use those two HTML files as I had them lying around so to speak. __________________ Website (sod all on there!) \| MSN \| Email Last edited by MarcLister; 29-10-2010 at 01:24.

31-10-2010, 13:27	#4
MarcLister Absinthe Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Leighton Buzzard Posts: 1,282	Bump. Any more thoughts? __________________ Website (sod all on there!) \| MSN \| Email