RSS Feed version 1.1b1

This mod allows the Admin to set up an RSS Feed showing recent forum posts. This version works with YaBB SP 1.3.1, 1.3.2, and 1.4. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a protocol for distributing frequently updated information from your website (in this case from your YaBB forum) to readers.

Please read this entire file before installing and using this mod. Back up your YaBB files before installing any mod.

Installation:

Apply mod using BoardMod or manually. If you don't know how to install a mod, please visit the BoardMod website for assistance before attempting to install this mod, a short time spent reading the FAQ file there will save you a great deal of frustration here.
Load modified english.lng, SubList.pl, Subs.pl, and Admin.pl files in ASCII mode. Chmod as usual.
Load RSS_Display.pl to the Sources directory in ASCII mode.
Load the rssfeed.txt file to your Variables directory in ASCII mode and chmod 666.

RSS Feed Settings:

On the Admin Center>>RSS Feed Settings Page are the settings needed to use the RSS Feed.

Number of Recent Posts to Display in RSS Feed - This sets the number of posts to provide in the RSS Feed. Some RSS readers are limited to accepting 15 posts at a time. The default is 10.
Description of RSS Feed Content - This is the description of your RSS feed, not an individual post.
Enter Server time offset from GMT in hours (examples: +05:00 or -10:00 ) - Enter offset of your server time from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) Use negative numbers for west of GMT (Canada, US, Argentina) or positive numbers for east of GMT (Poland, Kenya).
- Use the format described here.
- Use a + or - sign.
- Enter the offset as +hh:mm or -hh:mm
- Be sure to use the leading 0 where needed: +07:00 not +7:00
- Don't simply enter -5 or +6, it won't work, trust me.
Use short form post descriptions - The RSS Feed mod offers two ways to present your forum posts. The first is to show the thread view as soon as the post is selected. The second is to show just the first few words of the post in plain text. The second method cuts down on the amount of bandwidth needed to give the reader a sample of the post. Placing a check in this box sets the feed to use the short form.
Number of characters to show in RSS short form post description - This is the number of characters to show starting from the beginning of each post in the description for the post when using the short form. Default is 150.
Use simplified thread view - The thread view can be displayed using the regular YaBB thread view or using a simplified thread view that better fits the three pane format of many feed readers. The YaBB banner, main menu, and footers are removed in the simplified thread view. Checking this box activates the simplified thread view.
RSS Feed Logo - This is the filename of the small logo that will appear for the feed on some RSS readers. The logo file must be placed in your YaBB Images directory. The default is home.gif.
RSS Feed Categories - A list of all categories in your forum is provided here. Next to each category is a checkbox. Placing a check in the box for a particular category makes posts from that category available for viewing via the RSS feed. Note that RSS readers don't store YaBB user information. Allowing a category to be viewed via the RSS feed opens viewing of the category posts to all RSS users regardless of membership status in your forum. Therefore only place checks next to those categories that you want the general public to be able to access. Further, note that this setting overrides any viewing access restrictions on the category you might have set on the Manage Categories Page in the Admin Center. It is not recommended that you allow RSS reader access to restricted categories as many of the links (reply, quote, modify, etc.) on the thread view will produce access errors, frustrating the user.
Save - Saves your settings.

Using the RSS Feed:

Once you have installed the mod and have saved your RSS Feed settings you are ready to access your forum's new RSS Feed via a RSS reader (aggregator). The URL for your RSS Feed is in the form:

http://www.mysite.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?action=rss

The mod was tested using SharpReader 0.9.4.1. Many other RSS readers are available. A simple web search should provide a RSS reader compatible with your operating system.

Note that the mod uses the Dublin Core (dc:) library for certain xml definitions. It is possible that from time to time the host server for the Dublin Core library may be down, causing feed validation errors.

Known Issues in this version:

The dates are not Year 2100 compliant (nor Year 1999 compliant for that matter). If your most recent posts were written prior to 2000, you might not need a news feed. If you're still using this script in 2100 I'll be long dead and you'll have to fix it yourself.

The server time offset from GMT needs to be set manually. The reason is that the Time module used by YaBB overrides perl's default gmtime function and I haven't found a way to get at the gmtime index.

Credits:

Author: Ironwing
Website: http://www.mineralarts.com/cgi/yabbsp1/YaBB.pl

A largish hunk of code in this mod was written by [CV]XXL for the Print Headlines mod.