What will I learn to do?
In the default SPIP configuration, only administrators can reference sites and work with syndication.
In order to ensure your online publication is lively and connected, you have to create connections with other websites addressing issues that are relevant to yours.
For example, if you manage a publication on Medical Care, it can prove interesting to offer to your visitors a short description and a link to the latest articles published on http://www.lww-medicalcare.com .
This kind of connection is called "syndication": by working with syndication, you can make up-to-date portions of other web sites available on your site, as well as making bits of yours available on other sites. It is very useful to publish frequently updated content such as blog posts, news, etc....
In this lesson, you will learn how to:
Create a link to other websites
Reference content from other sites, using syndication
Manage syndicated content
Enable other sites to syndicate your own content
What is the difference between creating simple links and working with syndication?
when you simply reference a site (without using syndication), you create a link to this site, that will always lead to the same URL: the link you get is static
when you reference a site with syndication, you create a bunch of links to small bits of content and the links displayed on your webiste change as soon as the source content is updated: the links you get are dynamic
For instance, you would use simple referencing for institutional partners; whereas it is good to use syndication for rapidly changing content, such as news.
Why would I do this?
Syndication benefits both the websites providing information and the websites displaying it:
For the receiving site, content syndication is an effective way of adding greater depth and immediacy of information to its pages; it can make your site more attractive to your audience
For the source site, syndication drives exposure. It generates new traffic, and helps increasing your popularity in search engines. Syndication is a kind of free and easy form of advertisement!
... and all this is done real time and automatically!
Syndication also benefits the visitors of your website, that do not have to register to newsletters, or to visit several websites ; they can remain up-to-date, but following their own rythm
... In a nutshell, syndicated links represent a very interesting way of creating synergy around shared concerns and topics of interest, allowing continuity and constant enrichment of information.
How should I select a site for syndication?
When you decide to choose a site for syndication you have to be careful:
Make sure you trust the site and the content you are about to syndicate is relevant to yours: your visitors are likely to associate your site with the site you syndicate! Making the wrong choice can affect the image of your publication...
The site you want to syndicate must be able to provide a syndication link
Ensure this relation is not unilateral, and that, in return, the administrators of the other site also accept to syndicate your site - if that’s what you want!
How do I reference a site?
If you simply want to reference a partner site, you can do it by adding a site in a section of your SPIP site
You cannot reference a site at the root of your SPIP site: a referenced site must be inside a section.
Click on the section where you want to reference a site
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Referencing a site"
Leave the field “Automated site referencing” empty
Write the name of the site
Write the URL
Add a short description of the site
Choose "No Syndication" and leave the "Address of file for syndication" empty
Click on "Save"
To see the result, choose the status "Published" and click on "Submit"
Click on “View online”
Reference a site without syndication
