TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Creating an RSS Feed:
• Troubleshooting:

This article is to help you create your own RSS Feed for your DAKboard Display. Some of the troubleshooting steps at the end can also be used to test other source's feeds to confirm their validity should they stop working.

Creating an RSS Feed:

We recommend using Dropbox, but any online service that allows uploading a file and generating a public link/URL will work. 

Create a new file using a text editor on your computer. Copy and paste the following text to that file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
  <title>Title text</title>
  <link>https://linktoyoursite.com</link>
  <description>Description text</description>
  
  <item>
    <title>Entry 1 title</title>
    <link>https://link.com</link>
    <description>Entry 1 description</description>
  </item>
  
  <item>
    <title>Entry 2 title</title>
    <link>https://link.com</link>
    <description>Entry 2 description</description>
  </item>

</channel>
</rss>

Edit this file and add as many "item" sections as necessary. Replace the "Entry title" with your own title, and replace the "Entry description" with your own description. 

Save your file as a .rss file type (Example: My_RSS_feed.rss), upload the file to a public Dropbox folder, then generate a public link. In Dropbox, this is as simple as right-clicking on the file and choosing "Copy Dropbox Link".  

Next, back in DAKboard...

For a Predefined screen, under the "News/Rss" section, paste in your Dropbox link. 

For a Custom screen, add a News/RSS block. Edit the block and paste your Dropbox link.

Lastly, (for Dropbox only), change the "0" at the end of the link to a "1".

Save your changes and view your screen and you should see the text rotating through:

Troubleshooting:

Validating your Feed:

To confirm your feed is valid you can use the site W3c Feed Validation Service as a method of checking if an RSS Feed. This tool will show you where your Feed is having an issue and recommend how to correct it. This can also be used on other user's feeds to determine if there are issues when they suddenly stop working.

Validated Feed Shows Invalid in DAKboard:

Even a Valid feed can still show invalid in DAKboard. This usually happens when you are using a Feed that is hosted by a service that is blocking us. A recent update to a service most RSS feeds use for a security system has caused an issue like this for several feeds from around the world. To correct this, you can reach out the the RSS feed provider and request that they Whitelist our services. If they ask for our IPs, please reach out to our support team and we can supply them for you.