RSS Feeds updates to Push Notifications with PushStaq

Introduction

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds enable web sites to alert when they have new content published. Instead of constantly visiting your favorite web sites to find out what is new, You simply Subscribe to their RSS feed with an RSS Reader that shows you new content when published.
Unlike social networks who track and profile what you are consuming, the web sites you subscribe to their RSS feeds know nothing about you.

PushStaq as RSS Reader

When sending messages on PushStaq If a message contains a link, It will display a rich link detailed preview with thumbnail, title and description of the link (if available). With PushStaq you can create channels and subscribe to receive a real time Push Notifications on any new message posted to the channel, Whether it is from any other device or coming from the API.
Wiring the RSS feed with PushStaq API to send a message to a channel on a new RSS Feed item, Will trigger Push Notification alert on the device you subscribed from.
Now PushStaq can act as an RSS Reader at your disposal similar to the late Google Reader.

_{Google Reader interface where each RSS feed has its own "Channel" feed.}

_{PushStaq as RSS Reader of Hacker News 500. PushStaq channel is updated on new feed items with detailed link preview.}

Integrating RSS feeds with PushStaq using IFTTT

PushStaq does not parse RSS feeds, To do that we can use 3rd party integration services such as IFTTT and Zapier. We will create IFTTT Applet to trigger on new RSS Feed item to update PushStaq channel via PushStaq API.
In future Article we will cover Zapier integration (We are working on official integration to be published soon).

Perquisites

To get started you will need to:

Sign in / Sign up to PushStaq
Sign in / Sign up to IFTTT
Provide RSS Feed URL of your choice that you wish to get notifications about

PushStaq Channel Setup

Create a dedicated channel for the RSS Feed you wish to receive updates from.
In the selected channel, click the top right settings icon to open the settings pane.
In the Settings pane change the name of the channel to a suitable name that describes the RSS feed source. Click the Generate API Key button, This will create a new API key that you need to copy and save for next steps.
_{To learn more about the API click the API Quick Guide link}
To receive real time push notifications, Login from the Desktop or Mobile device you wish to subscribe to and click the channel Subscribe button, on any new message in the channel you will receive a Push Notifications.

IFTTT Setup

Create a new applet, On If This click the Add button.
Search for rss and select the RSS Feed service.
Choose a trigger that is suitable for you.
Enter your RSS Feed URL you wish to follow for updates and click Create trigger - In the screenshot we use Hacker News 500.
On Then That click the Add button.
Search for webhook and select the Webhooks service.
Select the Webhooks action Make a web request.
Now for the final part!
- In the URL input field enter: https://www.pushstaq.com/api/push/YOUR-API-KEY/ , Replace YOUR-API-KEY with the channel API KEY you saved from previous steps
- In the Method dropdown input select POST and in the Content Type dropdown input select application/json
- The Body input must be of a specific template (predefined text) in order to work.
```
{"message": "XXX"}
```
  Copy the above highlighted line and and paste in the Body input. Replace XXX with the message you would like to send to the PushStaq channel.
  Select Add ingredient button to customize your message.
  It is recommended Adding EntryUrl will include the link URL of the new RSS Item - This will ensure detailed link preview and to open the link directly from PushStaq.
- Almost there! Just click Create action to continue to finish the applet creation.. and you are done!

Now whenever the RSS Feed is updated with a new item, it will push the Body message to your selected PushStaq channel.
Any devices that are subscribed to the selected channel will receive real time Push Notifications 👏.
_{Responsive view of PushStaq channel integration with IFTTT showing Reddit IFTTT subreddit posts}

Examples of RSS Feeds from popular sources to use with PushStaq

Reddit - Subreddit RSS Feeds

All Reddit subreddits provides RSS Feed URL, you just need to add .rss to the subreddit URL.
As an example Tech News subreddit URL https://www.reddit.com/r/technews/ adding .rss https://www.reddit.com/r/technews/.rss is the subreddit RSS Feed URL

YouTube - Channel and playlist RSS Feeds

Youtube provides RSS feeds for channels and playlists.
Playlist must be a public playlist, If you own a playlist you wish to generate RSS feed URL make sure it is Public (not Private)

YouTube Channel RSS feed URL - https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=CHANNEL_ID.
Get the YouTube channel ID and replace CHANNEL_ID with it.
To find YouTube channel ID, While viewing the video click on the channel name link, it will take you the channel page with the ID in the URL.
As an example, doing so on a video from Linus Tech Tips will link to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw where the channel ID is UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw.
Combining the two will result to this RSS Feed URL link https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw.
YouTube Playlist RSS feed URL - https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=PLAYLIST_ID
Get the YouTube Playlist ID and replace PLAYLIST_ID with it.
To find out the playlist ID you will need to browse to a playlist link. The structure of the URL will be https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8mG-RkN2uTySGOagNKK0nCWOYeQ9gcRe where the playlist ID is PL8mG-RkN2uTySGOagNKK0nCWOYeQ9gcRe.
Combining the two will result to this RSS Feed URL Link https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=PL8mG-RkN2uTySGOagNKK0nCWOYeQ9gcRe.
Power tip - When sharing YouTube video link you can preview the video, On mobile devices you can even play it in the background (where official YouTube app requires user to be a Premium subscriber for that)

Hacker News - Get updates on the most voted link submissions.

HNRSS provides RSS links of Hacker News link submissions with the ability to search and filter with top votes.
Very light weight and works flawlessly https://hnrss.github.io/

Summary

RSS is still popular and being used everywhere. With PushStaq and IFTTT integration you can create channels to monitor those RSS feeds and be notified in real time for any news that are important for you.
If you have feedback and suggestions or any other questions come on this post on PushStaq subreddit here - https://www.reddit.com/r/PushStaq/

🌿 Resources

Hello PushStaq - learn more about PushStaq
PushStaq Chrome Extension

Discuss this post on Reddit

Feedback

If you have any feedback, Suggestions or any other questions feel free to Discuss on PushStaq official subreddit or contact us at hello[at]pushstaq.com