Headlines Plugin

Show headline news in TWiki pages based on RSS and ATOM news feeds from external sites

Description

This plugin displays RSS and ATOM feeds from news sites. Use it to build news portals that show headline news.

Note: Syndic8.com ( http://www.syndic8.com/ ) lists many RSS feeds.

Syntax Rules

%HEADLINES{"..."}%

Parameter Explanation Default
"..." source of RSS feed; this can be an url (starting with http) or a web.topic location for internal feeds None; is required
href="..." (Alternative to above) N/A
refresh="60" Refresh rate in minutes for caching feed; "0" for no caching Global REFRESH setting
limit="12" Maximum number of items shown Global LIMIT setting
touch="..." Touch (edit/save) topics if the feed has updates. Specify a comma-space delimited list of TopicNames or Web.TopicNames, such as "%TOPIC%, NewsLetter". Useful to send out newsletter using MailerContrib, showing new feeds since last newsletter. To update feeds, visit topics with feeds in regular intervals (using cron with wget or the like). N/A
header Header. Can include these variables: - $channeltitle, $title: title of channel (channel.title) - $channellink, $link: link of channel (channel.link) - $channeldescription, $description: description (channel.description) - $channeldate, $date: publication date of the channel (channel.pubDate) - $rights: copyrights of the channel (channel.copyright) - $imagetitle: title text for site (image.title) - $imagelink: link for site (image.link) - $imageurl: URL of image (image.url) - $imagedescription: description of image (image.description) Global HEADER setting
format Format of one item. Can include these variables: - $title: news item title (item.title) - $link: news item link (item.link) - $description: news item description (item.description) - $date: the publication date (item.pubDate, item.date) - $category: the article category (item.category) Global FORMAT setting

The header and format parameters might also use variables rendering the dc, image and content namespace information. Note, that only bits of interest have been implemented so far and those namespaces might not be implemented fully yet.

Rendering the dc namespace

The following variables are extracting the dc namespace info, that could be used in header and format. Nnote, that some of the variables are already used above. This is done by purpose to use different feeds with the same formating parameters. If there's a conflict the non-dc tags have higher precedence, i.e. a <title> content </title> is prefered over <dc:title> content </dc:title> .

  • $title: channel/article title (dc:title)
  • $creator: channel creator (dc:creator)
  • $subject: subject text; this will also add an image according to the subject hash list, see above (dc:subject)
  • $description: ... (dc:description)
  • $publisher: the channel/article publisher (dc:publisher)
  • $contributor: ... (dc:contributor)
  • $date: ... (dc:date)
  • $type: ... (dc:type)
  • $format: ... (dc:format)
  • $identifier: ... (dc:identifier)
  • $source: ... (dc:source)
  • $language: ... (dc:language)
  • $relation: ... (dc:relation)
  • $coverage: ... (dc: coverage)
  • $rights: ... (dc: rights)

Rendering the image namespace

An image:item is converted into an <img> tag using the following mappings:

  • src: image url (rdf:about attribute of the image.item tag)
  • alt: image title (title)
  • width: image width (image:width)
  • height: image height image:height)

Rendering the content namespace

The variable $content is refering to the <content:encoding> content </content:encoding>.

Examples

Slashdot News

Write

%HEADLINES{ "http://slashdot.org/slashdot.rdf" 
  header="*[[$link][$title]]:* $description" 
  format="$t* [[$link][$title]]"
  limit="4"
}%
to get the latest Slashdot news as a bullet list format:

Business Opportunities Weblog

Write

%HEADLINES{ "http://www.business-opportunities.biz/feed" limit="2" }%

to get the latest postings on the "Business Opportunities" weblog:

Fri, 17 May 2024 23:42:30 +0000
The original blog about business opportunities and business ideas for small business entrepreneurs
Fri, 17 May 2024 23:42:28 +0000 Carrol Strain

The world is a vast and varied place, and we are lucky if we get a chance to explore it. Yet nothing can ever be perfect, and international travel is not without its frustrations, dangers, and annoyances. Apart from having a large helping of common sense and a sixth sense when things don't seem right, what else can we do, as responsible travelers, to protect ourselves on our overseas adventures? The answer, of course, in Australia as elsewhere, is travel insurance.

Few things are more exciting or life-changing than the opportunity to travel this glorious planet and experience its delights and marvels. From the cultural highs of witnessing historical traditions to the palate-tingling range of cuisines, you are sure to experience thrilling sights and amazing scenery that you will not easily forget.

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO SAVE ON BUSINESS TRAVEL EXPENSES

Travel Insurance in Australia

Obtaining travel insurance in Australia before setting off on any overseas trip is an essential step. Luckily, the regulations surrounding the industry prevent sneaky tactics and misleading factors from taking hold. Therefore, it is relatively straightforward and affordable to avail yourself of comprehensive travel insurance in Australia.

But what features of the policy should you focus on? Are there mitigating factors you must consider or discuss with your chosen provider before purchasing a policy? First, let's look at what are likely the non-negotiable coverages any travel insurance in Australia must offer.

Fundamental Elements of Decent Travel Insurance in Australia

Medical Emergencies and Other Treatments

This is the most crucial item on the list, making all others seem meaningless by comparison. Nothing is more important than your health. Moreover, without comprehensive travel insurance in Australia, you risk losing access to the best treatment available. It simply is not worth the risk to travel internationally without it. What’s more, the consequences of doing so don't even bear thinking about.

Cancellations Covered by Travel Insurance in Australia

Whether you’re traveling to a critical business conference or gets cancelled or heading to see your favorite singer who suddenly can't perform because of illness, comprehensive travel insurance in Australia has you covered. If the cancellation is outside your control, and you have incurred costs directly, you should have no problem getting a reimbursement.

Loss of Luggage and Personal Belongings Covered by Travel Insurance in Australia

The worry of losing your belongings when your flight lands has changed little over the years, except to say that international standards have risen dramatically. The chances are extremely high that you will breathe that sigh of relief as you see your luggage drop onto the carousel at the airport. In other words, everything will be fine. If it isn't, and you were smart enough to avail yourself of travel insurance in Australia, the loss will only be a temporary one.

Decent policies will even cover you for replacing your lost items at the new location. Therefore, if you packed your business suit and were expecting to wear it for an important meeting, you won't have to show up in your pajamas.

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO RECONCILE TRAVELING WITH WORKING AS A CEO

Additional Expenses

This is a rather vague catch-all phrase that applies in specific situations where you have been affected financially and incurred unwanted costs. Examples might be additional nights you spend in hotels when your schedules changed unexpectedly. (However, this will not apply if you choose to change your schedule yourself.) This will probably require a more in-depth conversation with your insurance provider. You will need to determine precisely what they will and will not cover.

Credit Card Fraud Covered by Travel Insurance in Australia

Most credit card providers will protect you if you are a victim of fraud. But sometimes, travel insurance from Australia will give you another layer of protection if necessary.

Personal Liability and Excess on Rental Vehicles

The dreaded fine print on any rental agreement is long and meticulous. With comprehensive travel insurance from Australia, you will likely have coverage against any excesses you incur that significantly boost your personal liability or diminish third-party capabilities.

Flight Cancellations and Delays

Tight schedules can sometimes be affected by unavoidable changes and cancellations on the part of the airline. What’s more, the airline might also be powerless to influence the decision. A Zen attitude and decent travel insurance from Australia are sure ways to ease the tension and get through the frustration.

Lost Income

Again, this phrase needs to be clarified with your insurance provider and the exact details worked out. But if any of the situations you find yourself encountering unexpectedly result in a loss of income for you, you should be able to get that money back from your provider.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line with travel insurance in Australia is that you need it to mitigate the risks of international travel. Give yourself the best support possible if things go awry. Neglecting something like travel insurance is easy, but unfortunately the consequences can be dire. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a professional company with the resources to assist when you need it is worth both the effort and the price of the premium.

RELATED ARTICLE: TOP AIR TRAVEL HACKS FOR FREQUENT BUSINESS TRAVELERS

The post Travel Insurance in Australia: How to Get It and Why appeared first on BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.

Fri, 17 May 2024 21:18:16 +0000 Carrol Strain

Unfortunately, avoiding the topic of life insurance is something we all find ourselves doing. Nobody wants to think about what awaits us, but doing so can be massively beneficial to the people we love the most. Ignoring life insurance can have some truly devastating consequences, but taking the time to find the right policy can ensure our loved ones have what they need for years to come.

Life insurance in Australia and around the world entitles us and our families to some incredible benefits that are simply too good to miss out on. Today, we discuss the significance of reviewing your life insurance policy. This small task can provide you with peace of mind like nothing else.

Here are our seven reasons why reviewing your life insurance policy is absolutely essential.

Reason #1: To Guarantee Financial Protection for Those Who Matter Most

It is probably an obvious topic to start with, but it is always worth highlighting that life insurance is there to provide financial protection and stability to our loved ones in the unfortunate event of our death. Your family can use this payout to cover funeral costs and mortgage payments, pay off outstanding debts, and cover living expenses. However, unless you review your policy, its payout may not be substantial enough for the current economic climate.

RELATED ARTICLE: AVOID THESE BIG LEGAL MISTAKES ANY FAMILY BUSINESS CAN MAKE

Reason #2: A Life Insurance Policy May be the Only Way to Supplement Income Lost in Your Passing

Sometimes, in the terrible event of losing a loved one, a person’s family can lose significant amount of their income. If this is something that concerns you, it is essential to review your policy. Ensure it is up to date with your current income and includes the right benefits to cover it. The burden of loss is difficult enough to deal with. What’s more, adding financial strain can make grief a whole lot worse.

Reason #3: If You're a Business Owner a Life Insurance Policy Can Protect It

A business left behind by a passing can often struggle. Life insurance can be a crucial tool that can buy out a deceased partner’s share. It can cover business debts and provide financial support during the transitional period.

RELATED ARTICLE: RUNNING A HOME BUSINESS? DUST OFF YOUR SKILLS FOR SUCCESS

Reason #4: A Life Insurance Policy Can Have Some Great Tax Benefits

Keeping on top of your life insurance policy means you will always have the best possible benefits. One of these fantastic benefits is ensuring the proceeds are tax-free. If you are unsure if this is in your policy, it is worth checking. It means you can transfer wealth to your loved ones without them needing to complete a tremendous amount of paperwork and without the government eating up too much of the money you would have left them.

Reason #5: Life Insurance Can Fund Your Children's Education

One thing that can cause parents much stress is affording their children's higher education. This is possibly one of the most expensive things we will ever be tasked with. Therefore, it is crucial to know that it will be covered in your passing. A good life insurance policy can cover the costs of tuition fees and living expenses, ensuring your children have the brightest future ahead of them. For this reason alone, it is worth checking what your policy has the potential to cover.

Reason #6: Life Insurance Enables You to Leave a Legacy

When people pass away unexpectedly, it can sometimes put tremendous financial strain on the ones they leave behind. Whether it is a mortgage, business, loss of income, or debt, leaving these challenges to your loved ones is probably the last thing you want. However, a robust life insurance policy will ensure these are taken care of. Moreover, it can leave a legacy, making sure the ones you love the most can thrive long after you are gone. This is one way to leave a lasting endowment for the generations that follow.

Reason #7: Life Insurance Can Give You Tremendous Peace of Mind

Life can often leave us worried and stressed about several factors, especially regarding money. Keeping on top of your life insurance policy can provide invaluable peace of mind to both you and your family. Knowing that everyone you care for and everything you have worked for will be all right after your passing can relieve you of so many worries, allowing you to focus on the more essential things in life.

A Final Word

Although you might not want to think about it, reviewing your life insurance policy is most definitely worth doing. It’s one way to ensure your policy is up to date and will provide your loved ones with the financial support they need to keep them going through a difficult time. There isn't much on this planet that can give us peace of mind and stability like this, so make sure you review your policy as soon as you can.

RELATED ARTICLE: THE ROLE OF A FUNERAL HOME IN HONORING A LIFE WELL LIVED

The post 7 Reasons to Review Your Life Insurance Policy Now appeared first on BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.

Plugin Settings

Plugin settings are stored as preferences variables. To reference a plugin setting write %<plugin>_<setting>%, for example, %HEADLINESPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%. Note: Don't modify the settings here; copy and customize the settings in Main.TWikiPreferences. For example, to customize the USERAGENTNAME setting, create a HEADLINESPLUGIN_USERAGENTNAME setting in Main.TWikiPreferences.

  • One line description, shown in the TextFormattingRules topic:
    • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Show headline news in TWiki pages based on RSS and ATOM news feeds from external sites

  • Refresh rate in minutes for cached feeds. Disable caching: 0, default: 60
    • Set REFRESH = 60

  • Maximum number of items shown. Default: 100
    • Set LIMIT = 100

  • Use LWP::UserAgent, or fallback to TWiki's internal getUrl() method. Default: yes
    • Set USELWPUSERAGENT = yes

  • Timeout fetching a feed using the LWP::UserAgent. Default: 20
    • Set USERAGENTTIMEOUT = 20

  • Name of user agent. Default: TWikiHeadlinesPlugin/2.21
      * Set USERAGENTNAME = TWikiHeadlinesPlugin/2.21

  • Default header: (variables are explained in the syntax rules)
      * Set HEADER = <div class="headlinesChannel"><div class="headlinesLogo"><img src="$imageurl" alt="$imagetitle" border="0" />%BR%</div><div class="headlinesTitle">$n---+!! <a href="$link">$title</a></div><div class="headlinesDate">$date</div><div class="headlinesDescription">$description</div><div class="headlinesRight">$rights</div></div>

  • Default format of one item: (variables are explained in the syntax rules)
      * Set FORMAT = <div class="headlinesArticle"><div class="headlinesTitle"><a href="$link">$title</a></div>$n<span class="headlinesDate">$date</span> <span class="headlinesCreator"> $creator</span> <span class="headlinesSubject"> $subject </span>$n<div class="headlinesText"> $description</div></div>

  • Values taken from configure: (only supported if CPAN:LWP is installed)
    • $TWiki::cfg{PROXY}{HOST} - proxy host, such as "proxy.example.com";
    • $TWiki::cfg{PROXY}{PORT} - proxy port, such as "8080";
    • $TWiki::cfg{PROXY}{SkipProxyForDomains} - domains excluded from proxy, such as "intra.example.com, bugs.example.com";

Style Sheets

The default HEADER and FORMAT settings use the following styles. See the style.css file defining the default CSS properties (indentation illustrates enclosure).

  • headlinesRss: output of the HeadlinesPlugin (div)
    • headlinesChannel: channel header (div)
      • headlinesLogo: channel logo (div)
      • headlinesTitle: channel title (div)
      • headlinesDate: channel date (div)
      • headlinesDescription: channel description (div)
      • headlinesRight: channel copyright (div)
    • headlinesArticle: one news item (div)
      • headlinesTitle: article title (div)
      • headlinesDate: article date (span)
      • headlinesCreator: author of article (span)
      • headlinesSubject: subect category of the article (span)
      • headlinesText: article text (div)

Plugin Installation Instructions

  • Download the ZIP file.
  • Unzip it in your twiki installation directory. Content:
    File: Description:
    data/TWiki/HeadlinesPlugin.txt plugin topic
    pub/TWiki/HeadlinesPlugin/style.css default css
    lib/TWiki/HeadlinesPlugin.pm plugin perl module
    lib/TWiki/HeadlinesPlugin/Core.pm plugin core
    Check if above examples show a news feed instead of variable.
  • Optionally, run HeadlinesPlugin_installer.pl to automatically check and install other TWiki modules that this module depends on. You can also do this step manually.
  • Alternatively, manually make sure the dependencies listed in the table below are resolved.
    NameVersionDescription
    Digest::MD5>=2.33Required. Download from CPAN:Digest::MD5
    LWP::UserAgent>=5.803Optional. Download from CPAN:LWP::UserAgent

Plugin Info

Plugin Author: TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny, TWiki:Main.MichaelDaum
Copyright: © 2002-2010, Peter Thoeny, Twiki, Inc.; 2005-2007, Michael Daum http://wikiring.de
License: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Plugin Version: v2.6 - 2010-05-16
Change History:  
2010-05-16: TWikibug:Item6433 - more doc improvements
2010-04-25: TWikibug:Item6433 - doc fix: Changing TWIKIWEB to SYSTEMWEB
2010-02-27: TWikibug:Item6313 - fixed bug in ATOM feed with <link ...></link> instead of <link ... /> -- Peter Thoeny
2009-09-30: fixed bug in lastBuildDate of feeds affecting touch parameter functionality -- Peter Thoeny
2009-08-29: added touch parameter -- Peter Thoeny
12 Feb 2009: {PROXY}{HOST} supports domain with and without protocol -- Peter Thoeny
06 Feb 2009: added {PROXY}{SkipProxyForDomains} configure setting, added USERAGENTNAME plugin setting -- Peter Thoeny
11 Dec 2008: added {PROXY}{HOST} and {PROXY}{PORT} configure settings -- Peter Thoeny
13 Sep 2007: fixed parsing of content:encoded
23 Jul 2006: improved atom parser; if a posting has no title default to 'Untitled'
26 Apr 2006: added lazy compilation
10 Feb 2006: packaged using the TWiki:Plugins/BuildContrib; minor fixes
03 Feb 2006: off-by-one: limit="n" returned n+1 articles; make FORMAT and HEADER format strings more robust
23 Jan 2006: released v2.00
05 Dec 2005: internal feed urls must be absolute
02 Dec 2005: added web.topic shorthand for internal feeds
29 Nov 2005: fixed CDATA handling
21 Nov 2005: added ATOM support; extended RSS support; added dublin core support; added content support; optionally using LWP to fetch feeds to follow redirections; corrected CPAN dependencies ; recoding special chars from html integer to entity encoding to increase browser compatibility; added css support; use getWorkArea() if available
11 May 2005: TWiki:Main.WillNorris: added DevelopBranch compatability
31 Oct 2004: Fixed taint issue by TWiki:Main.AdrianWeiler; small performance improvement
29 Oct 2004: Fixed issue of external caching if mod_perl or SpeedyCGI is used
02 Aug 2002: Implemented caching of feeds, thanks to TWiki:Main/RobDuarte
11 Jun 2002: Initial version (V1.000)
Perl Version: 5.8
TWiki:Plugins/Benchmark: GoodStyle 100%, FormattedSearch 99.5%, HeadlinesPlugin 94%
Plugin Home: http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/HeadlinesPlugin
Feedback: http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/HeadlinesPluginDev
Appraisal: http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/HeadlinesPluginAppraisal

Related Topics: TWikiPlugins, AdminDocumentationCategory, TWikiPreferences

Topic revision: r1 - 2010-05-17 - TWikiContributor
 
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