Syndication web parts and widgets

Syndication web parts are stored under the Syndication category in the web part catalog. There is a large number of them, but most of them are similar and can be grouped into several categories:

From the functional point of view, there are two basic types of syndication web parts - repeaters and feeds:

•Syndication feeds show the feed icon with an optional text. The icon and text are clickable and when clicked, a querystring parameter with the feed ID is appended to its URL and the page renders the feed.

•Syndication repeaters change the page on which they are placed to a feed. If you place one of the syndication repeaters on a page, it changes the page response type to application/xml, transforms retrieved data to the required feed format and uses the transformed data as the content of the feed. This means that the page is no longer a standard HTML page - it becomes a syndication feed.

The web parts can also be divided in terms of what data they are used for. From this perspective, you can divide them as follows:

Basic feed web parts

These are universal web parts which can create a feed of data provided by a connected data source. Without a data source, the web parts are not functional. The data provided by the data source can be of any type, it just needs to be handled properly by the used transformation.

•XML repeater

•RSS repeater

•Atom repeater

•RSS feed

•Atom feed

Document feed web parts

These web parts are based on the RSS feed web part, but have a built-in data source for the document types in their names. This means that you don't need a connected data source - all you need is included in a single web part. They are a kind of "all-in-one" solutions for frequently used document types.

•CMS RSS Feed

•Articles RSS Feed

•Blog posts RSS Feed

•Events RSS Feed

•News RSS Feed

The CMS RSS Feed can even be used for documents of any type, which makes it a universal web part for any document feed.

Object feed web parts

Similarly to object feeds described above, object feeds also have a built-in data source, letting you create feeds from Kentico CMS objects by adding just a single "all-in-one" web part.

•Blog comments RSS feed

•Custom tables RSS feed

•Media files RSS feed

•Message board RSS feed

•Products RSS feed

•Forum posts RSS feed

Other syndication web parts

Custom feeds can be created using the following two web parts:

•Query RSS feed - generates a feed based on a custom database query and transformation.

•Web service RSS feed - transforms a dataset provided by a web service into an RSS feed.

The last web part does not crate any feed, but can be used as a link to a feed:

•Feed link - displays the RSS icon with a link leading to a URL set in its web part properties. Typically used for links to feeds created by syndication repeaters.

Syndication widgets

The default installation of Kentico CMS contains a set of widgets which are derived from the web parts listed above. They provide the same functionality and look, while only a limited set of properties can be configured. The following widgets are available: