RSS CData Item

[Webnet]

I have been unsuccessful for the past hour to pass validation tests with my RSS feed. Different sources keep saying a bunch of different things.

<description>[CDATA[ This is the description. ]]</description>

<![CDATA[<description> This is the description. </description>]]>

What can I do? The validator is flagging the = in the image link provided in the main post for the feed.

[Dan Schulz]

What's your feed code look like?

[Webnet]

Here:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> 
 <rss version='2.0'> 
  <channel> 
  <title>http://www.gamer-source.com</title> 
  <link>http://www.gamer-source.com</link> 
  <![CDATA[<description>All the latest news on Blizzard games</description> 
  <lastBuildDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:45:02 -0500</lastBuildDate> 
  <language>en-us</language> 
  <item> 
   <title>more fake news</title> 
   <link>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/214</link> 
   <description>SCII was released yesterday</description> 
   <guid>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/214</guid> 
  </item> 
  <item> 
   <title>Testing</title> 
   <link>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/210</link> 
   <description>lalalala 
 
 
http://www.starcraft-source.com/</description> 
   <guid>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/210</guid> 
  </item> 
  <item> 
   <title>This is a test Video</title> 
   <link>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/213</link> 
   <description><b>This is a video test</b> 
 
<embed src="http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1704140479" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=1745164973&amp;playerId=1704140479&amp;viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&amp;servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&amp;cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&amp;domain=embed&amp;autoStart=false&amp;" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" width="486" height="412"> 
 
<img src='http://www.starcraft-source.com/images/template/logo.gif' border=0/></description> 
   <guid>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/213</guid> 
  </item> 
  <item> 
   <title>This is a test Video</title> 
   <link>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/212</link> 
   <description><b>This is a video test</b> 
 
<embed src="http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1704140479" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1745164973&playerId=1704140479&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></description> 
   <guid>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/212</guid> 
  </item> 
  <item> 
   <title>A video</title> 
   <link>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/211</link> 
   <description>Here is a video!</description> 
   <guid>http://www.gamer-source.com/news/211</guid> 
  </item> 
  </channel> 
 </rss>

I've tried doing CDATA multiple ways and it won't work on any of them. Also, is there a way in the link tag to do a proper URL with .php?cmd=article&id=5 without it breaking validation? Or does the validation even matter that much?

[Dan Schulz]

Try encoding the ampersands (all of them). That should fix it. (I noticed some of them are literal, rather than encoded.)

[Webnet]

You mean in the description for each item? In the link tag? Or both?

[Dan Schulz]

Both. Just to be on the safe side.

[Webnet]

I'll give it a shot.

[Webnet]

I'm now getting these errors. One of which appears to not be in english: http://www.validome.org/rss-atom/val.../www.gamer-sou
rce.com/feed/news.xml&version=rss_2_0

[Webnet]

It is still breaking.

http://www.validome.org/rss-atom/val...ersion=rss_2_0

[Webnet]

Any thoughts?

[Dan Schulz]

http://validator.w3.org/feed/check.c...eed%2Fnews.xml

I only trust the http://validator.w3.org/feed/ service. That'll tell you what needs to be fixed.

[Webnet]

http://validator.w3.org/feed/check.c...eed%2Fnews.xml

It appears the list tags are not recognized. Should RSS feeds not contain any HTML? Or only limited tags? Is there a good rSS resource? I keep finding outdated and/or crappy resources.

[Webnet]

This is really my first time ensuring that an RSS feed works. I'm writing a class which will parse everything for me as it needs to be. So any tips woul dbe great. I do appreciate the help you've already provided.