Setting up an RSS Feed Reader

Setting up an RSS Feed Reader

Owners may now receive their enquiries via an RSS Feed. Below is a brief overview of what RSS is and how it is implemented in our Enquiry system.

RSS feeds allow websites to provide their content in a format that can be downloaded and read by Feed Readers that are reminiscent of email; the large difference is that there is no chance that a feed will be blocked as spam because people can only get the feed if they specifically subscribe to a feed. This means that hosts and ISPs cannot block a feed.

For legitimate businesses frustrated with imperfect spam filters, it is a godsend. For our homeowners, it means that you can always expect to get your enquiries when you want them.

First, in order to use your RSS Feed, you will need to install a Feed Reader. We have developed for and tested the free and popular Feed Reader called FeedReader. It is currently at version 2.9 but is test version 3 right now.

Install Feedreader. Once installed, you have to add your feed address to your feed program. Your address is a unique address that you can find in your Villas Control Panel (available when you log in) or on your Inbox page. That RSS link, however, will only appear if you have created an RSS Feed Password in your account manager.

Adding a Feed

  1. In FeedReader, click the “Add Feed” button at the top of the page.
  2. Enter Your Feed Address (supplied in your Control Panel).
  3. Enter a Name and Category (the default is set at "Last Minute Villas", "Orlando Villa Owners" or whatever Villas site you are subscribing to).
  4. Click Finish.

That’s all you need to do. Whenever you want to read your enquiries, click on the name of your Villas site (Last Minute Villas, Orlando Villa Owners, etc) in your “My Feeds” list. Your enquiries will be listed in the top right (just like email titles in Outlook Express.) When you click on a specific enquiry, its details will appear in the reading pane below just like they would in a normal email.

You can send an email to an enquirer by clicking their email address in the enquiry or by clicking the “Read On” action at the bottom of the enquiry.

You may respond via the built-in response form or by clicking the email link for the inquirer. Using the built-in form will create a stylish, formatted response that includes links to your villa and a copy of the original inquiry. Using the email link will open a blank email in your email program.

Each time you send a response with the built-in response form, the email will be sent to your email address. YOU must then forward the email to the customer from your own email account. (This change in policy was enacted in February 2006 because our server is sending out so many emails that many ISPs are blocking our emails.) If these emails are not getting to your email account, you must make sure that your spam filters are set to allow emails from your Villas site (enquiries@lastminutevillas.net, enquiries@orlandovillaowners.com, etc). If your spam filters are set to allow these emails and you are still not getting the emails, you must contact your host or ISP and tell them that you need to be able to get emails from our server. If they will not accommodate, you will need to find a new email address to use that will accept emails from our server.

RSS vs. Site Inbox

Many owners are not certain if they want to use the Site Inbox or RSS. The fact is, you can use both features of this site at the same time. There are, however, some affects that using both will have:

  • Inquiries downloaded into RSS can still be viewed on your site inbox, but they will not appear in the "Unread" category... Inquiries first viewed in RSS are automatically put into your "Read" category in your Inbox.
  • Inquiries deleted in RSS are still available in your Inbox under the "Read" category.
  • Inquiries first viewed in your Inbox will not download to your RSS Feed Reader unless you have manually updated the inquiries in question as "Unread".