RSS Applet Configurator (2/4) - exploring XML

Using the Configurator

Selecting the RSS source

The only mandatory selection we have to make is choosing the RSS source from which the headlines will be displayed. Clicking the "Preview!" button on the bottom of the page shows the RSS viewer applet in action, pretty in pink with default font settings. The lower half shows the HTML source that would need to be included in your own page to have the same effect.

Selecting Colors

Your site has a specific look and feel, and every element on it needs to blend with the overall appearance. The RSS Applet is therefore fully configurable with custom colors and fonts.

Colors can be selected from the palette of 216 Web-safe colors displayed in the right half of the section. Clicking on one square puts the RGB value of this color into the text box below the color table. When one of the applet color properties like box_foregroundor item_background_mouseover are selected, the color value gets copied there as well. Give it a try! Of course you can also copy and paste the RGB values from the text fields in order to assemble your personal color scheme.

Selecting Fonts

An RSS channel consists of a title and a number of news headline items. For both different font styles and sizes can be selected. Unfortunately font support in Java applets is fairly limited, you only have the choice between serif, sansserif and dialog. Usually serif is mapped to Times or TimesNewRoman, sansserif ends up being Helvetica or Arial, and dialog is typewriter-style, monospace Courier.

Additionally you can enter a varying font size and combine bold and italic styles. Keep in mind that text not fitting on one line will be truncated as line wrap is not yet implemented, so a large font size will hide most information in ellipsis.