Share via

Display Data or RSS Feeds from an External Source

  • Article

This content is outdated and is no longer being maintained. It is provided as a courtesy for individuals who are still using these technologies. This page may contain URLs that were valid when originally published, but now link to sites or pages that no longer exist.

You can add the Data View Web Part to a dashboard or Web Part page by using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007. This Web Part can pull and display data from a variety of external sources, including Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and Web services.

RSS is an XML-based syndication system that makes it easy for you to receive the updated information you want. For example, you can subscribe to an RSS feed for a news item, newsgroup, blog, stock quote, Web site, calendar, and much more. Once you subscribe, you no longer need to spend time searching for the information or checking back repeatedly to see if the information has changed. Instead, updates and additions to the information are delivered to you, making it easy to stay informed.

In most cases, RSS feeds do not require authentication. If you do need to supply credentials, keep in mind that anyone who accesses the dashboard will use the same credentials to retrieve the data, regardless of their role (administrator, editor, or reader). In addition, the credentials are stored as clear text in an XML file, which means that anyone who accesses the dashboard or Web Part page can read the credentials. For this reason, we recommend that you use the Data View Web part for data sources that do not require authentication.

NoteNote

When you edit in SharePoint Designer 2007, give your system sufficient time to process each task. If the desired result does not appear in a timely manner, try refreshing the page.

Add a Data View Web Part to a Dashboard

Open an application or workspace in SharePoint Designer

  1. In Office SharePoint Designer 2007, on the File menu, click Open Site.

  2. Type the URL that appears in the address bar of your browser when you are in an application or workspace.

    For example, let's say you want to edit a page in your domain contoso.com. Your Office Live Small Business URL is in this format: https://contosocom.officelive.com.

NoteNote

If the Office Live Small Business account associated with this domain started as an Office Live beta subscription, your URL is in this format: https://contoso.officelive.com.

  1. When prompted, provide your Windows Live ID credentials.

    If you are not prompted to provide credentials, take the following steps.

    If your operating system is Microsoft Windows XP:

    1. In Control Panel, open User Accounts.

    2. In the User Accounts dialog box, click the Advanced tab, and then click Manage Passwords.

    3. In the Stored User Names and Passwords dialog box, select any item with (Passport) in its title, click Remove, and then click OK.

    4. Repeat as necessary to remove all items with (Passport) in their titles.

    5. Click Close, and then click OK.

    6. Close SharePoint Designer 2007, if it is open.

    7. Follow the steps to open your application or workspace in Office SharePoint Designer 2007 again.

    If your operating system is Microsoft Windows Server 2003:

    1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Stored User Names and Passwords.

    2. Click any item with (Passport) in its title, click Remove, and then click OK.

    3. Repeat this step as necessary to remove all items with (Passport) in their titles.

    4. Close SharePoint Designer 2007, if it is open.

    5. Follow the steps to open your application or workspace in Office SharePoint Designer 2007 again.

Add the Data View Web Part to a Dashboard

  1. In SharePoint Designer, open the workspace application that contains the dashboard that you want to add the RSS feed to.

  2. Navigate to the dashboard, right-click the file, and then click Open. For example, to open the Team Workspace dashboard, right-click default.aspx in the Team Workspace folder.

    All dashboards have the file name default.aspx. The workspace application dashboard is at the root level.

  3. On the dashboard page, click the zone where you want the RSS feed to appear.

  4. On the Data View menu, click Insert Data View. The Data Source Library appears on the right side of the screen.

  5. In the Data Source Library, expand XML Files, and then click Add an XML file.

  6. On the Source tab, in the Location text box, type the URL of the RSS feed.

  7. If authentication is required, click the Login tab and provide credentials, and then click OK.

    Caution noteCaution

    If you do need to supply credentials, see the security consideration for using the Data View Web Part discussed above.

  8. In the Data Source Library, click the arrow that is next to the RSS feed you just added, and then click Show Data. The Data Source Details tab appears and lists the data that is available in the RSS feed.

  9. Select the data fields that you want to display on the dashboard. To select more than one field at the same time, use ctrl+Click.

  10. In the Insert Selected Fields as list, click Multiple Item View. The Data View Web Part is inserted into the zone.

  11. Save the file. The next time you open the dashboard, the RSS feed appears.

Add the Data View Web Part to a Web Part Page

  1. In SharePoint Designer, open the application that contains the Web Part page that you want to add the RSS feed to.

  2. Navigate to the Web Part page, right-click the file, and then click Open.

  3. On the Web Part page, click the zone where you want the RSS feed to appear.

  4. On the Data View menu, click Insert Data View. The Data Source Library appears.

  5. In the Data Source Library, expand XML Files, and then click Add an XML file.

  6. On the Source tab, in the Location text box, type the URL of the RSS feed.

  7. If authentication is required, click the Login tab and provide credentials, and then click OK.

    Caution noteCaution

    If you do need to supply credentials, see the security consideration for using the Data View Web Part discussed above.

  8. In the Data Source Library, click the arrow that is next to the RSS feed you just added, and then click Show Data. The Data Source Details tab appears and lists the data that is available in the RSS feed.

  9. Select the data fields that you want to display on the dashboard.

  10. In the Insert Selected Fields as list, click Multiple Item View. The Data View Web Part is inserted into the zone.

  11. Save the file. The next time you open the Web Part page, the RSS feed appears.

See Also

Other Resources

Dashboards and Web Part Pages