Map Pro RSS: connect sources, topics, and publishing destinations

Map decisions that people need to inspect

List your source collection, the topics you cover, and the outputs readers receive. Give each source and destination a stable identifier. A publisher's display name can change without requiring every relationship to be rebuilt. Keep a source's main subject distinct from the tags assigned to an individual article, because a broad publication may cover several different subjects.

Choose relationships that explain an action. A source can supply a candidate queue; an editor can approve an item for a weekly digest; a topic page can collect relevant published guides. This is more useful than a diagram containing many connections whose meaning nobody can define.

Use a compact mapping record

source_id: publisher-17
topics: publishing, web-standards
candidate_queue: developer-review
destination: weekly-reading-list
review_owner: editorial-team

This illustrative record describes routing responsibility, not automatic approval of every item from the source. Add a short rationale and a review date to the mapping. Preserve provenance on each collected item so an editor can trace a selected entry back to its original source and the processing decisions that affected it.

• Define each relationship in ordinary language before implementing a routing or filtering rule.
• Record coverage gaps, such as a missing language or an important topic with too few sources.
• Keep an item's source identity when it appears in more than one useful collection.
• Distinguish related coverage from duplicate records so the map preserves editorial context.

Review one item's path through the system

Choose a hypothetical release announcement and follow it from source intake to the final reading list. Identify the rule that selected it, the reviewer who approved it, and the destination that published the note. Then change one condition, such as the topic or source availability, and explain how the path should change. This exercise reveals ambiguous rules before the collection grows.

Keep the map proportionate

A small collection may need only a table or structured file; a larger one may benefit from a visual overview generated from the same records. Update the relationships when sources are added, destinations are retired, or responsibilities change. The map should help editors explain selection and maintenance, while the public publication remains focused on useful content for readers.

Primary documentation

• W3C: An Overview of the PROV Family of Documents