WHAT ARE RSS FEEDS?

What does RSS do?

It let’s you know when a website has been updated.

An RSS "feed" notifies you when the website you have subscribed to is updated. So instead of having to actively go and visit the site to find out if there are any updates, the RSS alerts you without you having to do anything. You just subscribe and the latest news (or whatever the most recent additions to the website are) come automatically into your RSS reader.

More and more websites are offering RSS feeds. You can usually identify the feeds by looking for a little orange box or link that says ‘RSS’, ‘XML’ or ‘Syndicate this site’. That is your link to the RSS feed.

What do you need to begin to use RSS?

When you find an RSS feed for a site you like, you must subscribe to the feed in order to get updates. And you need to install some software –called a ‘news aggregator’ or ‘RSS reader’- to be able to read the feeds.

How do you subscribe to an RSS feed?

You need an RSS reader and you also need the link to the RSS feed of the site you like.

You can get the link by clicking on the ‘XML’ or ‘RSS’ button. Often you will see a page that looks a complete mess - lot of programming code or all the news items bunched together. Don’t worry! You just need to copy the web site address that appears when you click that button. It will often end .rdf or .xml.

When you add that address to your news reader you become a subscriber to that particular RSS feed.

What does RSS stand for?

Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication.

(Adapted from APCNews - October 2004 No. 46 - )