What Is RSS and How Do I Use It?
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What Is RSS?
RSS stand for ‘really simple syndication‘ and is specified in XML format. All you really need to know is that it’s a way to be notified quickly and easily when there is new content on whatever site you have signed up for their RSS Feed. This also means you don’t actually have to visit the site to know when there is new content. Sites use a variety of different ways to acknowledge the fact they have an RSS feed. Some of the most popular ways are "RSS" (), "XML" (
) or "ATOM" (
) .
So how do you get started?
First thing is that you need to get an aggregator. I would recommend using Google’s Reader as your main aggregator, but there are more resources listed below.
You need to have an account with Google which you can get for free here. Once you’re logged in you can add feeds by simply clicking "Add Subscription" in the left hand side of the page and type the url of the feed. You don’t actually need the exact url (e.g. http://www.url.com/feed.xml) you simply need "url.com". Google will find all the feeds coming from the site and give you a list to find which one you want.
Still Confused? There’s a great video called RSS in Plain English that is very helpful.
More Aggregators
If you don’t want to use Google’s Reader, there are plenty of other readers available. Here is a short list:
- Firefox (2.0 and up) - The RSS reader is built in as "Live Bookmarks" - simply click on the RSS button on the site you want to subscribe to and a live bookmarks page will popup.
- Internet Explorer 7 - The RSS feed is built in, just click on the RSS icon in the upper right of the browser, or click on the RSS link on the page itself.
- Bloglines
- Safari - Built in support for feeds
- Sage - Firefox add-on
- NewsGator
- FeedReader - Software based
List Of Richland College Feeds