What Is RSS? RSS Explained
RSS Primer: One Page Quick Introduction to RSS
What is RSS?
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is *a format for delivering regularly changing web content*. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an *RSS Feed* to whoever wants it.
Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSS
RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to *easily stay informed* by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You *save time* by not needing to visit each site individually. You *ensure your privacy*, by not needing to join each site’s email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds http://www.syndic8.com/feedcat.php is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/rss/.
What do I need to do to read an RSS Feed? RSS Feed Readers and News Aggregators
Feed Reader or News Aggregator software allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various sites and display them for you to read and use.
A variety of RSS Readers http://blogspace.com/rss/readers are available for different platforms. Some popular feed readers include Amphetadesk: http://www.disobey.com/amphetadesk/ (Windows, Linux, Mac), FeedReader: http://www.feedreader.com/ (Windows), and NewsGator:
http://www.newsgator.com/ (Windows – integrates with Outlook). There are also a number of web-based feed readers available. My Yahoo: http://my.yahoo.com/, Bloglines: http://www.bloglines.com/, and Google Reader http://www.google.com/reader/ are popular web-based feed readers.
Once you have your Feed Reader, it is a matter of finding sites that syndicate content http://www.syndic8.com/feedcat.php and adding their RSS feed to the list of feeds your Feed Reader checks. Many sites display a small icon with the acronyms RSS, XML, or RDF to let you know a feed is available.
WhatIsRSS.com now has a blog …
We have always wanted to keep this resource brief and to the point, but we realize there is a lot more that can be communicated about using RSS. Our RSS Blog http://rssblog.whatisrss.com/ was launched 26 July 2007 to extend and complement the information provided here. If you are interested in learning more about RSS go there now and subscribe! It will be updated over time with information on using RSS and will feature tools to help you use RSS in new and better ways.
RSS Links: More information on RSS
RSS Info http://blogspace.com/rss/ Comprehensive Overview and Links
Syndic8 – Directory of RSS Feeds http://www.syndic8.com/feedcat.php
What is RSS, and Why Should You Care? http://blog.contentious.com/archives/000038.html
XML.com: What is RSS? http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html
Introduction to RSS – WebReference.com http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/xml/rss/intro/
RSS Blog http://rssblog.whatisrss.com/ Our very own weblog on RSS
Sites with RSS Feeds http://feeds.whatisrss.com/ More RSS Examples. Sites with RSS feeds linking to WhatIsRSS.com
www.WhatIsRSS.com http://www.WhatIsRSS.com/
*The quickest way to educate your site visitors about RSS = link to this page.*
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