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What is an RSS Web Feed?
In a world heaving under the weight of billions of web pages, keeping up to
date with the information you want can be a drag. Wouldn't it be better to
have the latest news and features delivered directly to you, rather than
clicking from site to site? Well now you can, thanks to a very clever service,
RSS.
There is some discussion as to what RSS stands for, but the majority plump for
'Really Simple Syndication'. Put plainly, it allows you to identify the
content you like and have it delivered directly to you. It takes the hassle
out of staying up-to-date, by showing you the very latest information that you
are interested in.
Not all websites currently provide RSS, but it is growing rapidly in
popularity and many others, including the BBC, New York Times and CNN do
provide it.
How do I start using RSS web feeds?
In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader. There
are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and
some of which are downloadable applications. All allow you to display and
subscribe to the RSS feeds you want.
Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what
content you want. Most sites that offer an RSS feed use a small orange 'RSS'
or 'XML' button to advertise that an RSS feed is available.
If you click on the button you can subscribe to the feed in various ways,
including by dragging the URL of the RSS feed into your news reader or by
cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader.
Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari, have functionality which
automatically picks up RSS feeds for you. For more details on these, please
check their websites.
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