RSS Technology for dummies!
I was trying to find something to explain RSS to me the other day. There are so many sites out there that use them. Compilers, Blogline... Ugh! I was so confused. Then I ran across this little article that explained it all! Hope it helps!
RSS is technology - a simple software program - that allows you to
access web and blog content automatically. The acronym's most popular
translation is "Really Simple Syndication. Once your browser or
computer has an RSS reader on board, you can subscribe to any number of
RSS "feeds." A feed is simply a way in which a reader may subscribe to
website content - most commonly blogs or news sites. A news site, for
example, may list their latest headlines or entire articles in their
feed every time a new article is published. A blog would publish this
feed as a series of recent posts.
Feeds are published by millions of publishers, from small
individuals to large organizations like Newsweek. The value of a feed
is that it brings the most current site content to you in a format that
is easily scanned; further, you are spared the task of visiting each
source site each day. This is typically done through the use of what is
called an 'aggregator' or 'feed reader'.
Feed readers or RSS readers, are software programs that run on your
computer (or PDA or phone); let you easily subscribe to feeds, and
allow you to read through them efficiently. Some are relatively simple,
showing the headline and summary. The fancier ones often work with (or
in) your browser to make viewing the material look much like the source
page. Once you have a reader on your computer, subscribing to a feed
with is an easy click or drag from your browser. Sites that provide RSS
feeds will usually have a button for that purpose.
There are several RSS feed formats as well as one with an entirely
different methodology called Atom. Atom has become popular with some
bloggers and blogging tools. Some aggregators can read both. The other
acronyms you will see in "feedspeak" are XML, which stands for
'extensible markup language' and is the code standard for these simple
text feeds. An 'OPML" file is a format for indexing hierarchical feed
lists. If you dive into this web habit in a big way, your aggregator or
reader may keep your subscription list in an OPML file.
An RSS feed is a great method for staying abreast of issues and
topics that interest you. There are a number of feed "libraries," so to
speak, from which you can learn what's out there in your areas of
interest. Google has a built-in reader that makes the subscription
process easy, as does Yahoo. Firefox has a downloadable extension for
the purpose of aggregating RSS feeds, as well as a default ability to
save RSS feeds as "live bookmarks" that update via the RSS feed. You
can download a number of stand alone readers and aggregators; you can
find them through a simple web search.
The whole RSS "movement" is a step towards utilizing the Internet
more efficiently. The trick is to avoid overloading your email inbox
with daily reports that you end up ignoring most of the time. For that
purpose, there are sites like Feedster that will search millions of RSS
feeds for articles that are relevant to your interests. Like any search
tool, however, these services are hit and miss. They are still working
off keywords and sometimes what they find is relevant, sometimes not.
But if you want daily news broken into categories, it's great
technology once you learn how to make it work for you.
She helps clients understand how a website may benefit them both
personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting,
ecommerce hosting, VPS hosting to a wide range of customers
Technorati Tags: RSS, feeds
RSS is technology - a simple software program - that allows you to
access web and blog content automatically. The acronym's most popular
translation is "Really Simple Syndication. Once your browser or
computer has an RSS reader on board, you can subscribe to any number of
RSS "feeds." A feed is simply a way in which a reader may subscribe to
website content - most commonly blogs or news sites. A news site, for
example, may list their latest headlines or entire articles in their
feed every time a new article is published. A blog would publish this
feed as a series of recent posts.
Feeds are published by millions of publishers, from small
individuals to large organizations like Newsweek. The value of a feed
is that it brings the most current site content to you in a format that
is easily scanned; further, you are spared the task of visiting each
source site each day. This is typically done through the use of what is
called an 'aggregator' or 'feed reader'.
Feed readers or RSS readers, are software programs that run on your
computer (or PDA or phone); let you easily subscribe to feeds, and
allow you to read through them efficiently. Some are relatively simple,
showing the headline and summary. The fancier ones often work with (or
in) your browser to make viewing the material look much like the source
page. Once you have a reader on your computer, subscribing to a feed
with is an easy click or drag from your browser. Sites that provide RSS
feeds will usually have a button for that purpose.
There are several RSS feed formats as well as one with an entirely
different methodology called Atom. Atom has become popular with some
bloggers and blogging tools. Some aggregators can read both. The other
acronyms you will see in "feedspeak" are XML, which stands for
'extensible markup language' and is the code standard for these simple
text feeds. An 'OPML" file is a format for indexing hierarchical feed
lists. If you dive into this web habit in a big way, your aggregator or
reader may keep your subscription list in an OPML file.
An RSS feed is a great method for staying abreast of issues and
topics that interest you. There are a number of feed "libraries," so to
speak, from which you can learn what's out there in your areas of
interest. Google has a built-in reader that makes the subscription
process easy, as does Yahoo. Firefox has a downloadable extension for
the purpose of aggregating RSS feeds, as well as a default ability to
save RSS feeds as "live bookmarks" that update via the RSS feed. You
can download a number of stand alone readers and aggregators; you can
find them through a simple web search.
The whole RSS "movement" is a step towards utilizing the Internet
more efficiently. The trick is to avoid overloading your email inbox
with daily reports that you end up ignoring most of the time. For that
purpose, there are sites like Feedster that will search millions of RSS
feeds for articles that are relevant to your interests. Like any search
tool, however, these services are hit and miss. They are still working
off keywords and sometimes what they find is relevant, sometimes not.
But if you want daily news broken into categories, it's great
technology once you learn how to make it work for you.
About The Author
She helps clients understand how a website may benefit them both
personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting,
ecommerce hosting, VPS hosting to a wide range of customers
Technorati Tags: RSS, feeds
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