What the heck is "RSS??"

If you've been wondering what those little orange "XML/RSS" buttons are popping up on web sites, you're not alone!.

"RSS" has 2 meanings, "Really Simple Syndication" or "Really Simple Subscription" - it just depends on if you are the publisher of information or the consumer of information.

"Syndication" in this use means the redistribution of material by a publisher to many outlets. So a publisher looks at getting his material out by RSS, "Really Simple Syndication."

But what RSS means to you, someone who wants information, RSS stands for "Really Simple Subscribing." Just like you subscribe to a newspaper and it comes to you from a paper carrier, you can "subscribe" to a web site's RSS feed, also called a web feed, and get the stuff you want delivered to you.

You can keep up-to-date on web sites that have RSS without having to go to the web site itself and try to figure out if there is new stuff!

What's a "Web feed??

A "web feed" is the format that information from different Web sites comes to you. Think of it as though you are getting "fed" the information that you specifically want from the Web.

Web feeds/RSS feeds are programmed using a computer "language" called "XML" which stands for eXtensible Markup Language.

It's similar to a web page, which is programmed using "HTML" - HyperText Markup Language.

When you see this little icon on a web page that means the site offers a web feed.

This icon also indicates that there is a web feed available for you to subscribe to.

How do you subscribe to web feeds?

Well, first you need a program that can "read" the XML file that contains the feed. There are two ways you can do this:

1. You can use a free RSS feed reader that you download onto your computer (you install the feed reader software on your computer) OR
2. You can set up a feed reader that works through your web browser and subscribe to feeds using Google Reader, My Yahoo! or My MSN.

If you want to download and use your feed reader on your computer, try these free readers:

Windows -- RssReader
http://www.rssreader.com/ (opens new window)

Mac -- NetNewsWire
http://ranchero.com/netnewswire/ (opens new window)

If you don't want to download new software, subscribe through My Yahoo!, My MSN or Google Reader. You can get instructions right at the respective web sites. I use "Google Reader" and it's great! It was easy to get going and subscribing.

Here are the different links - choose the one that you have an account with or use regularly :)

Google Reader
(Up in the very top left corner, click on the "more" link and then you'll get a drop-down menu. "Reader" is towards the bottom.)

My MSN

My Yahoo!

Once you've got a reader set up, you can start subscribing to web feeds from sites that offer them. You subscribe by:

Right-clicking and hold down (control-click for Mac users) on any orange RSS button on a site, blog or news source that interests you.

Then, while holding down the mouse button, select "Copy Shortcut" from the menu that pops us ("Copy Link to Clipboard" for Mac, "Copy Link Location" for Firefox browsers), and paste that URL into your RSS Reader.

And that's it! You're subscribed. Note that each reader will have instructions on how to add a subscription, this is just the basic way.

Some web sites, such as this one, offer buttons that allow you to quickly add the feed to either My Yahoo!, My MSN or Google Reader. You'll usually see them under or next to the orange Web feed icon. If you use any of the readers listed above, all you have to do is click on the button for the reader you use and you'll be instantly subscribed to that site's feed!

Benefits of subscribing to RSS/Web feeds
(Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed)

Web feeds have some advantages compared to receiving frequently published content via email:

• When subscribing to a feed, users do not disclose their email address, so users are not increasing their exposure to threats associated with email: spam, viruses, phishing, and identity theft.

• If users want to stop receiving news, they do not have to send an "unsubscribe" request; users can simply remove the feed from their feed reader.

• The feed items are automatically "sorted" in the sense that each feed URL has its own sets of entries (unlike an email box, where all mails are in one big pile and email programs have to resort to complicated rules and pattern matching).

Have fun, you have a cool new time-saving tool!

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