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RSS Feeds

RSS feeds are quickly becoming THE way to get and send news. Although you might not realize it, you’ve probably seen the RSS-feed option on some of your favorite Web sites. Never noticed it? You will. Once you realize how helpful RSS feeds can be, you’ll start seeing them everywhere.

What They Are

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way to deliver regularly changing web content – like the top news stories on your favorite news site.

• Many news-related sites, blogs and other online publishers group their content as a unique URL (called an RSS Feed) and make it available to whoever wants it.
• A Feed Reader is an online tool that can "read" and make sense of that URL, translating it into individual news or story items.
• Each unique URL is equal to the front page of a newspaper. It displays only the highlights – in the form of a headline, a brief summary, and a link to the full article – from that online publication.
• Think of a Feed Reader as a virtual news stand, but all it offers is the front page of each newspaper.
• You can go through this news stand, select the papers that most interest you, and the news stand will package all of the front pages into one customized newspaper.
• Your customized newspaper then gets delivered directly to your computer on a daily, hourly, or by-the-minute basis, depending on how frequently each front page changes its headlines.
• You can add and remove publications from your customized newspaper as often as you like.

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Why Use Them

• Stay Informed – RSS feeds allow you to get up-to-the-minute content from your favorite sites without lifting a finger or clicking a mouse.
• Save Time – with RSS feeds, there's no need to hop from one news site to the next. You can read all of your top stories – from all over the web – in one place.
• Ensure Privacy – by using an RSS feed to get information, you avoid having to sign up for newsletters or e-mail updates. RSS feeds require no password or username. You just grab the URL, set it to feed into your Feed Reader, and presto – live updates.

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How They Work

• Choose a Feed Reader – Feed Readers allow you to grab RSS feeds from your favorite sites and display them in a usable format.
• Some popular Feed Readers include Amphetadesk (Windows, Linux, Mac), FeedReader (Windows), and NewsGator (Windows - integrates with Outlook).
• Many Web sites – like Yahoo!, MSN, and Google – also offer their own Feed Readers, allowing you to pull RSS feeds into your My Yahoo!, My MSN, or gmail home page.
• Find Sites that Offer RSS – once you've chosen a Feed Reader, you'll have to find sites that offer RSS, and add their RSS feeds to your Feed Reader's list. Look for a small (usually orange or red) icon that says RSS, XML, or RDF.
• Sit Back and Let RSS do the Work – once you've told your Feed Reader to check your favorite sites' feeds, your work is finished.
• As long as you have your Feed Reader open, you can read the latest news and articles from your favorite sites, all in one place.
• When an update or a new top story becomes available, your Feed Reader will automatically refresh your feeds.

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