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RSS feed this, RSS feed that. Just what is this RSS business? You'll see the RSS symbol on many of the online publications you read these days. From newspapers and webzines to blogs, more and more online publications offer RSS feeds as an easier way to alert readers about new content. You'll find RSS makes your knowledge-seeking life so much easier. And, here's a little bit about how it works.
What Is RSS?
RSS stands for "really simple syndication," and it's a way for your favorite publications to directly feed you fresh, often up-to-the-minute content. Each publication produces a "feed" whenever content is updated, which means you no longer have to spend time searching out the most up-to-date information. It's fed right to you.
What Is a Feed Reader?
In order to take advantage of a publication's feed, you'll need to sign up for a free feed reader or news aggregator. Feed reader software allows you to compile and organize all of your RSS feeds in one place for simplified content organization and perusal. Some of the popular readers are Google Reader, AmphetaDesk and Feedreader. Bloglines is another one and, despite its name, is not limited to only blog feeds. Additionally, Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2007 has an RSS reader built right in so new feeds pop up right along with new mail. Once you've signed up for a reader, you can start subscribing to the feeds for your favorite publications.
How Do I Subscribe to an RSS Feed?
It's simple to subscribe to a feed and there is no fee or registration process. Visit your favorite publications to see if they offer RSS. Most sites display the RSS symbol or other symbols with the acronyms RSS, XML or RDF (most publications post a highly visible link to RSS-many at the bottom of their home page). Once you find one of these symbols, then click on the graphic button. That will take you to the cryptic-looking feed page where you can then copy the URL and paste it into your reader. Some feed sign-up instruction may vary from publication to publication, but it's usually very easy to figure out.
Better tools in readers and even within browsers are popping up every day to make RSS feed subscriptions even more straightforward. For instance, if you're using the Mozilla Firefox browser, the RSS symbol, if available, is usually available right in the URL line of your browser. Just click on the symbol to subscribe to that page or publication's feed. If you don't see the RSS feed graphic, you can always try to enter the URL manually in your reader to see if a feed is available.
Why RSS?
When you use a reader to organize your publication's feeds, you no longer have to visit each individual site to get your information. Just think; instead of clicking through to several individual newspaper or news sites in the morning, you can just go to your reader and easily peruse the top headlines from there. And don't worry, if you come across something you want to click over and view on the actual page, all you have to do is follow the headline link right over. New and convenient feeds are showing up all over the Internet-even Craigslist and eBay.
With RSS Feed, there is no more clicking endlessly site to site for new content. Your reader will tell you when there's something new to read. And, a well-stocked reader also means less email to wade through. You don't have to subscribe to email alerts; you can find all the new content in your reader. You can even mark key articles you want to save for future reference.
RSS is the next best thing in online reading. If you frequent the web for your news and information, you definitely want to check it out today.
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