RSS Feeds

DEFINITION RSS is a format that is used for sharing news, major websites and personal weblogs. When information is put into RSS format it can be easily shared, updated and changed. "RSS" stands for "Really Simple Syndication." Sites where content is viewed in RSS Format are known as RSS Feeds. Web viewers are able to use RSS Feeds to see and receive updates or changes made to their favorite websites on a regular basis (www.xml.com).

DESCRIPTION AND WHAT IT CAN DO Almost anything can be broken down into smaller peices that can be syndicated via RSS. Once information is put into RSS format a specified program will check it for changes and react. Programs that read RSS Feeds are called RSS readers and are readily avaliable and easily downloadable over the web. Some commonly used RSS readers are: Bloglines, Newsgator, and Firefox Live Bookmarks (www.about.com). Gaining access to a RSS reader is like getting magazine subsciptions to your favorite websites because it will check the sites for new information for you.

RSS Feeds benefit the publishers of the information, as well as the viewers. It allows the publishers to get out updates to their viewers simply by getting it to the readers, who will then get it to the viewers. Anyone who wants to get their website noticied and out to people need to have an RSS feed. -RSS is becoming increasing popular. The reason is fairly simple. RSS is a free and easy way to promote a site and its content without the need to advertise or create complicated content sharing partnerships(http://www.rss-specifications.com/what-is-rss.htm)-. Users are able to get new information within 30 minutes or less; they are getting quicker all of the time. Viewers do not have to check sites for updates because the reader will let them know right away when activity takes place. Also, it makes the information easier to read because you can see all of your feeds at one time via one interface.

HISTORY OF RSS Feeds RSS can be traced back to 1997 when a program known as RDS was created. RDS is very similar to RSS and was created by Ramanathan V. Guha. In 1999 Netscape was the first browser to use RSS, but dropped it because it was too complicated to perform what they needed it to do. Eventually, Userland Software picked RSS up and transformed it into what it is today (www.xml.com).

• Yahoo Feed Reader:
  

• Sample Feed Reader:
  

RESOURCES

*Places to get feed readers: http://www.NewsGator.com/ http://www.earthlinktoolbar.net http://www.rssreader.com/ http://www.Starware.com/

*Places to learn more about RSS FeedS^?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format) http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html http://www.about.com http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/w-rss.html

*Related Topics: RSS readers specializing in music- http://beta.music.msn.com/music/rss http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/MRSS/rssGenerator

AmandaAllen - 16 Feb 2007
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