RSS How-to

This is just a very quick overview of RSS, what it is and how to use it.

Want to know more about syndication of content?  Try Wikipedia entries on XML, RSS, Web Syndication and Web Feed.

How it works (very simply)

One of the most commonly used icons for RSS is this: rss logo

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) syndicates or subscribes you to the feed of a blog. When you subscribe to the feed of the blog it means you do not have to go visit it to read the latest cposts.

Instead you log into your RSS Reader, and all of the sites to which you have subscribed are listed with their latest posts.

RSS Readers

There are many RSS Readers, but for purposes of simplification in this description, I will just refer to Google Reader.  There, if you don’t already have a free Google account you can quickly and easily sign up for one.  Once you have one, you just sign in and follow the clear instructions.  This is where you will read your feeds.

At the same place, you can sign up for other subscriptions, but you can also do that from the sites themselves.  Where you see the RSS sign on any blog or webpage, click and sign up, click on the Google option, and the information will come automatically to your Google Reader account.

You will see a list of options when you click to sign up for any blog.  These are other RSS readers, which you may wish to investigate.

It’s all free.