Keeping Up To Speed With RSS
January 29, 2007 | By Kevin Zolkiewicz
You may have noticed references to “RSS” on Web sites become increasingly common over the past few years. Shiny orange icons like the one pictured to the right are often found on just about every Web site with frequently updated news. If you’re not quite sure what it all means, then this article is for you.
What is RSS?
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Simply put, RSS makes it easy to know when your favorite Web site has posted new content such as a news article or blog entry. Just about every blog out there and most mainstream news Web sites offer RSS feeds.
When you subscribe to an RSS feed you can receive automatic and immediate notice when something new is posted. If one of your friends updates their blog or a breaking news article hits The New York Times, you’ll know about it immediately.
Subscribing to an RSS Feed
So how do you subscribe to an RSS feed? There’s two ways. The first is using dedicated RSS software or the RSS capabilities found in most modern Web browsers. The second is to use Web-based RSS readers. We’ll take a look at a few examples of both types.
Using Downloadable RSS Software
RSS capabilities are now available in most modern Web browsers, including Internet Explorer 7, Safari 2.0, or Firefox. While the process of subscribing to an RSS feed varies in each browser, in most cases if a site has an RSS feed an indicator will appear somewhere near the address bar. Click it to view and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. At Wisdom, we often prefer using the RSS features in our Web browsers since it doesn’t require any extra software to install or use.
However, if you plan to get really serious about RSS, you may want to download a dedicated application on your computer that will allow you to view and aggregate RSS feeds. On Windows, we recommend FeedDemon (free trial, $29.95 to buy) or SharpReader (free). There’s also NewsGater Inbox (free trial, $29.95 to buy) which integrates directly into Outlook. On a Mac, we recommend NewsFire (free trial, $18.99 to buy) or Vienna (free).
Using Web-based RSS Readers
Many free Web-based RSS readers are also available. These are great if you find yourself at multiple computers throughout the day, but still want to be able to check your RSS feeds. Some Web-based RSS readers include Bloglines, My Yahoo!, Newsgator, and Netvibes. If you plan on subscribing to a large number of RSS feeds, we recommend Google Reader, a very rich and feature filled Web-based RSS reader.
Summary
Hopefully after reading this article you’ll feel more comfortable with trying out RSS. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll no longer have to spend time manually checking your favorite Web sites for new content. With RSS, the latest updates are always at your fingertips.