RSS Feeds

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It's a way to get news, weblogs, announcements, and any other information automatically updated right on your desktop. You can avoid going from web site to web site for the latest news or constantly checking a favorite page for updates.

In order to get an RSS feed you'll need a reader. There are many RSS readers out there—you'll find that every RSS user has their preference. In addition to stand alone programs some email clients, like Opera Mail and Thunderbird, have their own built in RSS reader that collects feeds just like it gathers email.

Many news outlets like Fox News, The Washington Post, Reuters, The New York Times, CNN, and NPR have newsfeeds. You can select from headlines, politics, arts & entertainment, finance, and more. In addition, RSS is popular with bloggers.

Now that you know what RSS is you're probably asking, "How does it work?"

Well, as I mentioned, you first need to get a program to read RSS feeds. These are called aggregators. Many aggregators simply bring up text headlines and a summary, then you must click a link to see the whole story or go to the updated page. Since getting Mozilla Thunderbird for my email, I prefer using it for RSS feeds. It gives the headline then shows the actual page in the preview pane.

If your favorite site offers an RSS feed you'll notice an orange box that says "XML" or "RSS".

Click the box and you'll get a page with a bunch of code on it. Go to the address bar and copy the address. In most cases all you need to do is paste the URL into the right place to add it to your list of feeds.

In Mozilla Thunderbird all you do is right click "News & Blogs", select "Manage Subscriptions", choose the "Add" button, and paste the address in there. After you click "OK" a few times the feed appears on your list and you'll get the latest entries.

To get current feeds all you need to do is click the arrow next to "Get mail" and select "News & Blogs". If there are any updates they will go to their proper folders. The rest works just like email.

In addition to actual news sites, a great place to find RSS feeds is..

The Feed Room
http://www.feedroom.com/rssmain.jsp

Once you get familiar with RSS you'll wonder how you ever kept on top of news and events without it. Have fun keeping up-to-date

~ David