What is RSS?

What is RSS?

The RSS formats were preceded by several attempts at web syndication that did not achieve widespread popularity. The basic idea of restructuring information about websites goes back to as early as 1995.

RSS is a technology that is being used by millions of web users around the world to keep track of their favorite websites.

How It Works

Not every site publishes an RSS feed, but many do. To set up your own personal RSS feed:

1.        Get started with an RSS feed by downloading an RSS reader (also called an aggregator). Several free and commercial readers, extensions and apps are available online. Download one of these to your computer or mobile device.

2.        Go to your favorite websites and look for the RSS link. If you don't see it, type the name of the website plus "RSS" in a search engine. 

3.        Copy the URL to the RSS feed for the site.

4.        Paste the RSS URL into the RSS reader/aggregator you downloaded.

5.        Repeat with all the websites you visit frequently.

Some readers make suggestions for additional related sites that have RSS feeds available. To use the RSS reader, you log into your RSS reader web page or start your RSS software or app, and you can scan all the web feeds instantly. You can arrange the RSS feeds into folders, just like email, and you can set alerts and sounds for when a particular web feed is updated.

Here are five free aggregator tools you can use to create your own aggregated feed. Combining several feeds into one feed is simple:

Ø RSS Mix.

Ø RSS Mixer.

Ø Feed Killer.

Ø Feed Informer.

Reasons You Might Enjoy RSS

When you copy the RSS URL and paste it into your RSS reader, you are "subscribing" to the feed. It will deliver results to your RSS reader until you unsubscribe from it. There are plenty of benefits from subscribing to an RSS feed. 

• Hurricane Watch. If you live in "hurricane alley" of the USA, you want to pay close attention to hurricane warnings and evacuation tips. RSS is absolutely a good tool here.
• News. Get the freshest news on your favorite celebrity, the country you are about to visit or your favorite sports team.
• Hobby interests. If you are a motorcyclist, a skier, a pottery enthusiast, or perhaps a dog trainer, hundreds of conversations and bits of hobby advice can be fed directly to your screen.
• Photos. If you like to change your computer wallpaper daily, then RSS feeds are an excellent way to get the latest from photographers on the web.
• Reading your friends' blogs. If you have loved ones around the globe who blog, then you can have all their latest entries fed directly to your screen. This is helpful for families when one of their relatives is in the military.
• Politics. If you are helping a political candidate get elected, then RSS is an invaluable tool for watching popular opinion and blog postings.
• Jokes and inspirational quotes. Add a laugh to your morning or a pick-me-up quote from a famous person.
• Currency Exchange Rates. If you are planning a trip to another country, you can watch for the best time to buy that country's currency.