What's An RSS Feed?

You've probably seen this little orange button on a number of web sites recently and wondered exactly what it means:

RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication" – a term that means very little to most of us. But it's actually a very useful program once you get the hang of it.

Here's How It Works

We create a web site, which consists of a number of different pages. Then we rely on the search engines, paid ads and a number of other sources to send visitors to our site, to buy products, download information or join our mailing list.

In the past, a visitor had to actually visit our site to see what we had to offer. But RSS has changed all that.

You could think of it like a free online yellow pages service.

As web publishers, we write a short summary of each web page (somewhat like an ad), put it into a special software format called RSS, and notify the RSS directory sites that our information is now available in this format.

We also put a little orange button on our site so any visitor can click on the button and sign up to receive our summaries on their computers. Then, if something looks interesting, they can click on the link to visit our site and read the entire article or page.

Why would anyone subscribe to RSS feeds?

Well, if you have an RSS reader, you can receive updates from your favorite web sites without having to seek them out. You'll be able to see some of the site content without visiting the site. No more subscribing to mailing lists, no more remembering to visit the site from time to time. Just press a couple of buttons and your favorite online information will come to you. Think of the time you'll save.

But first you need a reader. This is special software that deciphers RSS feeds, from the largest news organizations right down to small web sites like this one.

Free RSS Readers

Windows - RssReader
http://www.rssreader.com

Mac - NetNewsWire
http://ranchero.com/netnewswire

Once you're set up, here's what you need to do:

1. Right-click (control-click for Mac users) on any orange RSS button on a site, blog or news source that interests you. Start by right-clicking on the orange button below.
   
2. Select Copy Shortcut ("Copy Link to Clipboard" for Mac).
   
3. Paste that URL into your RSS Reader.
   

Here's our feed link if you want to do a test drive:

Right click to get started.

That's all it takes to subscribe!

An Alternative To RSS Readers

If you don't want to download new software to read your feeds, Yahoo and MSN have simple one-step solutions. Just click the links below.


Add to My Yahoo


Add to My MSN

Many web sites feature these links in addition to the orange RSS button. You can always choose them as an alternative way to subscribe to a site's RSS feed.

Try it today and see if this simplifies your time online. And if you decide it's not for you, you can easily delete it