A Beginners Guide to Using RSS
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an increasingly popular technology in use online. Many sites now have RSS feeds to deliver content, and many people are exploring this exciting technology to add an extra dimension to their web surfing.
Although it has been available for some time RSS is poorly understood by website users, and very few of us make use of its many benefits. But with a little know-how, and some free software, more and more people are finding that RSS is opening up new areas of the web for them, as well as making the task of managing their diverse online interests a great deal easier.
What is RSS?
RSS is a mechanism used to send information to a user who has subscribed to a news feed on a website. Unlike the normal process, where you visit a site and work your way through its pages, RSS feeds send information to you. The type of information can really be anything normally found on a site, like articles, news stories and blog entries; the difference is that it’s packaged up in an easy to read format.
RSS is really just a stripped-down version of a website, free of images, adverts and other potential distractions.
The contents of an RSS feed tend to be headlines and a brief summary of the page it’s related to. Imagine a custom-written webpage that’s a summary of recent changes to a site; perhaps a series of new articles, with a quick summary of each, and with handy links to the pages they belong to. In this sense RSS is really just a stripped-down version of a website, free of images, adverts and other potential distractions.
Because it is a passive medium, with the user not required to do anything to keep it up to date, RSS feeds provide an easy way to stay on top of the latest information from the websites you are interested in. It’s designed to provide an at-a-glance view of the latest updates to a site, allowing you to quickly scan the recent changes and additions. In effect, a brief summary or overview of the latest updates that you might be interested in.
RSS feeds are a lot like bookmarks. A user subscribes to a news feed in much the same way you might bookmark a webpage to later read. Once bookmarked like this it's automatically updated for you, providing the latest information from the site. Just as a bookmark ‘captures’ a web link, a feed does the same with actual content. As noted above, it’s tailored towards a quicker, scannable approach that makes it easier to cover a broad range of topics and websites in one go.
The benefits of RSS
The main benefit of RSS is that, once subscribed, you the user have absolute control over the feed itself. It automatically updates in the background, always giving you access to the most up to date version of the feed content, and you can delete or unsubscribe at any time.
Websites with feeds tend to make it obvious. Typically they indicate a feed using the standard orange icon, with a text link inviting you to subscribe.
You can easily subscribe to many different feeds, covering as wide a range of topics and websites as you’re interested in. Anything from hobbies to work-related content, specialist research and even personalized news searches can be captured as an RSS feed. This allows you to cover a lot of ground using a single piece of software like a browser or news reader (see below). You no longer need to visit dozens of sites you’ve previously bookmarked, hoping to find content that may not even be there.
Because RSS feeds organize information for you, often in an easy to read format, you can easily group your feeds together in terms of topic. For example, all your business-related information can be scanned in one go for appealing stories and headlines. Depending on the software you use this can be extended by searches; some feed software allows you to search for new RSS feeds related to those already subscribed, making for a fast and efficient way of finding new information and sites.
Finally, many people don't realize RSS feeds are free. They don't even require you to login, despite sites asking you to ‘subscribe to our news feed‘; as they are just an alternative view of a site's content. A feed, after all, is just a simple view of a website without the clutter.
How to use RSS
As RSS has developed into a mainstream technology the number of ways to access feeds has increased. These fall into three main categories:
- Dedicated feed readers
- Web browsers
- Online services
Dedicated feed readers
A feed reader, or news reader, is a standalone piece of software that handles your RSS feeds. Its main purpose is to manage your subscriptions, and to provide a means to read all your RSS content.
Feed readers tend to be fairly simple and look a lot like email programs (See Illustration 1). They generally contain a list of all the feeds you subscribe to, like a list of email inboxes. When clicked, a bookmarked feed reveals a list of contents; these are usually a list of headlines. Once the headlines themselves are clicked the program reveals the content of the story, typically a brief summary of the article or page, with the content containing a link to the original page online.
As well as reading content news readers provide a way to subscribe to feeds. This can be as simple as copying the web address of the feed into the program, or as sophisticated as going out onto the web for you to find related material based on keywords you provide. Subscribing to feeds is simple and hassle-free; it only involves you saving or bookmarking the address of the feed, and you’re good to go.
There are many feed readers available, and all of them help streamline your ability to read and manage many different RSS feeds. They are particularly useful if you subscribe to a high number of feeds or require advanced archiving and referencing features that other solutions lack. They are ideal for serious researchers like students and journalists.
Illustration 1: Feed Readers
Sometimes known as news readers, these applications are designed to
be easy to use and are fairly intuitive. If you’ve used any kind
of email program you’ll get the idea almost immediately.
If, however, your needs are more modest, or you just want to have a quick go at using RSS feeds, there are simpler options available.
Using your browser
Most modern browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, now have built-in feed readers. These are really just an extension of the bookmarking functions already present and provide a quick and easy way to subscribe to RSS feeds (See Illustration 2).
Like a bookmark your browser saves the news feed, invisibly subscribing in the background. These are then available in much the same way a bookmark or favorite is. The browser displays the contents of the feed when you hover over it, often just the headlines or titles. Once clicked you go straight to the page it points to.
Examples of the way different web browsers highlight the presence of RSS feeds on a website - the little icons used to indicate RSS feeds can differ, but the basic idea is the same. Just click it and the browser should guide you through the rest.
In addition, RSS-capable browsers are helpful since they will highlight when a feed is available on a website; usually in the form of a small, orange icon that you can click to automatically subscribe. The actual icon can vary from browser to browser, but the basic idea is the same across different browsers. If it appears, you click it, and its contents are immediately available.
The real benefit of using a browser to handle news feeds is that you probably already use one to surf the web. This combined role of being able to find new feeds on sites while you’re there, combined with the one-click subscription concept, means that finding and adding feeds that interest you is no more difficult than surfing the web as normal.
Another good reason for using a browser is that the two leading contenders, Internet Explorer and Firefox, are both free. They’re not only mainstream and very popular, but, in the case of Firefox, are available on any computing platform you’re likely to be using.
Illustration 2: Web Browsers
Different browsers display RSS feeds in slightly different ways; however
all of them are designed to take the hassle out of using the technology.
The browser above (Firefox) simply formats and displays the feed contents
on your behalf, giving you the option to just read the contents or to
subscribe.
Online feed services
Online services are very similar to news readers in that they provide a quick and easy way to subscribe to any number of feeds that interest you. Where they differ is that they are available from any computer without first having to install software (See Illustration 3).
There are many online feed services available; however they all work along similar lines. You register with the service and then add as many feeds as you like. As with the other options - browsers and news readers - they manage all your subscriptions in one place. Typically all you have to do is paste the web address of the feeds you like, and the service does the rest.
Their main benefit is that you don’t need to install any software on your own computer. You simply login to the website, and off you go. Because the services are online you can access them from any computer that has access to the internet. In practical terms this means you can update your feeds at home and access them elsewhere, like work for instance. They are designed to be hassle-free and easy to use. Many of them can even provide access to your feeds using handheld devices like cell phones.
Another benefit of online feed services is that many of them will help you find new feeds and sites that interest you. Most services have ‘packages’ of feeds available containing content revolving around a particular theme or topic, such as politics or science. This is a great way of finding new things online you like, and often throws up some websites you’d never normally find.
Illustration 3: Online Services
Although different services vary slightly in their details, they all
work along similar lines. They capture and display RSS feeds, helping
you to read and subscribe online without installing software.
Try it out yourself
If you haven’t already done so you may want to consider exploring RSS feeds as an additional way to surf the web. As well as being easy to use and free to subscribe it’s an alternative view of the online world that opens up a whole new raft of possibilities.
From favorite topics to quirky articles, video clips and difficult to find news articles, RSS can help you organize your existing online interests, as well as finding new sites that would otherwise be difficult to track down.
Often we have a free 20 minutes at work, or an hour spare at night. RSS makes perfect use of these lost moments; packaging up entire chunks of the web for easy reading and enjoyable discovery. We no longer need to wade our way through pop up adverts or badly designed websites.
RSS is especially useful for targeted interests such as hobbies, sports, news or business-related information.
RSS is especially useful for targeted interests such as hobbies, sports, news or business-related information that is often hard to manage, and difficult to access quickly when you need it. With its fast-and-easy approach to web content RSS makes a refreshing change to slogging through dozens of bookmarks or favorites to find half-remembered pages that may be long gone.
So with a little know-how anyone can now package up their own personalized web. Of course the best way to get to grips with RSS is to have a go yourself. With many easy to use, free options available there’s no excuse to avoid trying out this remarkable technology.
By Calvin van Hoek
Copyright © 2007 Calvin van Hoek. All rights reserved.
Please note: This article is not available for reprint without express written permission from the author.
Useful links
We don't specifically endorse any products or services outlined below, however if you're new to RSS you may find these links useful to get you started.
News Readers
News readers are handy standalone applications that manage RSS feeds for you. Some have advanced search features to help you track down new topics of interest. All of them will handle the feeds themselves, allowing you to read their contents with ease.
Browsers
Many modern browsers have RSS readers built in. Below are two of the most popular.
Online Readers
Online services allow you to subscribe (often for free) to have your news feeds tracked online. This means you can access them from any computer connected to the internet, and they don't require you to install software.
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