An Introduction to RSS - It's Really Simple!

RSS is now the primary outlet for distributing news headlines over the web, but it hasn't made much noise yet. Many people don't know what RSS is, but practically every website is using it now in some form.

I want to introduce you to the basics of using RSS to get the news you want. A RSS feed is usually denoted by a small orange badge. Clicking on the icon will usually bring up an XML file.

This is the key to RSS, which most people agree stands for "Really Simple Syndication", although sometimes the term "Rich Site Summary" is used.

The key to thinking about RSS is the word syndication - think about popular columns in your local newspaper that are syndicated. In the same way that the columnist delivers the content to the newspaper for publication, the website that publishes a RSS feed is syndicating its website updates to you.

Some feeds syndicate brief summaries, and some syndicate full articles. Many subsidize the use of feeds by displaying a small ad at the bottom of each item.

By taking the address of the XML file the site provides and entering it into a feed reader like Google's free online Reader, you will get headlines from that website as they are updated.

To syndicate the content from my Content Producer page right here on Associated Content, you can enter this address into your RSS reader. You can get that address by looking to the orange button at the top of my Content Producer page. This particular feed delivers a small summary of all of the articles I've published recently here at AC.

Note that while some feeds don't use the orange badge, orange is generally still used. This is the generally accepted standard, and you will see this on almost all websites that offer you the ability to syndicate content using RSS.

Another use of RSS that is bringing it into the mainstream is podcasting. Almost all podcasts are delivered using a RSS feed. By entering the address into a RSS podcasting client such as iTunes, you can get the newest audio files delivered to you each time a new podcast is released.

Note that if you use the podcast feed address in a regular RSS reader, that will work as well. You will be provided with links to download the podcast or to stream it to your computer over the web.