420 Design Blog
RSS: Part 1
13 Jun 2006 | Angie H
I've been meaning to write about RSS for quite some time, and obviously, only recently had the time (and motivation) to do so. In this two-part series, I'll be going over what RSS is, how it works, and how it can help your business.
RSS: Huh?
What RSS stands for depends on who you ask, but for our purposes, it's "Really Simple Syndication." Of course, that may mean absolutely nothing to you. To put it simply, RSS is technology that truly lets your customers stay up to date without a ton of effort from you. Publishing news, updates, articles, etc. on your site no longer requires a massive email – although email newsletters and/or updates aren't bad either, but that's a whole other topic for a whole other article. It takes the information you post on a page of your site and puts into a specific format (XML, for those of you wondering), turning the headlines or news items into a feed... an RSS feed to be exact.
Now, an RSS feed by itself doesn't do much. If you were to view one in some browsers, all you'd see is the is the raw XML. To view any given feed though, you need an RSS aggregator (also known as a feed reader, news reader, RSS client, or RSS reader). Feed readers can be downloaded as desktop software, or you can find web-based ones. Additionally, some browsers (such as Apple's Safari and the upcoming Internet Explorer 7) also act as feed readers. Which type you decide on depends on your needs (e.g., someone who subscribes to only a handful of feeds may choose an online or in-browser feed reader, whereas someone, such as myself, who subscribes to over 80 feeds prefers a desktop application - yes, I know... 80...).
Subscribing to RSS feeds
There really isn't a standard method for subscribing to an RSS feed, but there are a couple of common methods: 1) enter the url of the RSS feed into your feed reader, or 2) follow a subscribe link from a web page. The second method, in my experience, has led to problems or general weirdness. However, if you have a good feed reader you'll be able to enter the URL of the web page and it will automatically read its feed.
Once you've subscribed you don't have to do anything else other than, well, read. The feed reader will update itself each time you open it up (and if the site has any new headlines).
Finding the RSS feed for a website
Generally, a website will have a link or an icon that points to its RSS feed. (See the image to the left for a few examples.) Additionally, if you're using Mozilla's Firefox, or Apple's Safari, icons right in the browser will display if the page has an RSS feed.
In Part 2 I'll go over how you can use RSS for your business' website to your advantage.
RSS Readers
Online readers:
For the Mac:
- NetNewsWire *My favorite - I use the Lite version
- NewsFire
- Shrook
- Pheeder
- NewsMac
For Windows:
Note: With the exception of NetNewsWire Lite and NetNewsWire, I have not tried any of the above readers.
Technology, Web Design + Development