RSS FAQ
What is an RSS, Atom or XML feed?
“RSS” stands for Really Simple Syndication, which is a way to publish updates to web content. With syndicated feeds you no longer need to visit a website to find updated content. RSS (also called XML feeds), allows you to subscribe to a feed, and you are alerted when the content is updated. Atom is another form of XML feed.
How to read an RSS feed.
To read RSS feeds you have three main options.
- Desktop programs
There are many desktop applications for Windows and Mac OS system users. FeedDemon (Windows) and NetNewsWire (Mac OS X) are examples of programs you can purchase while Vienna (Mac OS X) and SharpReader (Windows) are examples of free programs. - Web Browsers
Many modern web browsers such as Firefox (Windows/Mac OS X) and Safari (Mac OS X) allow you to subscribe to feeds. - Web based services
Web based services have the advantage of being available to you everywhere. The most common services are NewsGator, Bloglines, and My Yahoo.
How do I subscribe to an RSS feed?
The process will be different for each application or service. In most cases you will copy and past the RSS URL to subscribe.