What is RSS?

RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.

Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSS

RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News.

With RSS it is possible to distribute up-to-date web content from one web site to thousands of other web sites around the world. RSS allows fast browsing for news and updates.

What You Should Already Know

Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:

·         HTML / XHTML

·         XML / XML Namespaces

Who should use RSS?

Webmasters who seldom update their web sites do not need RSS!

RSS is useful for web sites that are updated frequently, like:

·         News sites - Lists news with title, date and descriptions

·         Companies - Lists news and new products

·         Calendars - Lists upcoming events and important days

·         Site changes - Lists changed pages or new pages

The Future of RSS

Thousands of sites use RSS, and more people understand its usefulness every day.

With RSS, information on the internet becomes easier to find, and web developers can spread their information more easily.

How RSS Works

RSS is used to share content between websites.

With RSS, you register your content with companies called aggregators.

So, to be a part of it: First, create an RSS document and save it with an .xml extension. Then, upload the file to your website. Next, register with an RSS aggregator. Each day the aggregator searches the registered websites for RSS documents, verifies the link, and displays information about the feed so clients can link to documents that interests them.