RSS is a file format that is used to let people know when a certain website or part of a website has been updated with new content.
11 February 2009
The service which alerts users to these updates is known as an RSS feed. A feed, like a website, is a file of computer code that your computer converts into something that can be read on your screen. Unlike a website, an RSS feed may not simply be viewed in your browser window. To view an RSS feed, you will need to download an RSS reader (also called a feed reader or RSS aggregator).
When loaded into an RSS reader, a feed will deliver a brief summary of each update that is made to the website it comes from, along with a link to the updated area of the website.
News feeds
A list of different news feeds provides information on different subjects in sport and recreation.
What are News Feeds?
News feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest headlines and video in one place, as soon as its published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from.
Feeds are also known as RSS. There is some discussion as to what RSS stands for, but most people plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'. In essence, the feeds themselves are just web pages, designed to be read by computers rather than people.
How do I start using feeds?
In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader. This is a piece of software that checks the feeds and lets you read any new articles that have been added. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications.
Browser-based news readers let you catch up with your RSS feed subscriptions from any computer, whereas downloadable applications let you store them on your main computer, in the same way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it on a web-based service like Hotmail.
Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want it to receive. For example, if you would like the latest BBC News Entertainment stories, simply visit the Entertainment section and you will notice an orange button on the left hand side.
If you click on the RSS button you can subscribe to the feed in various ways, including by dragging the URL of the feed into your news reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader. Most sites that offer feeds use a similar orange button, but some may just have a normal web link.
Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari, automatically check for feeds for you when you visit a website, and display an icon when they find one. This can make subscribing to feeds much easier. For more details on these, please check their websites.
How do I get a news reader?
There is a range of different news readers available and new versions are appearing all the time.
Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work with your computer.
News readers
Windows Newz Crawler | FeedDemon | Awasu
Mac OS X Newsfire | NetNewsWire
Web Bloglines | FeedZilla | NewsGator | Microsoft Live | My Yahoo!
Browser Mozilla Firefox | Other News Readers (GOOGLE)
