What is RSS?

How can I use RSS?

Choose a News Reader?

Subscribe to some Feeds

Read and Enjoy

What is RSS?

In a world heaving under the weight of billions of web pages, keeping up to date with the information you want can be a drag.

Say you like to browse through your five favorite websites each day, to see what's new. Five sites, fifteen minutes apiece — that's over an hour, just to find out if there are any new articles.

Wouldn't you rather have the latest news and features delivered directly to you?

Well now you can, thanks to a very clever service, RSS - which can automatically tell you when something new is posted online, so that you spend less time searching for content and more time enjoying it.

RSS takes the hassle out of staying up-to-date, by showing you the very latest information that you are interested in. Not all websites currently provide RSS, but it is growing rapidly in popularity.

How do I start using RSS Feeds?

To use RSS you will need to:

1. Choose an RSS Reader

2. Subscribe to an RSS feed, and

3. Read and enjoy!

Choose an RSS Reader

In general, the first thing you need is something called a News Reader. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications. All of them allow you to display and subscribe to the RSS feeds you want.

RSS readers can either be Standalone or Plugin. Standalone readers are applications that run in the background on your desktop and automatically update your subscribed feeds. Plugin readers work within one of you existing programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

There are a variety of free RSS readers available as well as readers you can purchase that have more tools and features within the reader. Check out C|Net's news reader reviews.

Subscribe to an RSS feed.

Most RSS readers will come with a collection of RSS feeds organized by topic such as News, Health, Finance, etc. More than likely you will want to subscribe to other feeds that are of interest to you.

To know if a website or blog offers an RSS Feed, look for the RSS subscribe button or link, which can be:

• The classic RSS button:
• The XML button:
• A simple list of links: RSS, Atom, MyYahoo, Bloglines, etc.
• Your selected RSS Reader's button:


          

      

Most RSS readers support multiple ways to subscribe to an RSS feed:

• Click to Subscribe
  When you see a feed you're interested in, simply click on the subscribe button or link and follow the prompts offered by your RSS reader to complete the subscription.
  
• Drag and Drop to Subscribe
  Another simple way to subscribe is by dragging the subscribe button or link into the RSS Reader. You will be instantly subscribed to that feed.
  
• Manually Add Feeds
  If you know the URL of the feed you want to subscribe to, most RSS Readers will offer you the option to add it manually.

Read and Enjoy!

Once you have subscribed to the RSS feeds you want, your RSS reader will seek out that information, and you will receive any new content from the publisher. Most feed readers present you with easy-to-browse headlines and short summaries of the latest information, including links that will take you directly to the full article. You can see what's new on dozens of sites, and read only the ones that interest you.