If you spent any amount of time on the Internet, you have undoubtedly come across a few websites that you really enjoy reading. Perhaps its MyMark, perhaps it Technorati, maybe it's a family website a relative set-up for everyone.
Regardless, checking all of our favorite websites for content updates can become tiresome really not enjoyable. Luckily there was a technology that was developed to simplify the ability to check all of our favorite websites without actually having to visit them. It's called RSS, which stands for Real Simple Syndication.
Most modern websites create a file known as an RSS feed. It is a compilation of updates, new blog posts, or whatever other type of content the site might provide. By itself, this file is nothing but a bunch of XML, a web language. But when you have a RSS reader configured, it becomes infinitely valuable. For example, if you already have a Google account, you can use Google Reader to manage RSS subscriptions. The basic concept is that your RSS reader of choice keeps a list of all the sites you want to read and the site publishing the feed and your Reader will talk to each other, creating a handy list of all updated sites for you to read at your convenience without fear of missing a new post, article, picture, or podcast.
When you click on an RSS feed link and your browser knows you have an RSS reader, which it will frequently auto-detect things like Google Reader. For example, if you want to subscribe to a blog, you can usually find a large orange RSS icon that looks like a satellite or radio signal. The dot with the 2 quarter circles forms what is regarded universally as the RSS icon. You can click with a fairly strong confidence on any icon that looks like that and you will find an RSS feed for you to subscribe to.
Once you have to chosen to subscribe to an RSS feed, you can now view it in a number of ways. You can either visit Google.com/reader or if you use a customized Google homepage, you can add an RSS feed widget that will allow you to see a summary of all the latest updates from your favorite sites whenever you visit Google.
But don't feel obligated to use Google to accomplish this, as there are many similar services that allow you to handle RSS feeds. Perhaps you use Yahoo or another site. It doesn't matter which one you use, as the process is fairly straight-forward.
With such a wealth of content on the Internet, we can't remember every site we want to read consistently. That's why we have such a great tool. If you have any questions or need clarifications, be sure to leave a comment so we can help you out to the best of ability.
How to Use an RSS Feed to Increase Results in Search Engines The Benefits of Using RSS Feeds What Is RSS? Or What Does That Orange Radar Thingy Do? Choosing an RSS Reader Tracking News Through RSS Feeds Making Your Own RSS Feeds
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