WHY RSS ?

2008-02-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

What is RSS?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an XML-based format for content distribution. News, information, enterprise applications and weblogs (blogs) can all be published in RSS. When a new article is posted or a change is made to an application, RSS feeds can automatically notify the user. Text, images, audio (including podcasts) and video can be incorporated into RSS feeds.

How Does RSS Impact Business?

For Individual Users, RSS feeds can help keep you up-to-date on news, information and blog posts, making you more knowledgeable and productive, both at work and at home. According to Technorati as of March 2006, there are more than 30 million RSS feeds available. Most mainstream news and information sites publish RSS feeds.

For Enterprises, there are a number of different use cases for RSS since both internal (enterprise applications, blogs, reports) and external (industry news, competitive information, blogs) content can be delivered as feeds. In particular, many businesses see benefits by not having to periodically check Web sites for key updates or wade through traffic on e-mail distribution lists. In addition to increasing knowledge and productivity, RSS feeds can also be used for brand monitoring, crisis communications, internal/executive communications and competitive intelligence.

For Publishers, Media Companies and Other Content/Information Providers, RSS feeds offer readers, visitors and customers a convenient way to read and access their information. RSS feeds can also be incorporated into Web sites to offer a more personalized and rich user experience, strengthen the brand and maximize revenue opportunities.

How do I Use RSS?

To view RSS feeds, you will need an RSS reader or aggregator. There are a number of free or low-cost online, desktop, mobile and Outlook--based readers available. To leverage RSS for a large number of users inside of a company, you will likely need an RSS server to handle security and scalability issues, centrally manage users and groups and present a common interface. To aggregate RSS into an external Web site, you will also need a server-based solution, either hosted or customer-premise based.

How do I Publish RSS Feeds?

Several companies offer tools to help convert information from XML or HTML to RSS feeds. There are also a number of companies that offer hosted or downloadable applications for publishing RSS feeds, as well as blogs, podcasts and other content.

WHAT IS RSS ?

2008-02-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

HOW RSS CAN HELP SAVE TIME & MONEY ?

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is an XML-based format for content distribution on the Internet. It’s an excellent way for Internet users to get updated news content and online articles -- the stuff you want -- without having to search for it.

How Does RSS Work?

Basically, when a new article is posted or a change made to a webpage, RSS keeps track of the changes and delivers them to you. RSS feeds are most often attached to text, images, podcasts and video, but they can be used with any document (word processing and spreadsheets) that has content that changes.

Who Benefits From RSS?

Anyone who has been frustrated at the time it takes to find what you want on the Internet can appreciate the time-saving feature of RSS. If there are web pages you visit daily or regularly – let’s say you always read the front page of The New York Times and your best friend’s weblog – RSS eliminate the need to check for updates. Every time something changes on the page, it comes to you. RSS always shows the most-recent changes.

How Do I Use RSS?

To view RSS feeds, you need an RSS reader (also called an aggregator), which trolls RSS feeds across the Web to regularly update content. All are pretty easy to use, offering users the chance to read, e-mail, save or clip content with a click of the mouse. There are many free, web-based readers, all which compile and update feeds, all which allow anonymous access to their feeds from any computer with Internet access. For heavier users, there are desktop, application-based readers that offer more features.

What Can RSS Help Me Do?

One of the original uses for RSS is the ability to create a personal newspaper with new content updated every morning. Beyond that, on the short list of things RSS can do is make it easy to search for and organize information about a particular topic, keep up with your kid’s homework, track packages, find cheap airfares or follow e-Bay auctions and sales. You can get your horoscope, search for jobs, read your favorite comics, get software updates, keep up with other people’s schedules and follow calendar listings for your favorite clubs and venues. You can see what others are saying about your favorite sports teams or keep up with what others are saying about your favorite (or least-favorite) celebrity. All without surfing through pop-up ads, slow downloads and poorly navigated sites. RSS saves time. It’s as simple as that.

Can I Access RSS Only Through a Computer?

You can access RSS feeds on mobiles device and many cell phones or via e-mail as well as on a computer.

What is a Feed?

A feed is similar to a bookmark in a web browser. If you subscribe to the feed of the New York Times home page, for instance, you will always see the latest content from that page in your reader. You can create special search feeds for specific words or phrases, which can be extremely useful for research, or clip content you find for later use or sharing with others. Put another way, a feed is a website that changes.

What is a Post?

In your web reader, each feed shows new articles, or posts, in a list. The reader allows you to read the article on its original page, mark the article as read, rate it, e-mail or IM it to friends or clip it for future reference in a folder.

Who Publishes Content in RSS?

Most online news and information sites publish RSS feeds, and more are being added every day. Part of the popularity of weblogs, or blogs, is that the software that creates them have RSS capability, which allows friends and other people to subscribe and share content.

How Do I "Subscribe" to a Feed?

There are various ways. You may see the big orange symbol on web pages, which is a link to the RSS feed or a page of feeds. Copy the url (the web address) of the feed you want and paste it in your reader to subscribe. Many pages offer one-click subscription to well-known aggregators like NewsGator, Bloglines, Rojo and Google Reader. The latest versions of the popular web browsers Internet Explorer and Firefox and Apple’s Safari now incorporate RSS feeds into their bookmark programs. If your bookmarks are showing updated content, you are subscribed to RSS feeds and you don’t even know it.

Is RSS a Substitute For E-mail?

No. E-mail is a two-way communication channel. RSS merely keeps content current. However, they both work together, and you can receive RSS content through e-mail.What Are Podcasts?
Podcasts are digital files recorded for downloading through RSS feeds for playback. RSS allows users to download podcasts to computers or mobile devices for playback at any time.

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WHY RSS ?

WHAT IS RSS ?