What is RSS?
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a free technology that keeps you updated on new stories, blog posts, and other content from all your favorite websites.
How does it Work?
Let’s say you like to regularly visit 20-30 sites, but you just don’t have the time to check them every day or every week. Using RSS, you can “subscribe” to your favorite websites and blogs and have new content displayed in an “RSS feed reader” as a list of headlines or excerpts, depending on your preference. If the headline/excerpt looks interesting to you, simply click on the headline to read the whole story. Now you can monitor all your favorite sites in just minutes! Alternately, for people who would rather be notified of new content via e-mail, RSS can do that, too.
What is an RSS Feed Reader?
An RSS feed reader, a.k.a. “feed aggregator” can best be explained as an application that gathers (or aggregates) all the headlines from all the websites and blogs you have subscribed to, and displays them in list or folder form. There are hundreds of free RSS readers to choose from, but there are two different types – there are software applications that you can download onto your local computer and browser-based (Internet) applications that you can log into.
How do I Subscribe to RSS Feeds?
Subscribing to a website or blog’s RSS feed is simple if you know where to look, and most blogs are free to subscribe to. Here’s how:
Subscribe to E-Mail Updates
If you don’t want to use a feed reader because you only have a handful of websites to track and they don’t update content very often, then you may want to opt for receiving e-mails of new content. Not all websites/blogs offer this free service, but HCIM does. Simply click the “Subscribe to E-Mail Updates” link (see our links on the sidebar to the right) and enter your e-mail address. It’s quick, easy, and your e-mail address will remain confidential.
Subscribe via RSS Reader
In order to subscribe to a website or blog’s RSS, follow these three simple steps:
#1 Get a Feed Reader
Either download a free RSS feed reader or sign up for a free browser-based feed reader. FeedDemon is my favorite desktop application for ease-of-use and robust features, including the ability to set pop-up alerts whenever new content is found. It can also synchronize with Google Reader, which is coincidentally my favorite online application. Google Reader allows you to check your RSS feeds online, so you’re not tied to your computer – you can check from someone else’s computer or from your smart phone.
#2 Add your Subscriptions
Add the websites/blogs that you want to follow by finding their RSS feed URL and entering it in your RSS reader’s “add new subscription” field.
Where to find the RSS feed URL
Look for a “Subscribe to RSS” text link or a button with the RSS symbol on the webpage you want to subscribe to (see our links in the sidebar on the right). Typically, you can find these RSS symbols/links on the top, bottom, or sidebar of the webpage you want to subscribe to. If you can’t find a link or button, try looking in your browser window.
Click the RSS symbol to view all feeds for the current webpage.
In Internet Explorer, if there’s an RSS feed on the current page, the RSS button on your toolbar will be enabled and will turn orange. Simply click the RSS button to find the available RSS feeds associated with that webpage and then select the desired feed to view the URL. You can copy and paste that URL into your feed reader to subscribe to the RSS feed.
#3 Customize your Settings (optional)
Once your RSS subscription is added to your feed reader, you can either use the reader’s default settings or configure it to check for new content anywhere from every few minutes to every few weeks. Many RSS readers will also allow you to set up alerts for whenever new content is found, which is helpful if your feeds don’t publish new content every day.
You can easily customize your view to display content from all websites, usually sorted by date, or browse to only view content from within a particular category/webpage. Once you’ve added a few of your favorite RSS feeds, you can start to share your RSS feed lists with others and view recommended RSS feeds.