RSS - The Facts

What is RSS?

The letters RSS have many meanings such as:

  • Really Simple Syndication
  • Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)
  • RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.9 and 1.0)
  • Real-time Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)

But, in reality they all do and mean more or less the same thing. RSS is an easy way for a web master to distribute articles and site updates to people that are interested in the site.

Why would you use RSS?

In the "old days", if you found a site that interested you, you would bookmark it in your browser and then periodically visit it to see if there was anything new. This is okay if you visit only a handful of sites, but it's not exactly convienient. Now you can "subscribe" to a blog or website and they will send you the latest articles or content, free of charge. This is a great time-saver as you do not have to visit the site to see if there are any new articles.

How do you get RSS?

First of all you will need an RSS Reader, this is a application much like an email reader. It allows you to read your RSS subscriptions in an orderly manner. There are several readers available both for free and paid-for. I think the most popular free one is the Google Reader. If you haven't already, sign up with Google and then click on "Reader" at the top left of the screen. You can then read your subscriptions in your browser, which is handy because you can have access to them anywhere there is access to the internet, whether it's by computer or smart-phone.

Example RSS Icon Now you have a reader, you can go to your favourite sites or blogs and start subscribing to their RSS feeds. When you visit a site that has RSS you will likely see an RSS icon like the one to the right. Generally, it will be at the top of the sidebar as webmasters want you to subscribe to their site. If you are using Fire Fox, you will also see the RSS icon in the address bar at the top of the browser. Click on eitherof the RSS icons to start your subscription.

Besides posts or articles, some blogs will also let you subscribe to a post's comments. Now this is done by one of two methods:

  • Email Notification: You will usually see a check box with the text "Subscribe to Comments" by it's side. On some blogs you have to comment beore you can subscribe, on others you don't.
  • By RSS: This is the one which is more interesting. You don't need to make a comment to subscribe you just click the link. This can be useful when there is a popular post with lots of people commenting, it can be difficult to keep up with comments on the blog, but in your RSS Reader it is child's play.

Now, despite the ease of using RSS some people prefer to get the updates via email instead, and so a lot of sites are now providing their updates in email form, all you have to do is provide your email address and sometimes your name. If a site or blog provides this service you will find it near the icon noted above.

How to subscribe on this site

It doesn't matter whether you are interested in everything I have to say or in only selected topics, it's your choice. In the sidebar on this page you can select exactly what you want to subscribe to and how. In the Topics panel you can subscribe to individual Topics by clicking on the RSS icon. Below that in the panel you can subscribe to everything by either RSS feed or by email.

  • Full Site Feed:
    You can subscribe to receiving all new articles or content by clicking All Articles at the bottom of the Site Subscriptions panel. I also give you the option of subscribing at the end of each article. If you wish you can also subscribe to the All comments feed in the link above.
  • Topic Subscriptions:
    If you interested in only certain topics, the Site Subscriptions panel provides a link to all the topics I write about in this blog.
  • Comments:
    If you want to subscribe to the comments of any article, you will find the RSS comments link after the comment form, just click on it to subscribe. Or you can click the check box to receive email notifications instead.