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What is RSS?

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 8 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

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Just what is RSS? You may have heard the term and probably seen those little orange icons. But what do they mean? What is this RSS stuff used for? Why should I even care?

RSS (also referred to as feeds, RSS feeds, news feeds, and web feeds) is simply a technology that gives you easy access to news, web content, and other information in real-time, delivered directly to you, without having to visit a web site. If you're tired of getting too many emails or trying to keep up with favorite web sites, RSS is for you.

How do I use RSS feeds? 

RSS is easy to use. All you need is an RSS feed reader (also called an aggregator) and you're ready to start with RSS feeds. Feed readers come in two major categories - web-based and desktop.

Web-based RSS Feed Readers 

Web-based feed readers give the advantage of letting you read feeds from any computer from within your web browser. Examples of web-based feed readers include My Yahoo, Bloglines, NewsGator, Google Reader, and My MSN.
Bloglines
A pure web based feed reader; very popular.
NewsGator
Offers nice synchronization between Outlook and desktop products.
My Yahoo
One of the most popular and widely used RSS feed readers.
Pluck RSS Reader, Bookmark Manager, Blog Reader, News Reader
Web-based RSS feed reader.
My MSN
The personalized MSN portal allows you to add RSS feed as content modules.
Google Reader
Google's RSS feed reader.

Desktop RSS Feed Readers 

Desktop feed readers tend to offer more advanced features for reading, sorting, and searching through your RSS feed subscriptions. Some are even integrated in Microsoft Outlook and the FireFox web browser.
FeedDemon
Powerful desktop based RSS feed reader for Windows.
AmphetaDesk
Free, cross platform, open-sourced, feed reader.
Sage
Sage is a lightweight RSS and Atom feed reader extension for Mozilla Firefox.
NetNewsWire (Mac)
NetNewsWire is an easy-to-use RSS and Atom feed reader for Mac OS X.
SharpReader
SharpReader is a free RSS feed reader for Windows.

How to subscribe to RSS feeds 

You can subscribe to an RSS feed with only a few clicks.
  • First, find an RSS feed you'd like to add to your feed reader.
  • Next, simply copy the feed's web address (URL) from either the text link or the orange RSS button.
  • Now, open your feed reader and paste the feed's URL into the reader. This differs slightly for each reader, but is usually accomplished by clicking on a subscribe button, an "add RSS feed by URL" link, or an "add content" link.

Popular RSS Links 

Popular sites tagged with RSS on del.icio.us

Loading Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

RSS on Amazon 

Syndicating Web Sites with RSS Feeds For Dummies ®

Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 07/26/2008)

The Blogging Church

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 07/26/2008)

RSS for Educators: Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom

Amazon Price: $26.96 (as of 07/26/2008)

Jobs related to RSS 

5 RSS Feeds Needed For E-Commerce Sites
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and if so, add them to the RSS feed. After the RSS feed is created, it should then be uploaded to my FTP, whose login details I will provide. The RSS feed... ...
RSS + Feed Type Site Programming Needed
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Seeking a clone of DNheadlines.com ... cpanel should allow me to choose the feeds and sources of headlines. Thanks....
Joomla Website Wanted
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a joomla site that only uses RSS feeds. It will need to have the RSS feeds on the Front Page and in the... I will provide all the RSS feed information and the... ...
Expert Wordpress Blog creator
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building top quality blogs and have strong design skills. Experience in adding RSS Feeds, Google Adsense, Contextual Affiliate Ads, and SEO is a PLUS and WILL... ...
Web Developer
Barneys New York - New York, NY
to day data updates and feeds. These include inventory, catalog feeds, product and Google marketing feeds, RSS, site integrations. -Experience with Demandware... ...
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tmarkiewicz

About tmarkiewicz

Tom Markiewicz is the CEO of EvolvePoint, a technology firm in Blacksburg, Virginia. EvolvePoint provides software solutions and consulting services for RSS feeds.

Tom graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering and a master's degree in business administration (MBA).

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