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Sunday, August 20, 2006
RSS Questions and Answers
RSS Questions and Answers
By Dale King
If you are technically challenged like I am, you should find this article right up your alley.
Question: What do the initials RSS stand for?
Answer: RSS is an acronym for Rich Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndication.
Question: What exactly is RSS?
Answer: RSS is an XML format for sharing content among different websites such as news items. Basically, it's an alternative means of accessing the vast amount of information that now exists on the Internet. Instead of the user browsing websites for information of interest, the information is sent directly to the user.
I should also point out, RSS is just one standard for expressing feeds as XML. Another well-known choice is Atom. Both formats have their supporters, and it does not appear that consolidation toward a single standard is imminent. That's because most feed subscribers simply want fresh content and don't care about the underlying protocol.
Question: How does RSS work?
Answer: A website can allow other sites to publish some of its content by creating an RSS document and registers the document with an RSS publisher. A web publisher can post a link to the RSS feed so users can read the distributed content on his or her site.
Question: Why are the advantages to using RSS?
Answer: Advances in technology in the online publishing genre has made it amazingly simple to not only publish regular updates to web-based content, but also keep track of a large number of your favorite websites or blogs, without having to remember to check each site manually or cluttering up your e-mail Inbox. RSS gives you the advantage of streamlining your online experience by subscribing to specific content feeds and aggregating this information in one place to be read at your convenience.
Question: Who publishes RSS feeds?
Answer: Most of the biggest names on the Internet offer content feeds including USATODAY.com, BBC News Headlines, ABCNews, CNET, Yahoo!, Amazon.com (including a podcast!), and many more. In addition, hundreds of thousands of bloggers, podcasters and videobloggers publish feeds to keep themselves better connected to their readers, critics, etc. Apple, through its iTunes Music Store, offers tens of thousands of audio and video podcasts for download, each of which is powered by a feed.
Question: How do I read RSS feeds?
Answer: If you want to browse and subscribe to feeds, you have many choices. Today, there are thousands of different feed reading applications, (AKA) "news aggregators" (for text, mostly) or "podcatchers" (for podcasts). There are even readers that work exclusively on mobile devices.
Some require a small purchase price, but are extremely user-friendly, and come pre-loaded with dozens of feeds so that you can start exploring the feed "universe" immediately. Free readers are available as well. Just do a a search for "Feed reader" or "Feed aggregator" at your favorite search engine.
Question: How can I publish my own RSS feeds at my website or blog?
Answer: If you are using one of the popular blogging platforms or publishing tools like Blogger, Wordpress or Typepad, more than likely, you're already publishing a feed automatically. There are also tools on the market that can help transform traditional web content into the proper format for distribution. In addition, more and more website building software already have RSS feed capabilities built right into their programs.
Here's another option: If you prefer, you can use an online service to track and manage your feeds. These types of services give you the advantage of being able to access your feed updates anywhere you can find a web browser. Just like you can check your e-mail anywhere there's a web browser. In addition, upgrades and new features are added automatically.
Just go to your favorite search engine and do a search for "Feed management service" or "RSS feed management service."
Dale King is the owner of the new Internet Marketing website, GuruKnowledge.org
--------------------------------------------------
"In Only 30 Minutes You Can Quickly and Easily
Turn Your Existing Website
Into a Profit-Generating Sales Machine
That Sells For You 24 Hours a Day ... Guaranteed!"
http://guruknowledge.org/pages/Website-Makeover
By Dale King
If you are technically challenged like I am, you should find this article right up your alley.
Question: What do the initials RSS stand for?
Answer: RSS is an acronym for Rich Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndication.
Question: What exactly is RSS?
Answer: RSS is an XML format for sharing content among different websites such as news items. Basically, it's an alternative means of accessing the vast amount of information that now exists on the Internet. Instead of the user browsing websites for information of interest, the information is sent directly to the user.
I should also point out, RSS is just one standard for expressing feeds as XML. Another well-known choice is Atom. Both formats have their supporters, and it does not appear that consolidation toward a single standard is imminent. That's because most feed subscribers simply want fresh content and don't care about the underlying protocol.
Question: How does RSS work?
Answer: A website can allow other sites to publish some of its content by creating an RSS document and registers the document with an RSS publisher. A web publisher can post a link to the RSS feed so users can read the distributed content on his or her site.
Question: Why are the advantages to using RSS?
Answer: Advances in technology in the online publishing genre has made it amazingly simple to not only publish regular updates to web-based content, but also keep track of a large number of your favorite websites or blogs, without having to remember to check each site manually or cluttering up your e-mail Inbox. RSS gives you the advantage of streamlining your online experience by subscribing to specific content feeds and aggregating this information in one place to be read at your convenience.
Question: Who publishes RSS feeds?
Answer: Most of the biggest names on the Internet offer content feeds including USATODAY.com, BBC News Headlines, ABCNews, CNET, Yahoo!, Amazon.com (including a podcast!), and many more. In addition, hundreds of thousands of bloggers, podcasters and videobloggers publish feeds to keep themselves better connected to their readers, critics, etc. Apple, through its iTunes Music Store, offers tens of thousands of audio and video podcasts for download, each of which is powered by a feed.
Question: How do I read RSS feeds?
Answer: If you want to browse and subscribe to feeds, you have many choices. Today, there are thousands of different feed reading applications, (AKA) "news aggregators" (for text, mostly) or "podcatchers" (for podcasts). There are even readers that work exclusively on mobile devices.
Some require a small purchase price, but are extremely user-friendly, and come pre-loaded with dozens of feeds so that you can start exploring the feed "universe" immediately. Free readers are available as well. Just do a a search for "Feed reader" or "Feed aggregator" at your favorite search engine.
Question: How can I publish my own RSS feeds at my website or blog?
Answer: If you are using one of the popular blogging platforms or publishing tools like Blogger, Wordpress or Typepad, more than likely, you're already publishing a feed automatically. There are also tools on the market that can help transform traditional web content into the proper format for distribution. In addition, more and more website building software already have RSS feed capabilities built right into their programs.
Here's another option: If you prefer, you can use an online service to track and manage your feeds. These types of services give you the advantage of being able to access your feed updates anywhere you can find a web browser. Just like you can check your e-mail anywhere there's a web browser. In addition, upgrades and new features are added automatically.
Just go to your favorite search engine and do a search for "Feed management service" or "RSS feed management service."
Dale King is the owner of the new Internet Marketing website, GuruKnowledge.org
--------------------------------------------------
"In Only 30 Minutes You Can Quickly and Easily
Turn Your Existing Website
Into a Profit-Generating Sales Machine
That Sells For You 24 Hours a Day ... Guaranteed!"
http://guruknowledge.org/pages/Website-Makeover
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