RSS

RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish often updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts.

RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favourite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.

RSS Readers

The software used to access an RSS feed is referred to by different names:

• RSS reader

• Feed Reader

• Aggregator

RSS Subscription

The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that begins the subscription process.

The reader regularly checks the user's subscribed feeds for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

Syndication

Sharing content to blogs and websites is known as syndication.

Feed FormatsThere are different formats for web feeds:

RSS 2.0Stands for: Really Simple SyndicationOther info: Current RSS version

RSS 1.0Stands for: RDF Site Summary (RDF means Resource Description FrameworkOther info: Still used, but not as simple as RSS 2.0

Atom 1.0Info: More formal specification than RSSOther Info: Published by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

XMLThe RSS and Atom feed formats are based on XML.

XML is a set of rules for constructing an electronic document.

CreditsWeblogs SCF Level 5 – Blogging – RSS

Produced by M. Cunningham for the City of Edinburgh Council 2010

All images licenced under Creative Commons 3.0• Newspaper dog thinking RSS by Stylianos Mystakidis (stylianosm on Flickr)• Syndication by Carlo Daniele (Carlo on Flickr)