You have a favorite news website and like to keep abreast of events posted on your community website.
You have a dozen (or more) preferred blogs or podcasts with new content every week. Checking each page one by one will take forever.
You can get new information by signing up to receive emails, but it’s also easy to confuse or ignore spam in a cluttered inbox.
Relying on social media updates on a website can mean missing something important.
However, in the RSS feed, these updates and notifications are collected, organized, and updated in real-time and placed in one place so you can see them all simultaneously.
What is RSS?
RSS represents a Really Simple Syndication. Refers to files easily readable by a computer using the name of an XML file that automatically updates information.
The user’s RSS reader obtains this information, which converts files from the latest website updates to an easy-to-read format.
Provides titles, summaries, update notifications, and links to articles on your favorite site page.
This content is published in real time, so the latest content posted on the site always provides the best results in the RSS feed.
The RSS feed lets you create a personalized eZine with cutting-edge content on topics and websites that interest you.
How Does Site Information Get to Your Feed?
The author of your chosen website or podcast creates an RSS feed that maintains a list of new updates or notifications.
You can refer to this list yourself or subscribe to the feed to have updates appear in your feed reader. This will notify you immediately of updates.
What Does the Information Look Like?
In the feed reader, you will see the brief necessary information about the content.
They are published chronologically, so the entry above is posted last. The RSS feed shows you the original content’s title, description, and link.
This helps you quickly delete what interests you and what doesn’t. You can click to access the full content when you find something you like.
All Thanks to the Aggregator
So how does it work? The aggregator is responsible for the convenience of the RSS feed.
The RSS aggregator automatically searches for new content on websites.
Content is immediately pulled from your feed, so you don’t have to browse each site individually to find new content.
The aggregator even tracks what you have read and have not read, listing the number of articles or content for each web page you follow that has not been seen.
This lets you quickly see what’s happening on the websites that interest you.
How Can You Add Web Pages to Your RSS Reader?
Increasingly, websites are simplifying this process for you. Look for a small orange icon with RSS or XML letters when you’re on your favorite site.
When you click this icon, you add this web address or link to your browser. You can also search for the site in your browser and add it to your feed.
The beauty of RSS feeds is that they are primarily customizable in your reader or on the website you are following.
Choose to be updated only in the sports or art section of the local newspaper. Choose a specialized Google News alert sent to you via your feed.
Define your search parameters in Craigslist for something you expect to find and receive updates that match your research notes.
Despite countless ways to receive information these days, RSS is still a meaningful way to stay on top of what’s important to you.
The RSS feed, customizable to your liking, guarantees that information important to you will not be lost or forgotten.
