Everything You Need To Know About RSS Feeds

This post is for people who scratch their heads when they see this icon:

By the time you finish reading this, you’ll only be scratching your head if it itches.

What is RSS?

That orange icon that made you scratch your head is the standard icon for an RSS feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it’s a family of Web formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news stories, or podcasts. An RSS document, usually called a “feed,” “web feed,” or “channel,” contains a summary of content from a web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to get the latest content from their favorite web sites automatically, instead of having to check each site manually.

RSS content can be read using software called an “RSS reader,” “feed reader” or an “aggregator.” 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 initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

Why should I use it?

Subscribing to RSS feeds is like creating your own custom newspaper or magazine. You have total control over the sources of your content, and it’s conveniently gathered in one place. Instead of having to visit each individual site, you just have to open your reader, and everything is right there in front of you. Have you been itching to read Fox News and The Onion side by side? Well, now you can do it.

How do I set it up?

Modern browsers have support for subscribing to RSS feeds, so all you have to do is click on the link to a site’s feed. On most sites, it’s marked with the icon that formerly caused you to scratch your head. I’ll walk you through subscribing to the feed for this site.

1. Go to my feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BrokeGradStudent
2. You’ll see a list of options to subscribe. Choose your weapon of choice. I use Google Reader, so I’m going to assume you click on the Add to Google button.

3. That will bring you to the following page. Click on Add to Google Reader.

4. If you already have a Google Reader account, you’re finished.
5. If you don’t have an account, click on the Create an Account Now link.

Now you get the latest content from this site without even having to come here. Be sure to drop by and leave comments though!

For those of you who still don’t trust RSS, you can also subscribe via ol’ fashioned email.

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to my RSS feed or via email for free updates.