The Advantages Of RSS Websites
RSS - or what is now known as "Really Simple Syndication" - is a
file format that is incorporated by Internet users in their
websites to allow for 'web syndication', making their web
content available in a format that can be universally understood
by other people.
In essence, RSS is a 'mini database' that contains headlines and
descriptions (a summary or a line or two of the full article) of
your web content, including hyperlinks that enable users to link
back to the full article of their choice.
RSS websites - that is, websites that contain RSS 'feeds'
(articles or postings) - typically have colorful graphics to
indicate to users that the specific web content is available
through RSS feeds. These graphics are usually depicted by orange
rectangles that are usually marked with 'RSS' or 'XML'.
With its increased popularity, RSS is now being adopted and used
by more website owners or publishers. Today, numerous resources
are now available that aid Internet surfers (and even beginners
as well) on how to set up and use RSS.
Setting up RSS feeds and adding them to your website can be a
simple process that does not involve a lot of time or any money.
Listed below are some simple and basic steps that you might want
to follow:
1. Have your web content and/or news in an RSS feed format, such
as XML (appropriate and 'ready-made' feeds are also available
from other sources).
2. Click the orange graphic - this is the RSS feed icon. Take
note of the URL of the RSS feed; this will be displayed in the
address bar (for Internet Explorer).
3. Input the feed URL on your RSS feed creation program.
4. Click on the "Generate Feed" button. This will generate the
RSS code for your web content.
5. Enter the RSS code in the appropriate place on your own
website.
Having created an RSS feed for your website, next comes the task
of publishing your web content and news and having them
displayed on other sites and headline viewers. This is made
possible with the use of RSS readers or aggregators.
RSS readers or news aggregators are used to view particular web
contents. RSS readers contain the collection of 'feeds' or RSS
files from content providers, and they are generally classified
into 3 types: