Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
The basic concept of a RSS feed is to notify interested readers that a website has updated its content. Although bringing this simple notification concept to fruition has had several attempts, starting as far back as 1995. It was not till 1999 that RSS became a communications format that met the needs of internet authors and syndicate publishers.
At the heart of RSS technology is an XML formatted file that contains the latest updates and additions to a particular site. The RSS readers applications like Google Reader and FeedReader will periodically reach out and read this XML file and compare it to the last update any new information is then highlighted and bought to the attention of the interested reader. The nice part about RSS is that you elect to receive the information or not, so as your interests change so can the content of your RSS feeds.
Is RSS Dead?
No, however the real-time information providers like twitter are definitely changing the way information is sourced. RSS is still used by many to keep up to date with the latest advancements in their industries or watch competitive information.
How do I know if the site has a RSS Feed?
This logo informs you that a website or Blog has a RSS feed attached.
What does an RSS feed look like?
Below is an example RSS feed, you can see that it has all the relevant information for the reader application to be able to format and present the information to the intended reader.
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> |
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<rss version="2.0"> |
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<title>Title of the RSS Feed</title> |
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<description>A brief introduction to the RSS feed</description> |
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<link>Where to find more information via a URL </link> |
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<pubDate> Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:01:00 +0000 </pubDate> |
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<item> |
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<title>Santa is Coming</title> |
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<description>look up to see the red suited man</description> |
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<link>http://www.santa.org/</link> |
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<guid>unique identifier to the blog or article page</guid> |
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<pubDate> Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:01:00 +0000 </pubDate> |
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</item> |
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</rss> |
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This RSS information is then formatted into a human presentable state by a reader application - like Outlook .
What is an Atom feed?
A second syndication format was introduced in June 2003.. Atom.. which was adopted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (ITEF) as the proposed standard.
Note:- Both RSS and Atom formats are normally ingested by reader applications.