Learn the Secret to RSS Feeds

RSS For Rookies
By Scott Hendison

What are RSS newsfeeds?

RSS stands for Rich Site Summary, or for Really Simple Syndication. Both mean the same thing, so don't let it confuse you. An RSS is something a website (or a blog) offers to readers provide a "news feed" of their information. It's available for everyone to add to their own "news reader" for free and gets displayed on your desktop or in your web browser.

It works almost like a stock ticker, delivering exactly the information that you have anonymously "subscribed" to, eliminating the need to go out and check your favorite outlets for new information, because they're already delivered to your computer.

Who needs RSS?

Well, everyone need it. It's so much more efficient than going to get it, or getting endless email newsletters. Having the paper delivered to your home makes more sense than driving to the store every day, doesn't it? In the same vein, let's say that you want only the latest news about only certain subjects, and routinely go out and check several websites to see what's new. Using RSS, those individual websites will deliver that news right to your desktop, suitable for reading, clicking, printing, or ignoring.

How can you use RSS?

There seems to be no single definitive answer, because there are so many ways to use it. I'll tell you about the easiest way to get RSS feeds that I know of, but by no means is that the only way. That is; on your homepage of your web browser.

First, you need an RSS newsreader, (a.k.a. "aggregator"). The good news though is that you may already have one. Since millions of people have Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail or Google accounts, I'll walk you through adding a news feed to your MSN home page. Go to http://www.my.msn.com and sign in. If you don't already have a hotmail account, go ahead and create one. If you'd prefer, you can go to http://my.yahoo.com and do the same) It only takes a minute go get a new account.

After signing in to My MSN, you'll see quite an array of news, weather, sports, ads, stock quotes, local information etc. Think of this as your canvas, and you're free to arrange or remove the information how you see fit. Each of these sections you see can me easily moved or deleted. To move them, just click and drag from the top right of each subject area. To remove them, click the minus (-) sign in the top left of the subject area. Feel free to delete them all, since you can always add them back later.

Now go to top left of the screen, right above the "Welcome" area you'll see "Add content" below your name. When you go there, you get four choices (Tabs) for adding content. The default tab that comes up is "Search". and from here you have four options and each is clearly defined. If you know the exact web address (URL) for a company's newsfeed, you can enter it right here. The other three tabs might be worth exploring too, since they let you browse by company names and subjects. Then you just click a box for all you want.

After signing in to My Yahoo, you'll notice that there are already several news feeds from Reuters listed there, with "Top stories", "world News", "Politics" and "Business". Above those stories, you'll see a big yellow box in the center explaining how you can "Add Content". Click the link to "add content" and you'll come up with a search box allowing you to "find content" about a given subject. Type in a search phrase, and you'll be presented with search results that all have an "Add" button next to them. Hit the "Add" button by the ones you want, and then hit the "Finished" button at the top right, and you're done. You just added that RSS news feed to your My Yahoo page. Scroll down at the My Yahoo main page, and you'll see those news headlines you added at the bottom of your list. To rearrange the order of your news feeds, just hit the small "edit" button at the top right of each news section. To remove a news feed, just hit the X like you would to close any window.

Customizing your own news feeds

Now suppose you don't need to "find" a news feed on a subject, because you already know you want to add a particular one. Well that's easy too. Al you have to do is identify what the "RSS feed URL" is for the information you want to add. Most blogs or news organizations show you these now on their websites.

Look for a small orange box on the website that says XML or the words "RSS Feed" or "News feed" and click on it. In the case of large organizations, like CNN for example, you'll be taken to a page with a nice set of instructions, and a whole list of RSS news feed URL's that you can manually copy and paste into your news reader.

Sometimes though, you'll be taken to a page that looks like gibberish code. Don't let that scare you like it did me the first time I saw it! When that happens, you are actually looking right at the feed itself, and all you have to do is copy and paste what's in the address bar of your web browser, right into your news reader. That's called "knowing the specific URL of the feed" on MSN, and ""Add RSS by URL" in Yahoo.

In My Yahoo, to manually add a news feed, go to the "add content" area, and choose the link to the right of the Find button that says "Add RSS by URL". Once you paste your URL in that window and hit "add" the news headlines should show up there. If they don't, then you may have copied the URL wrong, or added a space at the end. Then just hit the "Add to My Yahoo" button and you're done! In MSN, you'll paste the URL of the news feed right into the search box, then check the box when it shows the result.

Delivering exactly what you want and only when you want is how the internet is supposed to work. Things are only getting better.

In researching this article, I notice that My Yahoo seems to be having problems adding certain manual URL's. Oh well. Nothings perfect.

Scott Hendison is an internet consultant
based in Portland Oregon, but working with companies in five countries. He specializes in search engine placement and E-commerce POS solutions. For over 100 other articles he's written please visit his website at http://www.searchcommander.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Hendison
http://EzineArticles.com/?RSS-For-Rookies&id=83300

Build Content with RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds Updating Content Builder
By Blake C. Hendrickson

One of the most powerful innovations regarding the way in which information is communicated on the internet is the commencement of the use of RSS. RSS, stands for Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary and RDF Site Summary. RSS is a way to formulate information in a uniform and consistent manner that can be "read" by machines. This technology (specifically RDF) was developed by Ramanathan V. Guha, and former employee of both Apple Computer and Netscape Communications Corporation. The technology itself went through a dramatic stop and go journey towards becoming the go-to program in its particular niche. Ownership was contested and different teams of people intimate with the product and its background fought for years over who had a legitimate claim to the most recent advances in RSS. The most potent use of RSS is its use as a updating content builder for news feeds on websites.

One aspect of this service is that of sparing the website owner the necessity of hiring independent writers to create unique articles for their site. When updating content, the RSS content building services act as a "personal writing assistant" locating and pulling all recent articles that may have appeared on the internet and that are relevant to a website's customer base.

Simply, RSS is a code that is added to the website, and, once added, acts as an anchor or an avenue through which relevant information is grounded to the site and constantly refreshed without the site administrator having to lift a finger. The most common accolade for RSS takes a word from one of the acronym descriptions; most consumers and site administrators are entirely impressed with the simplicity of installation and use. One site webreference gives reviews of different RSS products as well as testimonials from happy consumers and instructions on installation.

RSS feeds or webfeeds are also referred to as "aggregators" because of their ability to glean relevant news feeds from many different sources and organize them into a coherent and consistent list. The feeds to done have to be downloaded and only need to be installed once, thus ensuring their convenience and explaining their use by such large organizations as Yahoo and The New York Times.

In addition to the multiple sites offering explanation of RSS, the possibilities for service are similarly numerous. Just some of the names include: HyperDig, Fyuze, Rocket RSS Feed Reader and Fastbuzz. The names, like the companies themselves, stress the cutting edge nature of the technology and the speed with which it can bring up to the moment news straight to consumers.

The author is owner & operator of several successful article sites. For more info & resources visit:
RSS Feeds Automatic Updating Content or:
Article Submission Service

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Blake_C._Hendrickson
http://EzineArticles.com/?RSS-Feeds-Updating-Content-Builder&id=320453

Master RSS Newsfeeds

How Can I Use RSS?
By G Mo

We receive emails from time-to-time asking about the RSS feed feature we provide and how it can be used. Today we are taking a few minutes to cover what an RSS feed is, how you can use it, what you need and how to validate the ones you subscribe too.

What is RSS?

How can I use RSS?

How do I get a news reader?

Can I use these feeds on my site?

How to validate?

What is RSS?

The acronym stands for Really Simple Syndication. The theory behind RSS is that information on the web is pushed to you, rather then you pulling it. For example, lets say you love the all American sport, Baseball. Well, traditionally you would visit a website such as ESPN.com and look up scores, stats news and information. This would fall under the "pull" theory. However, RSS simplifies this process and lets you have information "pushed" directly to you, at one location. Now you are getting all the news and information without having to look for it. After all, isn't it better to have the latest news and information delivered directly to you, rather than clicking from site to site?

RSS allows you to see when sites from all over the internet have added new content, in real time. You can get the latest headlines and articles (or even audio files, photographs or video) in one place, as soon as they are published, without having to remember which sites to visit and then visit them each day.

How Can I use RSS?

The most common use or integration of RSS for a web surfer is on a customized homepage. Just about everyone I know has a customized homepage for the internet. Whether it's from Google, Yahoo or MSN a customized homepage allows you to select what information you want displayed when you log-on to the internet (that first page when you open your browser). These custom homepages have an RSS news reader capability so you get streaming news and information in one, familiar place, the second it happens.

Not all websites currently provide RSS, but Really Simple Syndication is getting more popular and is a great barometer about the website and whether it's current and provides reputable information. GetUSB.info provides RSS capability for those who love USB powered gadgets.

How do I get a news reader?

In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader and, as mentioned before, most search engines have this feature when using a customized homepage or start page. A news reader is a piece of software which checks RSS feeds and lets you read anything new that was added to them. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications. Browser-based news readers let you catch up with RSS feed subscriptions from any computer - which is what GetUSB.info recommends, whereas downloadable applications let you store them on your main computer, in the same way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it on a web-based service like Hotmail or Gmail.

Once you have chosen a news reader or customized a homepage, simply decide which content you want to receive automatically via RSS. You can do this by looking on your favorite web sites for the RSS logo, click on it and then subscribe. For example, if you would like the latest information on USB gadgets, then visit the sidebar (navigation area on right side) and click on the RSS logo or the quick link to add to your homepage for Google, Yahoo or MSN.

Can I use these feeds on my site?

On the flip side of a web surfer is a webmaster or web programmer. They too can benefit from RSS technology. For example, RSS gives a web programmer the ability to automatically update their site and provide the most current news and information to their visitors. Since content found in Really Simply Syndication is, by definition, information intended for redistributed, this is a great tool for fresh website content. Note; it is important to re-syndicate the information exactly as received along with credits to those due otherwise you are infringing on copy write laws. Now, going back to the example, if you run a technology website or blog you might find it very worth while to syndicate information about USB gadgets and this can easily be done using the RSS feature of GetUSB.info http://www.getusb.info

News readers can also be found in web browser software such as Firefox, Opera and Safari, and will automatically check for RSS feeds when you visit a site. This is the ultimate in making RSS subscriptions a snap with just a single mouse click. For more details on news readers below are some quick links to their respective websites:

NEWS READERS


Windows


Newz Crawler http://www.newzcrawler.com

FeedDemon http://www.feeddemon.com/feeddemon/index.asp

Awasu http://www.awasu.com


Mac OS X


Newsfire http://www.newsfirerss.com

NetNewsWire http://ranchero.com/netnewswire


Web


Google Reader http://www.google.com/reader

Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com

My Yahoo! http://my.yahoo.com

NewsGator http://www.newsgator.com/ngs/default.aspx


Browser


Mozilla Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/firefox

How do I know an RSS feed is good?

The last thing you can do is check to make sure the RSS feed is valid, meaning the format of the feed is correct to display the content being syndicated. Typically an RSS feed is validated by the web programmer or webmaster because they want to insure the format is correct. So if you are a web surfer it shouldn't be a big concern. However, if you need or want to validate a feed, one of the most common RSS validators is FeedValidator.org or http://www.feedvalidator.org

In conclusion, if you haven't tried RSS yet, you should. It makes life much easier and more convenient. It will reduce the amount of spam email and all the while get you the news and information you need on the topics you want. Cheers and good luck.

Gmo runs the GetUSB.info website which is about USB Powered Gadgets and more... Daily articles.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=G_Mo
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Can-I-Use-RSS?&id=275768

RSS Marketing Secrets

Your Marketing Arsenal Must Include RSS
By Floyd Tapia

When most webmasters think of marketing,
they would no doubt list writing articles,
placing ads in various ezines and newsletters,
optimizing their webpage for higher rankings
on the search engines, viral techniques and
of course, any free ads that work.

But one of the most effective and misunderstood
avenues of successful marketing would involve a
type of delivery channel that does just that...
delivers content to targeted audiences.

That delivery channel is called RSS. Let's
take closer look at a general overview of
using RSS in your marketing and proven tips
and shortcuts that will have your website
successfully using RSS in a snap. First...

RSS content is delivered through RSS Feeds.
What type of content? Articles, stories,
press releases, announcements, updated info,
company details, products and marketing.

But in order for your audience to view this
content via RSS Feeds, they will need to
download a special program called an RSS
aggregator. Some are available at no charge
while others have a subscription fee.

Most will ask, what is an RSS aggregator?
It is an application that will allow and
end user to subscribe to RSS Feeds thus
allowing them to read and view your new
content.

And yes, you can still use e-mail to deliver
your news and updated content. E-mail is not
going away as a few writers have predicted.
In fact, you really can compare RSS to e-mail
since they both have their own characteristics,
opportunities and communication differences.

Our point of discussion today is that RSS is
growing at an alarming rate. So much so that
business owners need to take a closer look at
how to use this to help make your web business
more competitive and ultimately to make more
sales.

One can also enjoy getting possible higher
search engine rankings due to new content
being updated thanks to RSS technology. But
remember that there is no overnight solution
to accomplishing getting better rankings or
more customers.

But using these innovative tools and make
marketing and growing your business much more
profitable and convenient to run. Here's
some helpful sites for additional help:

http://www.feedforall.com

http://www.make-rss-feeds.com

http://www.small-business-software.net/display-rss.htm

http://www.mywebfeeds.com/

http://www.feedscout.com

http://www.quickrssfeeds.com

Now it's up to you to take a closer look
at how RSS can literally change the face
of your business in a good way and then
take an active start to include RSS as
part of your overall marketing arsenal.

The RSS Connection is an ever growing website
helping small business owners learn the basics
of RSS and how to use it to help grow their
business and secure additional targeted customers.

http://www.theRSSConnection.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Floyd_Tapia

RSS Your Way to Financial Success Online

Using RSS to Make Money Online
By Kevin Fairbanks

Most of you have seen those little buttons on websites labeled RSS or XML. If you are wondering what they are, RSS means Really Simple Syndication. Really simple because when you subscribe to a site that has this feature, you keep up-to-date with new information without having to check the site every day. This is really good news because you can use it to get newsfeeds from major news networks, news on new movies, even your favorite musician's tour dates or CD releases.

This new twist to the Internet is very valuable to you as a Internet marketer too. Imagine replacing email marketing with RSS marketing. People actually subscribe meaning they want your information updates, similar to opt-in newsletters. With newsletters you have to write them and your site content. With RSS, when you update your content, all subscribers are notified by their newsreaders.

Newsreaders are special software that read RSS feeds. To get started, download a free RSS reader.

If you use a Windows PC, go to http://www.rssreader.com

For Mac users, see http://ranchero.com/netnewswire

Once you are set up, here's all you or your customers have to do...

Right-click (control-click for Mac users) on any RSS button on a site, blog or news source that interests you. Select Copy Shortcut ("Copy Link to Clipboard" for Mac, "Copy Link Location" for Firefox browsers), and paste that URL into your RSS Reader. And that is it, you are subscribed. Once you get started, your favorite parts of the Web come to you. No need to go out and check for updates all the time. If you do not want to download software, subscribe to your favorite feeds through My Yahoo or My MSN.

So how does any of this make you money?

More traffic means more money. By placing RSS on your website or your blog, anyone can subscribe automatically and know when a new product or service is available. This new breed of Internet shopper is not to be ignored. To take advantage of the traffic you have to make your RSS feed available to website visitors and submit your feed information to RSS, blog and XML type directories.

Here's how you get RSS for your site!

Go to http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss for the best source of RSS and Blog information. There are several file types for RSS and here you learn which is best and why. The easiest and fastest way to learn more about this technology and see it in use is to go to http://rss.sitesell.com where you find all you need to know about RSS, including solid marketing ideas.

There is no need to become a techie, no need to know all the ins and outs of RSS and XML. There is a huge need for you to know enough about this newest technology to use it. Once you do, it becomes easy to see how you make money online with RSS. In the same way newsletters and opt-in email are used for successful marketing, RSS is much easier, faster, and a much less intrusive way to communicate with potential or existing clients and customers.

It's very critical to provide exactly what people want to make money online. How can there be a better way to do that than to allow people to subscribe to their wants and wishes? Start using RSS and XML technologies to make money online now before it too becomes the jungle email marketing is. To add fuel to your marketing fire, use optimized content for frequent updates to your blogs and web pages and deliver it with RSS.

The Internet changes quite quickly. RSS seems to be made to stick around, at least until something bigger and better comes along. It is easy to setup and monetize. Online entrepreneurs should take advantage of this new technology as soon as possible. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, so start now to reach a very targeted, eager audience for your opportunities.

"Dotcomology" is The Science of Making Money Online! http://www.Profits-For-You.com/dotcomology.html GET IT FREE!
Check out my blog: http://www.Profits-For-You.blogspot.com
Not long ago, I didn't know ANYTHING about Internet marketing... However, within just 2 weeks, I launched my own website AND learned how to profit from an opt-in list, pull in sales with ezines, make money with Google Adwords and set up my own BLOG! http://www.Profits-For-You.com Click here to find out how!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Fairbanks

Use Content More Than Once with RSS

How To Milk Your Content For All Its Worth With RSS
By Lynette Chandler

RSS, Newsletter, Blog, Website…with so many places you can publish your web content to, how do you choose; especially when articles and time to publish them is limited. Besides, why should you publish your content in so many different formats? If you've been doing business online for any amount of time you know that building a list is integral to success. Regular website content brings search engine robots back. So do blogs. Blogs also help build your expert status and RSS is the new way for people to subscribe to your content without giving out their email address – among other things.

Ok, so you know it's all good and they will help build your business, but how can you do several or all without piling more work on your already full to do list? It's really quite simple. Make your content work harder and milk it for all it's worth.

Instead of publishing your newsletter entirely by email, publish it to a content management system or blog that will automatically create an RSS feed each time you update it. Your next step is to put that RSS feed into your mailing list manager* create a signup box as you would a regular newsletter and put it on your website or blog in a prominent area together with the RSS feed. It, probably won't take more than a few minutes if you already have everything at hand.

From now on, people can choose to subscribe to your newsletter by RSS or email and every time you publish the newsletter to your website or blog, RSS subscribers will see that you have new content and people who opt-in for email will receive an email notice. To top it all off, the content is also archived online permanently and all you did was type and publish one time.

You know the amazing part is, that's not all. You can syndicate your newsletter for more exposure. Contact a few webmasters and ask them if they'd like free, automatically updating content on their websites. Create the codes for them so it's super easy for them to add you. When they do, the next time you publish your newsletter, their website gets updated immediately. If anyone wants to read more of your content, they would be brought to your site.

RSS is truly an exciting technology. Not only does it open many doors for you to share your content, it can also help you work smarter by cutting down your work as you read above. There's no reason why you shouldn't have an RSS feed today and if you already have one, it's time you should milk your RSS feed for all it's worth.

*Note: Not all mailing list managers can take your RSS feed and convert it into email updates.

Lynette Chandler helps marketers make the most of technology in their marketing. She shares what technologies, why and how to apply them in her newsletter. Get a hold of this valuable marketing technology information at http://www.TechBasedMarketing.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynette_Chandler

Use My Content On Your Site

Displaying RSS Feeds on Your Web Page
By Sanjay Johari

RSS feeds have made it very convenient to syndicate information from various sources. Most of websites and services that publish fresh content, such as ezines, press release, new agencies, blogs make their content available thru RSS feeds. As new content is published the RSS feed gets updated automatically.

Adding RSS feeds to web pages has many advantages. Let us say you have added RSS feeds from a popular ezine on one of your web pages.

• The content of the web page is automatically updated as the ezine makes new content available via RSS feeds. Every time search engine spiders crawl your web page they are likely to find the web page updated.

• The visitors to your web site will also find new content on every visit and they might be tempted to visit your web page more often.

• You do not have to bother about writing fresh content as RSS feeds are updated automatically.

Earlier I had written an article on adding RSS feeds to a web page using java script. While this method makes fresh content available to the readers, the content of the feed cannot be “read” by search engine spiders. Therefore the web page does not get the benefit of changing content from the search engines.

On the other hand php based installation makes it possible for spiders to notice the changing content of the web page. This article is a follow-up of my previous article which outlines simple steps to put RSS feeds on a web page.

For the purpose of this article I have chosen the free version of software available from CaRP. The software can be downloaded from this site:

http://www.geckotribe.com/rss/carp/

The instruction manual which comes with the package gives detailed instructions for installing and running the software. Additional information is available from the site. While there are several options available for using the software, I am showing here the simplest steps to load and run the software:

1. Download the software on your computer. It comes in a zip file. After unzipping save the available folders and files on your computer. These files and folders will be available – carp (folder), img (folder), carpsetup.php, README.html .

2. Upload all the files and folders to the root directory of your website. This can be done by using FTP. If uploading is done file by file, ensure that the names of the files and folders, and location of files in their folders do not change.

3. Create a new mySQL database.

4. Run the setup file carpsetup.php from you web browser.

5. A new page will be displayed. On this page select mySQL database option which is easier of the two options given there.

6. Another new page will open in which you have to fill the details of mySQL database. Click on “Create Database Tables”.

7. The page which opens now will have code which has to be put on the web page where you want to show RSS feed. The code will be displayed in a gray box.

8. Within the code there is “setup code”. This setup code should be pasted into a file called carpconf.php . The file will be available in carp directory. On the html script of this file locate the line “//Add configuration code that applies to all themes here” . Just below this line paste the setup code.

9. Choose a web page where RSS feed has to be displayed. The file name of the page should have .php extension. If your page has .html or .htm extension, you can try replacing only the extension with .php . Normally this should not change the way the page appears in a web browser. If you encounter any problem you could make a new web page with .php extension.

10. At appropriate location of the web page, where you want RSS feed to be displayed, paste the code in the html script of the page. From there you can remove the setup code. It is not required to be added to all pages once it has been added to carpconf.php page in step 8 above.

11. If you now open your web page in the web browser it will start showing the RSS feed which comes along with the package. For changing this to RSS feed of your choice you will need to make changes in the code you have entered in step 10. In the code there is a URL after CarpCasheShow. Change this URL with the URL of RSS feed you wish to display.

Now the web page will display the RSS feed of your choice. You can choose to display more feeds on the same page or have separate pages for RSS feeds for different sources.

You can see this page on my website on which RSS feed has been added using exactly the steps shown here.

http://www.sanjay-j.com/RSSFILE/homebusinesspop.php

You can see some more pages from the links on left column of this page.

I have tried to make the process easy to follow. You can always refer to more detailed instructions which come with the package. Take advantage of the free content available and use them to boost your page positioning and traffic to your website.

Sanjay Johari contributes articles regularly to ezines. Grow your list, make new friends and ensure your success in life:
http://www.sanjay-j.com/empowerism.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sanjay_Johari

Fun

Putting words out there for the world to see - and thinking, someone will eventually quote me.

Benefits of RSS: Does it work for you?

What Is RSS And How Can It Benefit You?

By Bernie Wiemers

RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication. It is part of the XML family that is used for syndicating information. Put simply RSS allows one web site to share information with another web site.

As a web site publisher, RSS offers a way for them to publish their information on many web sites, which in turns increases their reach on the Internet and the amount of traffic they receive to their web site. They also receive more one way links back to their web site. These benefits result in an increase in their search engine ranking.

As a web site owner, RSS allows them to receive up to date links to information on a regular basis that runs on auto pilot. When the publishing site is updated, their web site is also updated.
The result of this is that their web site is updated more regularly which also increases their search engine ranking.

The other benefit the web site owner receives from using RSS is that their information remains "fresh" which encourages their visitors to return on a regular basis.

However, the web site owner does not receive the complete articles, instead, they receive a feed that contains a title, a brief description and a link to the article that resides on the publishers web site.

The main disadvantage to the web site owner is that they trade off traffic for content, as their visitors need to visit the publishers web site to read the complete article.

But, this is a minor disadvantage considering all the benefits that RSS offers the web site owner.

The web site owner will need to install some software in order for them to receive RSS Feeds.

This software ranges from commercial packages the web site owner can purchase all the way down to freeware. Before purchasing any software you should research the different software packages that are available to ensure you get the software that is most suited to your requirements.

Fortunately, setting up an RSS feed is relatively straightforward and should only take a couple of hours at the most, and, once RSS is set up their is very little maintenance (if any) required.

If you are a web site owner, you should consider the power of RSS and what it can offer you and your web site.

Bernie Wiemers has been working in the information technology industry for the past 19 years and has been on the internet since it was available in Australia.

Are you interested in learning more about RSS? Visit money site builder and view a free video tutorial on how you can install an RSS feed on your web site for free!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bernie_Wiemers

RSS: Introduction to the Basics

The Basics of RSS

By Jonathan Coupal

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”, and it is a standard, public format designed for sharing headlines and the content of web sites (previously known as the RDF Site Summary). But RSS feeds are not just for news anymore. Almost anything that can be organized into smaller items can be then syndicated through an RSS feed.

Overview of RSS:

In many ways, it is similar to newsletters that web sites offer to keep viewers updated. The substantial difference is that this system does not require users to provide their e-mail addresses since it offers a direct channel to the information.

An RSS feed is a lightweight XML (Extensible Markup Language) web page that contains a list of items (each identified by a link) such as the headline, date/time and a description of new item published.

When syndicating news headlines, for instance, those fields can be used for the story title and the summary.

RSS started in the world of blogs. Its objective was to help people reading too many blogs to organize their information, especially blog creators, who found it hard to keep updated since it implied a hard routine. They had to visit those pages every day using their web browsers. Their wish was to find an easy and simple way to check if there was any new content on their blogs.

Once RSS was created, the problem was solved.

Since it’s inception in 1997, RSS has evolved into a popular format of sharing content between sites (including sites such as CNN, BBC, Disney, Apple iTunes and many more). Some experts think it has one of the most popular formats for distributing news headlines on the Web.

Today, there are more than seven hundred thousands websites utilizing RSS feeds. It’s popularity is due to this fact: RSS is a simple XML document, easy to generate and light to transport. It can be used for many different objectives, it grows easily and everybody can use it.

In other words, RSS is an excellent ally for those people who want to be updated by multiple on-line sources and who wish to find their overwhelming amount of information organized in a simple and automated way.

How RSS Works:

Here’s how it works: The web site makes an RSS feed, or channel, available for viewing, just like any other file on the server. In order to read this information, you need to install software called an RSS reader on your computer. Then you connect this software to the RSS feeds for your favorite pages and click update in your RSS reader. This way, the program checks the RSS feeds and tells you what is new on your selected sites.

About ITX Corp:

ITX Corp is a business consulting and technology solutions firm focused in nine practice areas including Business Performance, Internet Marketing, IT Staffing, IT Solution Strategies and Implementation, Technical Services, Internet Services, and Technology Research. To learn more about what ITX can do for you visit our website at http://www.itx.net or contact us at (800) 600-7785.

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