What is RSS?
Do you see the big RSS button on the right?
Yeah?
Have you been lurking around the blogosphere for a while but you can STILL not figure out what it means…
Well, I’ll tell you.
RSS is an abbreviation that has evolved into the following, depending on their versions:
· RDF Site Summary (also known as RSS 0.9; the first version of RSS)
· Rich Site Summary (also known as RSS 0.91; a prototype)
· Really Simple Syndication (also known as RSS 2.0)
Today, RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’, and it has the following 7 existing formats or versions:
· 0.90
· 0.91
· 0.92
· 0.93
· 0.94
· 1.0
· 2.0
Syndicating means republishing an article that comes from another source such as a website.
An RSS is a means of publicizing updates about websites. It may or may not include a summary and photos of the latest posting. But those that provide summaries (thus Rich Site Summary) allow users to skim through the article so that they could decide later on if they want to access the website source. The RSS feed usually contains the title of the update originating from the website. It is also usually the link to the website source.
What are the benefits of RSS?
RSS gives benefits to both readers (users) and web publishers.
1. It gives you the latest updates.
Whether it is about the weather, new music, software upgrade, local news, or a new posting from a rarely-updates site learn about the latest as soon as it comes out.
2. It saves on surfing time.
Since an RSS feed provides a summary of the related article, it saves the user’s time by helping s/he decide on which items to prioritize when reading or browsing the net.
3. It gives the power of subscription to the user.
Users are given a free-hand on which websites to subscribe in their RSS aggregators which they can change at any time they decide differently.
4. It lessens the clutter in your inbox.
Although your email address will be required to enjoy the services of online RSS aggregators, RSS does not use your email address to send the updates.
5. It is spam free.
Unlike email subscriptions, RSS does not make use of your email address to send updates thus your privacy is kept safe from spam mails.
6. Unsubscribing is hassle-free.
Unlike email subscriptions where the user is asked questions on why s/he is unsubscribing and then the user would be asked to confirm unsubscribing, all you have to do is to delete the RSS feed from your aggregator.
7. It can be used as an advertising or marketing tool.
Users who subscribe or syndicate product websites receive the latest news on products and services without the website sending spam mail. This is advantageous to both the web user and the website owner since advertising becomes targeted; those who are actually interested in their products are kept posted.
To Subscribe to MY RSS Feed - Click the icon on the right, that says RSS in big scribbly letters, yeah, this one:
Or you can subscribe to my feed by email:
Now you know!
For more info about RSS, visit this page: http://www.whatisrss.com/
//Linus
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Nice Site layout for your blog. I am looking forward to reading more from you.
Tom Humes