What's RSS?

 RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS feeds, also called news feeds, simply supply a list of a website's newest content. By subscribing to a website's news feed, you can quickly see a summary of what's new without having to visit the site.

Subscribing to a news feed is much like receiving an email every time new content is added, but you don't have to give up your email address or clutter your inbox to receive updates. You can also track which content you have and haven't read.

How to tell if a site has a news feed

How do you know if your favorite site has news feeds? Look for a small orange icon like these: . If you're using a newer version of Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, look for the  icon at the top of the browser window.

By clicking on the icon, you'll find information on the site's feeds.

Reading a news feed

To access news feeds, you'll need a program called a news reader. You can either use:

• a news reader installed on your computer, or
• access one through a Web browser, or
• a Web browser with RSS feed built in 

Desktop-based readers are computer programs that you download and install on your computer. They operate as a stand-alone program, like Quicken or Word. Feed readers are also being built into existing programs. You can read feeds in Outlook 2007, for example.

Web-based feed readers create a web page for your feeds, much like Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail create a web page for your email. Web-based feed readers usually require creating an account. They can be accessed from any computer, whether it's your work computer, home computer, or a computer at the library.

Newer versions of browsers, such as Internet Explorer 7+, Firefox 2.0+, and Safari 3.0+, also have built in support for RSS feeds.

Here are some feed readers you might want to try. 

• Microsoft Outlook 2007 (desktop)
• Internet Explorer 7 and 8 (Web browser)
• Bloglines (Web-based)
• Firefox (Web browser)
• My Yahoo! (Web-based) 
• FeedDemon (desktop, Windows only)
• NetNewsWire (desktop, Macintosh only)

Subscribing to a news feed

Adding feeds to your reader is slightly different depending on the reader you choose. In most feed readers, you simply copy and paste the URL of the feed into the feed reader. Look in your reader's help documentation if you have any problems.