News

What is RSS?

Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary is a way for a web site to easily share headlines and other new content. RSS is a quick and easy way to keep track of new information on web sites that you visit frequently or are interested in.

RSS content is commonly referred to as 'feeds', or news feeds. These news feeds include headlines or titles, summaries of the information (article, news, discussion, etc.) and links to the full text of the page or documents.

You use an RSS reader (software) to subscribe to these feeds and read them. RSS allows you to monitor the specific section of a web site where the feed has been make available, without having to visit the web site itself.

How do I use RSS?

• You first need to get an RSS reader program (many of which are free). These programs are also called news aggregators or news reader applications. See below for a list of suggested readers.

• It is actually quite simple. To add feeds, look for the orange-colored "XML" or "RSS" buttons (or another one called "Atom"). Each links to a distinct feed. Copy the news feed address that you want to subscribe to and add it to your RSS reader.

• When you add a news feed, you then need to 'subscribe' to it. Detailed instructions on how to add news feeds are included in your RSS reader application.

• New web site content is sent/fed to your RSS reader when you have it open.

• When news items are published by the sites whose feeds you are subscribed to, your newsreader will inform you. If you close your news reader, you will not be advised of updates until the next time you open it. Unlike e-mail subscriptions, you are not required to provide personal information or an e-mail address to get news feeds.

• RSS readers function in some ways like your email program - you can set your reader to check your feeds on a regular basis and the program lets you know when feeds have been updated. You can (and should) also organize your feeds into categories. They'll be easier to work with.

There are numerous news reader applications available for free download on the Internet. Click below to find out more about a few popular news readers:

RSS news readers

• Bloglines - Free. This is web-based and also allows you to publish your own weblog.

• Feedreader - Free. Windows-based download.

• Sharpreader - Free. Windows-based download.

• NetNewsWire Lite - Lite version is free. Mac-based download.

• Firefox - Free. Actually, a full-featured web browser (Windows, Macintosh and Linux) with a built-in news reader.

• Click here for a full list of RSS readers available on the web.

Settlement AtWork has some RSS feeds you can subscribe to.