What is it?

RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication’. Using RSS allows you to see when sites from all over the Internet have added new content. Via this newsfeed option you can automatically 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 to visit each of the sites you are interested in every day. It takes the hassle out of staying up-to-date, by showing you the very latest information that you are interested in.

How do I start using RSS feeds?

To start using RSS you need a ‘news reader’. A news reader is software that checks RSS feeds and lets you read any new article that has been added. There is a range of different news readers available and new versions are appearing all the time. Some are accessed using a browser, and some are downloadable applications. Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want to receive in your news reader, by finding and subscribing to the relevant RSS feeds. Subscribing can be done in two ways. You always start opening your news reader in a separate window. Then you surf to the site from which you would like to receive news via RSS. Depending on the service level you either drag the RSS icon from that site in your news reader window to subscribe automatically, or you go to ‘MENU’ in your news reader and select ‘Add chanel’, or ‘Add newsfeed’. You then copy the http-address for the newsfeed you want into the available address bar for subscription. From that moment on you are ready to receive all new RSS feeds from that site. Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work with your computer.

Here are some suggestions:

NEWS READERS

Windows
Newz Crawler
FeedDemon
Awasu

Mac OS X
Newsfire
NetNewsWire

Web
Bloglines
My Yahoo!
NewsGator

Other newsreaders (Google)