Date First Published: 21st February 2022
Topic: Computer Networking
Subtopic: Network Services
Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions
Difficulty: MediumDifficulty Level: 5/10
Learn more about what RSS is in this article.
Short for Really Simple Syndication, RSS is a web feed format that allows users to access regularly updated or shared content from websites in a standardised format. RSS feeds could be used for keeping up to date with the latest news, blog posts, videos, forum messages, or social media posts and they usually contain a small portion of text from the webpage with information about the author. RSS works by scanning and searching websites for new content and then delivering the information to its subscribers. Delivering the information is known as 'feeding'. RSS is widely used by a lot of news sites, blogs, forums, and other websites now.
RSS feeds are beneficial for both authors and subscribers as it allows them to syndicate (connect) work in a format that can easily be viewed by different programs and applications in one useful place. In addition, RSS feeds are helpful for protecting the privacy of followers as unlike subscribing to newsletters, it does not require them to give any of their contact information away, such as their email address when subscribing to the RSS feed.
RSS feeds can usually be found on websites by looking for the orange RSS symbol that contains three bars. They are often found on the home or main page. Not all websites have RSS feeds. Computerhelp4all has RSS feeds that can be found by looking for the orange RSS symbol in the 'Follow Computerhelp4all' section.
RSS feeds are created by the author of the website writing a text file with the XML file extension for the RSS feed that includes the title, description, and link for each post on the site for the purpose of sending these notifications. The website author then makes use of this XML file to add an RSS feed to the webpages of the website. The XML file automatically syndicates new information in a standard format through the RSS feed, which can be accessed by any RSS reader.
When people subscribe to the RSS feed, they can view the latest material on the website in an RSS reader. These RSS readers combine information from a lot of XML files together, organise it, and then show it in a single application.
RDF Site Summary, the original version of RSS, was introduced by Netscape in March 1999. Web authors used it for displaying the content of their website on early RSS portals such as My.Netscape.com. Netscape renamed the technology Rich Site Summary after modifying it a few months later. When AOL bought Netscape and restructured the company, Netscape stopped participating in the development of RSS.
In 2002, RSS was changed to Really Simple Syndication, and a newer version of the technology was published. RSS feeds became more available to web users with the release of this newer version and the development of the RSS symbol for Mozilla Firefox in 2004.
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