RSS is short for "Really Simple Syndication". It is the name given to a type of web site page that is used for part of a site that changes or has regularly added content. A web site's RSS page is commonly referred to as its "RSS feed" or "news feed".
The idea behind RSS is that having to check your favourite web sites every so often to see if there are changes is a bit time consuming if you have lots of favourite sites. Instead you can "subscribe" to a web site's feed with a suitable program and the program will tell you when there's something new. An RSS reader will usually display a summary for each web site so you can pick and choose which news or changes you want to read - useful if the site is busy and posts lots of news.
If a web site has an RSS feed it will usually display a small orange rectangular icon such as that at the bottom of the navigation bar on this page. Subscribing to a feed depends on the reader program you're using, but one would usually copy the web address of the RSS logo and paste it into the reader program. The reader will then check that the feed is legible and download the articles for you to read.
There are quite a few RSS readers, but if you're a Mozilla Firefox or Thunderbird user then you've already got one! Instructions for using RSS with Firefox and Thunderbird are available from MozillaZine. Other RSS readers include Rss Reader and FeedReader. A list of the many others can be found in Google's Directory.
8th October 2005
