What is an RSS feed
and how do I read it?
To make information more readily available and to save time, RSS is enabled
on certain pages. These pages denoted with the
icon at
the left side of the page.
An RSS feed is simply a subscription to updates from a Web site or Web page. Through RSS, you can be automatically notified as soon as updates are made. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.
To read RSS feeds,
you need some software on your computer (an RSS reader client) or
access to a Web site that offers the same functionality. To "subscribe"
to a feed, simply right-click the related
icon
and click Copy Link Location or Copy Shortcut, then paste it into your
RSS reader.
What clients are
available?
There are two main types of clients available, some free, some available
for purchase:
-
Desktop aggregators are installed on your computer and are available for Windows, Linux, and just about every other platform.
-
Web-based or online clients are special Web sites where you set up an account and then subscribe and read all your RSS feeds from the one location.
The desktop-based ones have the advantage of letting you read the news articles offline and being as fast as your computer. The online ones have the advantage of letting you view your feeds from anywhere you have an Internet connection and Web browser.
A good list of all types of clients can be found at Wikipedia
How do I add a feed
to my client?
The precise procedure depends very much on the capabilities of your RSS
reader software, but basically it is as follows:
-
Using your Web browser, look for the
icon -
Right-click the icon and click Copy Shortcut (Internet Explorer) or Copy Link Location (Firefox), or the equivalent for your browser.
-
Start your RSS reader software.
-
Look for the button, link, or menu that says Add a Feed or similar.
-
Paste in the URL you copied in step 2 (either right-click in the field and click Paste, or click the field and press Ctrl+V).
-
Click OK or Add to add the feed.
The feed should now
be added to your list of feeds.
picture: Evening Standard delivery van; London, 1960s
