NOTE: The button above identifies
the Bitwise RSS feed.
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What is RSS?
RSS stands for 'Really Simple
Syndication' (or 'Rich Site Summary'). It's
a way of getting the web sites you are interested in
to send new
pages (and other information) to you rather
than you having to go back to the web site to try to
find new pages yourself.
How Do You Use It?
First you need an RSS 'reader' application (also known
as an 'aggregator'). Once you have this installed you
just subscribe to RSS feeds provided by sites that interest
you. These days many big news sites such as the BBC and CNN provide
RSS feeds, which are identified by a small orange button.
Once you've subscribed, your RSS reader will keep track
of your selected feeds and will let you know when anything
new pops up on them.
Where Can I Get An RSS Reader?
There are quite a number of these around for operating
systems such as Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Some are
free, others you must pay for. Here are links to a few
sources of RSS reader programs.
www.feedreader.com -
Free (Windows)
www.feeddemon.com -
(Windows)
www.newsfirerss.com -
(OS X)
For more alternatives, see the Google
Directory
OK, I Have a Reader, Now What?
Every reader will be slightly different so be sure to
read any documentation that come with it. In essence,
though, the steps you need to take can be summarised
as follows:
- Find some feeds (look for the orange RSS or XML buttons)
- Subscribe to feeds by copying their shortcuts (the
URL or web address) into your reader.
- Now your reader will let you know when new items
are added to each feed
- Click any items of interest to view the information
or its associated web page
Using RSS In Five Easy Steps
Here is a step by step guide showing how to
subscribe to a feed (such as Bitwise) using FeedReader for
Windows...
When you see the orange RSS button (on some sites, it may be called XML), right-click it
and select Copy Shortcut. This will copy the location of the RSS 'feed'
- a file that contains items of information, often about new additions
to the web site. (NOTE: If you just left-click an RSS button,
you will just see the XML code that defines the feed. The data won't
make much sense when viewed like this!)
Different RSS readers have different ways of adding a feed. With FeedReader
you can just select 'Add Feed' from the File menu.
In the dialog box, paste the address which you copied when you right-clicked
the orange RSS button. In FeedReader you can finish adding the feed
by clicking the Next button.
You can see that the Bitwise feed has now been added to the list in
the left window. The reader program will normally check at regular
intervals to see if any new items have been added to the feed. If so,
these will be shown in a list (seen in the top-right window here).
When you select an item, a short text description appears in the bottom
right-hand window...
Items usually contain links to specific web pages. Double-click the item
in the top window to display the entire web page in the bottom window.
Your reader application may provide various options to control the
display of web pages. For example, in FeedReader you can right click
an item and use a menu to open the page in a separate web browser window.
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