Easy and Simple Syndication
- Yuval Markowitz
- May 1, 2007
- 3 min read
What is RSS?
(Really Simple Syndication)
RSS is a standard for distributing and sharing content on the Internet. It is an information distribution protocol developed by Netscape in 1999 to provide users of their portal, MyNetscape, with a collection of personalized news from various websites.
RSS sites allow users to centralize and control large amounts of content from multiple websites. This way, users can choose the content they want to be exposed to. The user subscribes to receive information about content that interests them, and the RSS site imports content, news, and links to websites on the topics they've chosen. By accessing an RSS reader, the user can view news from approximately 300 different websites without the need to search. Each RSS file is a content channel composed of items that include a summary and a link to the full content.
Main advantages of RSS
Ease of use - RSS language is relatively easy to write. No exceptional computer literacy is required to read a page that defines the distributed content.
Ease of creation - RSS information can be written using a regular text editor, a word processor that produces clean text, or software that allows writing information. Content sites with a database-based content management system can also produce such a file from fields already defined in the content management system.
Ease of reading - RSS documents are simple text files that are reasonably easy for anyone to read. An RSS file allows users to read headlines, dates, and document descriptions without special software but with a browser or text editing software.
Easy content management - RSS documents define the document template well, including title, creation date, author name, link to the article online, and additional information. These definitions allow personal management of content written by others and personal content that a person has written and distributed. Since the RSS format is well-defined and common, it can connect to other systems that distribute or search for content.
Some basic concepts in the RSS world
Feed - Adding an entry to the RSS file. The entry includes at least the article title and link to the article. An RSS file found on a website is called an RSS Feed because it "feeds" content to software that reads RSS files on the user's computer.
Post - Sending news, articles, or stories to a content site. When a user reads that news, article, or story, they are reading the "post" of the content creator.
Channel - A content channel. The RSS file defines the channel under a tag named channel, which includes the channel name, internet address, description, and language of the channel content. Also defined are all the contents currently in the channel under the tag item. A "channel" is essentially a "webpage or website."
Item - An information item. Under the item tag, the distributed contents are detailed. Each item contains a title and a link. Additional data can include the creation date, author name, and article description.
RSS Reader - Software designed to read and analyze RSS files and display new content.
RSS Server - The computer that provides content in RSS format. This is the website where the RSS file is located, and the link to it is given to the software that reads and analyzes the RSS.
To summarize, when there is information overload resulting from the need to scan many sources of information on the Internet and read their content, the user does not want to waste time touring websites. RSS is an efficient tool that can collect relevant sources for the user and provide links to content of interest with great ease, maximum benefit, and low cost.
The article is based on an article published on the website halemo.net
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