RSS - Really Simple Syndication

Submitted by Rick on May 26, 2006 - 7:52pm.

RSS has been around for quite a few years already, but we have not brought it up as an official tip. We purposefully held off because we wanted the technology to mature and for the technology to truly become usable. We also delayed the idea a little until we perfected how we were going to offer this exciting web technology on our site.

This week, we just want to introduce you to the topic and then next week give you the step-by-step on how to best utilize RSS. RSS, originally developed by Netscape, stands for Rich Site Summary. Somewhere along the line, the acronym became more commonly known as Really Simple Syndication.

RSS allows web site owners to 'share' their content (articles, tips, pictures, audio, video, etc) with other sites or users. Instead of having to physically go to our site, for example, to see what is new on a given day, you could use RSS to check on the headlines from our site. The headlines would link you back to the site where you could read the entire article. Customizable portal pages like Yahoo, Google and MSN offer will let you add any RSS content to the page as well. Think of RSS as being able to truly customize and instantly receive the exact information and entertainment that fits you. No more schlepping through other people's content, you can create your own!

For those of you who crave more in depth information and history of RSS, please refer to these two sites:

Wikipedia -RSS
History of RSS

Next week, we will teach you how to look for, compile and utilize RSS content or what are known as 'feeds'.