RSS Feeds

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a protocol, an application of XML, that provides an open method of syndicating and aggregating Web content. Using RSS files, you can create a data feed that supplies headlines, links, and article summaries from your Web site. Users can have constantly updated content from web sites delivered to them via a news aggregator, a piece of software specifically tailored to receive these types of feeds. RSS is the hottest thing in Web communication. It powers many popular applications such as weblogs, knowledge management networks, and news syndication.

Why use RSS feeds?

RSS makes it very easy for people who regulary view content published by a provider to subscribe to this content and get the information automatically without ever having to visit the page again. It will allow you to get information such as news content from several different places automatically and have it displayed in one place. It also gives the editor a single place to add and remove content.

What does it look like?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">

<channel>
<title>Liberal Arts Computer Security Headlines</title>
<description>Latest updates and headlines from Liberal Arts Computer Support Services</description>
<link>http://www.techsupport.la.psu.edu</link>
<copyright>copyright© 2006 College of the Liberal Arts</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:40:03 EST</lastBuildDate>


<item>
<title>Dell Requests Customers Apply Urgent Fix for Dell Wireless Wi-Fi Cards to Address Security Vulnerability</title>
<description>A security vulnerability affecting some Dell customers was announced over the weekend. Dell was not previously aware of this issue. Since hearing of the issue Dell has put all available resources on it to understand the scope of affected systems and make an updated software driver available that fixes the problem.</description>
<link>http://techsupport.la.psu.edu/security/dell_wi-fi_vulnerable.shtml</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:49:03 EST</pubDate>
<category>Security</category>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

How are they created?

There are two main ways to create and publish RSS feeds. One, typing into a text editor such as notpad. Or, they can be created by using an editor specifically designed for creating and publishing RSS and Podcast feeds. These editors make creating syndicated content extremely easy.

How are they viewed?

There are many ways to view RSS feeds. Some of the more popular ways are through e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird.

Examples of how they are used here at Penn State