What is RSS?

So by now you have probably heard the term RSS a few times, and on most websites that you go to you, see an orange icon similar to this big one on the right.

Well if you are wondering what RSS is and what these orange icons are, it is a technology that allows you to keep up to date with the latest content on your favorite websites.

Why is it worth using?

Well if you are like me, you probably have a whole bunch of websites that you keep track of. You probably have them bookmarked as favorites, and you keep going back to them each individually to check out the latest news. This can take up lots of your valuable time!

With RSS, the updates come to you. So whenever something new is published on one of the sites, the headline will turn up in your RSS reader. If you are a hard-core surfer (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) then it makes your life so much easier.

How do I use RSS?

All you need to use RSS is:

• An RSS reader. (I use Google reader)
• The RSS feed address of the site you want to subscribe to.

For example, when you click on the orange RSS feed icon at the top of AmeliaBurton.com.au, you go to http://feeds.feedburner.com/AmeliaBurton. This is the RSS feed address.

So you can either:

Click on the “Add to Google” icon on that page to add it straight to Google Reader.

OR

Add that address manually to any other RSS reader you may use.

So that’s it, you will now get all the latest content delivered to you without even having to go to the sites! Now you just need to go and add in your other favorite sites.

If you still don’t trust RSS, you can subscribe by good old fashioned email.

Oh, any by the way, in case you were wondering, it stands for Really Simple Syndication!