How do RSS Feeds work?

RSS (which stands for “Really Simple Syndication”) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries or news headlines.

An RSS document, which is called a “feed,” “web feed,” or “channel,” contains either a summary of content or full text from a website. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that’s easier than checking them manually.

You will see a link at the top of each of these pages that says “ Sign up for RSS Feeds “.

When you click this link, a few things can happen. In most cases your browser will ask if you want to subscribe to this feed (in the case of Internet Explorer 7+, Safari, Firefox, or Opera). Alternatively, you may be asked to download a file. In this case, an external feed reader is necessary.

There are online options such as:

• Google Reader: http://google.com/reader/
• Feedshow: http://reader.feedshow.com/
• Newsgator: http://www.newsgator.com/

and others, or there are programs such as Outlook.

To add the feed to Outlook, follow these instructions from Microsoft.