What are RSS Feeds? Part 1
15 January 2007
The Basics
If you are new to the terms RSS or news feeds then you are in the right place, read on and find out a little more about them they may offer you or your business a new way of communicating. RSS Feeds or news feeds are growing quickly and have become a major part of the Internet but many users don't understand what they are. They allow people to see when their favourite websites have added new content without actually having to go to that website, this can be done through a simple, often free pieces of software named RSS readers.
The term RSS is short for "Rich Site Summary" but many people now refer to it as "Really Simple Syndication". It was mainly used by news groups and sites to quickly share and broadcast their news with people. This proved to be a huge benefit as not only could they reach a huge audience quickly, they found that user's integrated feeds into their own website, this has been shown by the success of the BBC news feeds.
How to start using RSS feeds for your self?
In order for you to receive the latest news on topics of interest to you. Firstly, you need a news reader to be able to view the RSS feed. There are many to choose from, some Internet browsers such as Firefox (our favourite at Blueprint IT) have a built in RSS reader but there are many stand alone pieces of software which are also free that will enable you to receive the latest. Here are just some of the news readers available, click the links to be directed to the corresponding download pages, all are very easy to set up and use:
Browser
Once you have chosen your news reader your ready to pick up news. Simply choose the websites with your favourite information on and if they have a news feed then all you have to do is subscribe (this is almost invariably free). You can subscribe to any RSS feeds by clicking on the orange RSS feed button shown, this will allow you to receive all the news from that feed. Alternatively, some websites may not provide you with the RSS feed button but may provide you with a link, simply copy and paste this link into your news reader and you will be able to pick up the feed.
Before you proceed please ensure you have chosen an RSS Feed reader from the list above
Why not try our news feed out, to ensure that the news feed works correctly you MUST download either Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox (the links above direct you straight to the download pages). For Internet Explorer 7 you will be required to choose your Windows version.
Once you have downloaded and installed either Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox you can click on the orange RSS Feed button to view our RSS Feed.
http://www.blueprintit.co.uk/view/3/feed.rss 
If you would like to read more about using RSS Feeds to benefit your business then check back soon we will be releasing part 2 of our introduction to RSS feeds.
Rob Jones
Creative Designer
Blueprint IT Limited