Posts Tagged ‘Protocol’

More than likely you’ve seen the term RSS used in print or conversation by now; if you’re somewhat web savvy, you may know that it has something to do with podcasting among other things. Whether you have a vague understanding of what RSS is or you’ve never heard of it before, you’ve come to the right place – keep reading for an introduction to this increasingly important part of how content is distributed over the World Wide Web.

RSS is, as you’ve probably guessed, an acronym: it stands for Really Simple Syndication. What this really does is? It does exactly what it says on the box – pardon the pun. RSS is a protocol used to distribute all manner of content online. Text, audio and video content are all distributed (or syndicated) by this method.

And of course you a thinking ‘yes’ but how does it really work. Those of you who are a little less technically inclined or have a low tolerance for technical jargon can breathe easy – it’s really not necessary to go into all of the minutiae of how web transport protocols work in detail to gain an understanding of RSS.

One way to look at RSS is as a subscription such as you’d see with print media like newspapers and magazines. It is the same principle as having your daily newspaper delivered to your door, you have requested this so you do not have to visit the paper shop every day. RSS works much the same. When you subscribe to content via the RSS “feed” (or channel, as they are also called), it is delivered to you rather than your having to remember to visit a particular website to see if new content has been added, download a podcast, etc.

As you will have experienced first hand content may be dropped at your door or posted through your mail box. Instead, you’ll need a program called an RSS reader. Your browser may already have this function built in if not there are lots to choose from out there and many are free. When you find content online which is regularly updated, the site owner will often place a RSS feed link on the page – these are those white-on-orange icons which suggest sound coming out of a speaker that you’ve probably seen on quite a few sites.

Depending on what RSS reader you use and how you’ve configured the program, you can either simply click on the RSS feed link to add this channel to your reader or copy and paste the address of the link into your reader. Once that’s done, you’ll be notified when this content has been updated; many RSS readers, especially those designed with audio podcasts in mind will automatically download updated content as well.

In a nutshell, that’s how RSS works. This a simple way of getting content for providers viewers listeners and readers. This can be an easy and fun part of building your website thanks to RSS.