RSS feeds
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a simple way of sharing content. RSS feeds allow you to bring into your website or desktop the headlines of stories on other sites such as major news sites.
RSS is a way to have information regularly sent to you from a website, in what's called a ‘feed’. You can receive these feeds in special RSS reader software, which is a bit like receiving email in your inbox. Most major online news sources, such as the BBC, ABC, Yahoo, The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald, use RSS to deliver content.
You can collect different feeds from sites large or small and have them as a combined ‘News’ listing on your own website.
If your organisation is a peak body you can provide RSS on your website and encourage your member organisations to take the feed. It helps to add value to your site and provides a great sense of currency.
See also Receiving RSS feeds on your desktop
More information
- The BBC
has a good simple description of RSS. - Wikipedia entry on RSS.
- Some commentators see RSS as a fundamental change in the way content is delivered online.
- An article that sees RSS as symbolising a growing democratisation of the web
- An example of how to use RSS feeds – from the ACTU site.