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RSS Feed Help
RSS Feed (also known as Really Simple Syndication and Rich Site Summary) is a service provided by content producers to offer an automated alert and summary of information available at a Web site. A major use for RSS Feeds are aggregating news stories from the New York Times or the Washington Post, etc.
For the MeredithMade Blog, that means you can subscribe and be notified automatically when the latest art and news posts have been added to the site. You do not have to remember to visit and then manually go to the blog in hopes of finding new information.
How RSS Feeds Work
RSS feeds offer three important functions:
- Automated alerts of new content when available
- Delivery of headlines and summaries of frequently updated content
- Links to the full content at the Web site proper
First
The
number of new content items available at the blog is shown through
the Feed listing you have subscribed to. An RSS reader accepts a subscription
to a feed and then automatically monitors that feed for updates. When
new content is added, the RSS reader displays an alert, usually by
showing the number of new blog posts added.
Second
Access
to a wide array of information from a Web site in an abbreviated form
is made available. You may then scan the RSS feed for topics of interest.
In addition to being notified of new blog posts, you can scan the headlines
and an abrieviated intro to the post's content for a quick overview.
Third
Click the headline links in the feed to visit
the site for those items. An RSS Feed acts as an efficient launching
point to a wide array of content at a Web site without having to sift
through other content you may already have read.
Subscribing
to a Feed versus visiting a Web site for new information is like the
difference between getting a magazine subscription for the convenience
of home delivery versus remembering to go and check the local store
each month for the new magazine.
The former requires no effort on your
part while the latter requires memory and manual tasks.
Hence, the RSS Reader does the work of both checking for new content and displaying that content automatically. You decide at a glance what to read and what not to. See below for how to get an RSS Reader program.
How To Access RSS Feeds
To easily and automatically access the latest news
and events via an RSS feed for MeredithMade Blog, subscribe to the
following feed with an RSS reader:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/meredithmadeblog
RSS Reader Software: