Feeds (RSS)

A feed is a simple way to obtain latest and frequently updated information on the web. A feed is obtained by subscription through a reader or aggregator. The reader will then periodically check for updates and notify when something is new.

Recognising a feed

• The orange icon, , is a standard icon for feeds
• Links referring to Atom or RSS are feeds – they are the names of two feed publishing formats
• Links with a call to subscribe suggest they are feeds

Selecting/clicking a feed

When a feed link is selected a browser may preview the feed. The preview may include subscription options and content filter controls, but these depend on what browser and version is being used.

Readers/aggregators

Readers or aggregators take many forms, but common to them all is a subscription process which relies on the address (URI) of the feed. Once the feed address is known or copied, it can be used in the subscription process.

Browsers with reading support

• Firefox through Live Bookmarks (Firefox Support)
• Internet Explorer since version 7.0
• Opera
• Safari since version 2.0

Web readers

• Bloglines
• Google Reader
• iGoogle, go to Google and select iGoogle
• My Yahoo

Desktop readers

• List of readers by Wikipedia
• Outlook 2007
• Thunderbird (Email and feed reader)

Related terms

Atom

Atom is the name of a feed format and an application-level protocol.

Podcast

A Podcast is the name given to a feed that delivers audio and/or visual media.

RSS

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is the name of a feed format.

Screencast

A Screencast is the name given to a video of the output from a computer screen, often with an explanatory audio narritive.