1. What is an RSS feed?
2. What information does an RSS feed provide?
3. How do I subscribe to Pryor.com's RSS feeds?
4. What is an RSS reader?
5. Should I use an RSS reader?
6. How do I find out if a website has an RSS feed?

RSS stands for "really simple syndication".  It is an easy way for websites to distribute their dynamic content (headlines, news releases, weblogs) to those who are interested in what is happening in real-time.  The content is used by computer programs called RSS aggregators or RSS readers to organize the information into content that is easy to read through for what is truly important to the end-user.

Most websites which take advantage of RSS feeds are those that have some type of dynamic content such as news releases, weblogs, or any site with content that changes continuously.  Checking back with these websites often can get very tedious and time-consuming.  For this reason, an e-mail notification was developed to attempt to solve this problem. Unfortunately in this age of spam, most e-mail content gets lost amongst the jumble of our morning madness where we lose much of our time attempting to siphon the important out of the ridiculous amounts of spam accumulated nightly.

For those reasons, RSS feeds were created.  RSS feeds give control back to the end-users so that you can control the what, when and where of the information you receive from the sites you have preselected. These feeds are updated whenever new content is published to the site. RSS readers "subscribe" to news feeds, which means they download lists of stories at an interval that you specify (every 30 minutes, for example), and present them to you in your RSS reader. An RSS feed might contain a seminar schedule, tips of the day, or breaking news. All RSS feeds will have a link back to the website, so if you see something you like, you can click on the link for that piece of content and will be taken to the website to read it.

RSS provides very basic information to do its notification. It is made up of a list of items presented in order from newest to oldest. Each item usually consists of a simple title describing the item along with a more complete description and a link to a Web page with the actual information being described. Sometimes this description is the full information you want to read (such as the content of a weblog post) and sometimes it is just a summary.

For example, the RSS information for a seminar coming to your area might contain the following examples:

Item 1:
Title: Business Writing for Results
Description: Business Writing for Results on 11/07/2005 at FRESNO, CA - Event Number: 38384
Link: http://www.pryor.com/mkt_info/seminars/desc/BW.asp
Item 2:
Title: How to Supervise People
Description: How to Supervise People on 03/16/2006 at ANAHEIM, CA - Event Number: 41919
Link: http://www.pryor.com/mkt_info/seminars/desc/TW.asp

The RSS information is placed into a single file on a Web site in a manner similar to normal Web pages. However, the information is coded in the XML computer language for use by a program (the RSS aggregator) and not by a person like a normal Web page.

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Step one is to download your favorite RSS reader. If you have never used one before, try installing one of the RSS readers mentioned below and see which one you like.

Step two is to click on the RSS link on the Pryor.com website that you are interested in. Then you should copy the link from the browser into your RSS reader. That's it. It really is that simple.

An RSS reader (also known as an RSS aggregator) is simply a piece of software that you can use to read your subscribed RSS feeds. It is to RSS feeds what Outlook, Hotmail, and Entourage are to email. You also might think of it as a simply a web browser for for RSS content. 

There are many RSS aggregators available. Some are accessed through a browser, some are integrated into email programs, and some run as a standalone application on your personal computer.

Using an RSS reader to consume your web media means that you only need to visit a website when you are notified by your RSS reader of something that is of interest to you. You won't have to visit many sites multiple times every day to see if there are updates; your RSS reader will do that for you and will let you know when there is any new content to be read!

Unlike Web browsers, RSS readers haven't yet been reduced to just two or three serious choices therefore, there is a wide variety of options out there for you to choose from. Below are links to some articles that can be used to direct you to the news reader for you.

• Top 10 Free Windows RSS Feed Readers / News Aggregators
• Top 10 Windows RSS Feed Readers / News Aggregators
• Picking The Best RSS Client
• Find the Best RSS Feed Readers / News Aggregators

How do I find out if a website has an RSS feed?

Most websites will have a link with the letters "RSS" or "XML".  Text RSS links sometimes (there are lots of variations) point to a Web page explaining the nature of the RSS feeds provided and how to find them. The buttons are often linked directly to the RSS feed file itself.

Once you know the URL of an RSS feed, you can provide that address to an RSS aggregator program and have the aggregator monitor the feed for you. Many RSS aggregators come preconfigured with a list to choose from of RSS feed URLs for popular news Web sites.