what is an rss feed and how does it work

Main article: History of web syndication technology The RSS reader checks the user's feeds regularly for new information and can automatically download it, if that function is enabled. Users subscribe to feeds either by entering a feed's URI into the reader or by clicking on the browser's feed icon. RSS feed data is presented to users using software called a news aggregator and the passing of content is called web syndication. RSS formats are specified using a generic XML file.Īlthough RSS formats have evolved from as early as March 1999, it was between 20 when RSS gained widespread use, and the (' ') icon was decided upon by several major web browsers. An RSS document (called 'feed', 'web feed', or 'channel') includes full or summarized text, and metadata, like publishing date and author's name. Websites usually use RSS feeds to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news headlines, episodes of audio and video series, or for distributing podcasts. News aggregators (or 'RSS readers') can be built into a browser, installed on a desktop computer, or installed on a mobile device. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator, which constantly monitor sites for new content, removing the need for the user to manually check them.

RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Updates of a website and its related metadata ( web feed)

What is an rss feed and how does it work