News Feeds, RSS, XML & Atom

What are they - and why do I want one?

Everyone's talking about news feeds, and you've seen those RSS, XML and ATOM icons appearing on more and more web sites - or maybe it's 'all news to you.'

"RSS" has several definitions but commonly means "Really Simple Syndication". It's a way to stay up to date and be notified of web site changes without visiting them - even eliminating the need for emailed newsletters.

Why bother? Many of us fail to see the point of a new technology, the explanation leaves us wondering "What's new? Why bother? That will never take off".

Texting with a phone is rather like carrying your bicycle instead of riding it, but that hasn't prevented a worldwide phenomenon bypassing me. Downloading ring tones is a another huge fad, but really is in the same category as tattoos and hairstyles - Hey, look at me! Cells that have cameras, email, internet ... okay, okay.

I prefer to simply use my phone for the very reason telephones were invented - talking to someone far away.

The advantages of RSS become far more obvious when you install that feed reader ('news reader', 'aggregator').

No more poking around your favorite sites list looking for updated news or articles amongst the popups and clutter. Gone is the tedium of emailed newsletters (often just 'infomercial'), sorting them from personal mail and spam, digging past the mundane sales-oriented material looking for the 'content' - often just a link back to the web site.

Your favorite articles, blogs, and news become centralized in the news reader, like a control center, saving time and effort. The reader can can be a part of your web browser, like Pluck, or even even part of your email program, such as RSS Popper for Outlook. (If you use Outlook - not Outlook Express, sorry - browse to the download section and 'run now.' Takes seconds. Close Outlook first.

You might be interested to know I don't read news feeds much. Why? The readers (as in software/programs) are generally a pain. RSS Popper (freeware, by the way) is an excellent way to go to centralize you daily dose of outside world. While I'm at it I might plug "LookOut," a free plug in for Outlook that indexes your email lightning fast, plus any folders or hard disks connected to your system. Brilliant.

Free simple news readers you can play with are RssReader and FeedReader - simple and safe to install.

How, or why, would you then use a 'news reader'?

Take SheepOverboard.com, for example. New articles appear only once or twice a week because my feeble-minded publisher thinks stories write themselves. This is bad for business - I know you won't return if nothing changes after a few visits and you might easily miss new articles in the feature sections off the main page.

Plastering "New!" or "Latest" icons in the menu doesn't really help - 'new' for who? Only first-time visitors.

SheepOverboard.com's news feed sends you the headline, with a link directly to the article, within minutes of publishing.

Click the update in your news reader to see the headline. If the news reader is configured with three viewing panes the web page automagically appears in the right-hand window.

Please try it now so you needn't worry about checking back. Feed readers are fun and a new way of using the Internet.

Is there a downside? Yes, you might become addicted.

Steps to Follow

1. Get a news reader ("news aggregator") - Preferably a free one. Some of the best software on the Internet is free. RSS Popper is our current favorite, installing in five seconds as part of Outlook 2000/2003, and feeds appear as a folder, like your inbox.

2. Check your favorite web sites for a "feed" - Look for the XML, ATOM, RSS or FeedBurner icons on web sites, or sometimes just the letters "RSS".

3. Copy the feed "shortcut" into your news reader - Three typical ways to do this:

1. Drag the icon into your reader and drop it on the tree menu at left in the section desired

2. Right-click the feed icon and from the popup menu select "copy shortcut" then in the reader "add feed" and paste the shortcut (right-click->Paste or Control-C) into the "URL" or "address" field.

3. Thirdly? Often it is already there because you simply visited the web site with the reader running. Some software is that smart.

Don't call us, we'll call you! Subscribe to our feed!

Overview

1. The traditional way to "capture" web site visitors and make it easier for them to return is to offer a newsletter. Most web site owners fear losing forever the casual visitors who often stumble upon a web site by accident and all too often cannot return because they don't remember how they originally found it.

2. The survival of all small web sites depends on traffic - like any shop or small business. The Internet, with 6.5 billion indexed pages (Google) is an easy place to be overlooked, or undiscovered! All webmasters agonize over how to be memorable and how to attract BOTH new AND return visits.

3. The newsletter WAS the most successful technique to ensure return visits - and both parties were winners. However, news feeds are overtaking emailed newsletters with their many advantages, for both web site owner and the browsing audience.

4. News feeds. They are a little tricky at first. You instinctively click the icon and a web page full of strange characters opens. The link is not for viewing directly in a browser. The contents of that page is designed for a reader ("news aggregator"), the"shortcut" intended to be copied or dragged (with the mouse) into a the reader.

5. News Aggregator, or Reader. Nothing more than a simple program that interprets the news feed (that page of strange characters) and presents it in easily read format. Why? (this is the great part!) ...

6. The news reader runs in the background while you work or browse. It monitors web sites, blogs, news, tickers - anything you like (that is publishing a feed; sources are growing by thousands a day). When a page or article is added or updated, the news reader alerts you.

7. There is no need to return to the web site and (often fruitlessly) look for updates - THEY come to YOU. No need to deal with emails begging you to buy something or click this and that. Just a simple alert that new material is available for viewing and a link directly to it which usually opens in the reader

What are you waiting for? You won't break your computer. You might fail to make the feed reader work but the exercise is harmless and failure unimportant - just keep trying till it works, or you get the hang of it.

Using a computer is like that.