HOW TO USE RSS FEEDS TO ACCESS "WHAT'S NEW" INFORMATION
What is RSS?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way to easily distribute a list of headlines, update notices and content to a wide number of people.
What problems does RSS solve?
Many people are interested in websites whose content changes on an unpredictable schedule. Email notification of changes was an early solution to this problem. Unfortunately, when you receive email notifications from multiple websites they are usually disorganized and can get overwhelming, and are often mistaken for spam. RSS is a better way to be notified of new and changed content.
How does RSS work?
RSS works by having the website author maintain a list of notifications on their website in a standard way. The list of notifications is called an RSS Feed. People who are interested in finding out the latest headlines or updates can check this list (feed). Special computer programs called RSS aggregators have been developed that automatically access the RSS feeds of websites you care about on your behalf and organize the results for you.
RSS Aggregator Programs
There are several different ways to access and view an RSS feed. I'm going to showcase 2 aggregators in this guide.
- Internet Explorer 7: This browser can automatically detect if a web page has an RSS feed on it. In the main toolbar, inbetween the "Home" and the "Printer" icon, there is an RSS icon. This icon is gray if there are no feeds available on the site. And it turns orange if there is an RSS feed detected on the page. To access the feed, you simple click the little down arrow just to the right of the RSS icon, and it will give you a list of the feeds available on this site. In our case it will say "Atlas of Gonioscopy - What's New?". If you click on this, it will take you to the feed. If you've never subscribed to this feed before, it will give you the option to subscribe. This feed will give you a list of all of the updates on the site, with a description. If you click on the title, it will take you to the video or appropriate page on the website. When you want to look at the feed, you would click on the yellow star on the IE7 toolbar (far left), and instead of click on "Favorites", you will click on "Feeds".
- Google Reader: If you have a google account, you simply need to be signed into Google. Then up at the very top of the webpage (to the left of your account information), you will see a like called "more". Click the link, and the drop down menu will appear. Choose Reader" from the list. Then click the Add a subscription" button. Type in: www.gonioscopy.org and it will add the What's New RSS feed to the list. You will see all the new items that have been added. And if you go back and check it again, it will say "No unread items". The next time we add content, you will see it listed here again.
There are many RSS aggregators available. Some are accessed through a web browser, some are integrated into email programs, and some run as a standalone application on your personal computer. This link will give you a list of the many programs out there that you can use to monitor your RSS Feeds: List of Feed Aggregators
One RSS aggregator is all that you need to read all of the RSS feeds, be they headlines, alerts, changes, or other notifications. RSS is shaping up to be a very popular and useful means of communicating.
