Tech Term: Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

Some websites have an orange icon with waves coming from a dot in the bottom-left corner. This icon is for an RSS feed. RSS feeds are great for users who want to add the website’s content to an RSS reader—but what does this even mean? Let’s find out.

Explaining RSS Feeds

RSS is an acronym that stands for “really simple syndication” or “rich site summary,” depending on who you ask.

Basically, it boils down to two parts of the same process. If you visit many websites, you can use software to build an RSS feed reader (or news aggregator) that can pull those highlights into one place. This is great for websites that regularly produce new content, like news websites, podcasts, web shows, and blogs.

With an online RSS feed or browser extension, like Feedly, you can subscribe to different websites and aggregate their content in one place, making consumption much easier.

Aggregate the Content You Want into Your Own RSS Feed Reader

Want to build an RSS feed for yourself? Follow these steps.

Many RSS readers allow you to search for websites to follow, but if there’s one in particular you are looking for, just keep an eye out for the orange icon. Click this icon, and you can add it to your RSS feed. If the link brings you to a simple webpage with links to articles and website identifiers, copy the page’s URL into your RSS reader, and you should be all set.

We hope you find a great use for RSS technology so you can be more productive with your content consumption!