Guide to RSS feeds

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is an internet service that lets you subscribe to feeds and updates, including newly posted videos and photos, from your favourite web pages and read them in one window.

RSS is handy for keeping up with the latest news and weather reports, blogs, job listings, and currency and sharemarket news. Not all sites have RSS, but most that are updated regularly and have a reasonable following should. RSS feeds link back to their websites, so you can click on them for more information.   

HOW IT WORKS

If you're using an Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari web browser to surf the internet you'll see an orange symbol below the address bar that looks a bit like a speaker symbol.  Clicking on the symbol will activate RSS for that web page and you'll jump to another web page showing that site's latest feeds and updates.

You can then subscribe to receive the feeds via your browser, or you can use a dedicated RSS reader and subscribe to feeds from your favourite websites - each reader will have different instructions for doing this.

RSS READERS

Internet browsers have simple, built-in RSS readers (although Firefox users can customise their reader using hundreds of add-on features). You can also download or sign up to use software purpose-made for gathering, presenting and sorting RSS feeds. Here are a few free options.

Google Reader

You need a (free) Gmail email account to sign up for Google Reader. The software lets you specify your interests - such as photography - and will give you a list of photography sites with RSS feeds. Users can sort feeds by date, topic and importance and can view their feeds in their iGoogle homepage.

Netvibes

Netvibes lets you create your own homepage, much like iGoogle and Windows Live, and read all your online content such as your latest emails and news updates from the same page. It has a built-in RSS reader, and can also gather podcasts for you from around the web.

FeedDemon

This RSS reader works on Windows operating systems only and is a favourite with reviewers. Users can set keywords for topics they're interested in and FeedDemon will search all incoming feeds for them, and specify how often they receive feeds. FeedDemon 3.0 (the latest version) lets you synchronise your Google Reader and FeedDemon accounts, and highlights popular articles and videos from your subscribed feeds.

NetNewsWire

A reader for Mac operating systems, NetNewsWire takes note of which types of feeds interest you the most and sorts them accordingly. Users can easily email links or content to others and the service integrates with other Mac applications -  such as the calendar software iCal and photo sorting and editing software iPhoto - so you can add events from feeds to your calendar and add photos from feeds to your online photo library.

Snarfer

A relatively simple RSS reader, Snarfer can search incoming feeds for keywords and sort them into categories, show only unread messages, and also use other popular RSS and blog search engines to trawl the web.  Users can email articles and feed lists to others through Snarfer. The software is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

Sources: PC Mag, Newsgator, Net for Beginners, CNET, Google, The Age.

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