RSS Feed

A what-now?

RSS (formally "RDF Site Summary", known colloquially as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel", contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favourite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.
Wikipedia on RSS

Basically, all it does is tell you what's new on this site without you even moving from your Homepage. To get these feeds, you need something which supports them

RSS Feed Wherever you see this icon, it means it's a way to add an RSS feed.

RSS Readers

There are many different solutions and methods for viewing RSS Feeds. Depending on what you want from the application, you can choose a particular one below:

Desktop Programs

These programs reside on your computer. They usually boast advanced features such as reading offline. However, they lack the convenience of beine avaliable everywhere.

Web Browser

These are advantageous in that they're “always-on” and don't require any special software or logins, but, as with desktop programs, fail in the fact that they're not portable.

If you use Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or higher, Netscape, Opera or Internet Explorer 7 or higher, your browser comes with an in-built RSS reader.

If you use Internet Explorer 6, it's the only one that doesn't support RSS, and, well, frankly, you're using a crap browser. If for whatever reason you can't upgrade Internet Explorer 6 (or even if you can), I recommend you go get Mozilla Firefox and “Rediscover the Web”, as the good people over there say.

Web Applications

Some websites let you have your own RSS feeds sent straight to the page. You can have a huge bunch of them on the page - everything you could ever want in one place!

Pages which support RSS feeds usually need a login. Most people have a Windows Live ID, as this signs them into Windows Live Messenger/Hotmail, and this works for the Live.com. Sites at which you can view RSS feeds are:

Even if it's not just for this site's feeds, these pages are well worth having; they can hold many useful features such as your email inbox, clocks, remote bookmarks, and of course, more RSS feeds! It's useful to have these set as your homepage so that you can see what you need at a glance.

How to add the feed

RSS Reader Programs

Instructions can be found below. Click the appropriate link for your reader of choice:

Web Applications

See the provided instructions below

Web Browsers