What are news
feeds? >
How can I use
them? >
How do I get a news
reader? >
What are News
Feeds?
News feeds allow you to see when websites have
added new content. You can get the latest news, as soon as its
published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the
feed from.
Feeds are also known as RSS. There is some discussion
as to what RSS
stands for, but most people plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'.
In essence, the feeds themselves are just web pages, designed to be
read by computers rather than people.
How do I start using
feeds?
In general, the first thing you need is
something called a news reader. This is a piece of software that
checks the feeds and lets you read any new articles that have been
added. There are many different versions, some of which are
accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable
applications.
Browser-based news readers let you catch up
with your RSS
feed subscriptions from any computer, whereas downloadable
applications let you store them on your main computer, in the same
way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it
on a web-based service like Hotmail.
Once you have chosen a news reader, all you
have to do is to decide what content you want it to receive.
If you click on the RSS button you can subscribe
to the feed in various ways, including by dragging the URL of the
feed into your news reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL
into a new feed in your news reader. Most sites that offer feeds
use a similar orange button, but some may just have a normal web
link.
Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera and
Safari, automatically check for feeds for you when you visit a
website, and display an icon when they find one. This can make
subscribing to feeds much easier. For more details on these, please
check their websites.
How do I get a news
reader?
There is a range of different news readers
available and new versions are appearing all the time.
Different news readers work on different
operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work
with your computer.
A quick search of Google will provide details of the various
range of news readers that are available for different operating
systems.