What is RSS:

 

I found this icon on the Middle Atlantic web site  ( ).  I found this icon (Association Updates RSS Feed ) on another web site.  I clicked on the icons and get something that looks like computer code.  I am getting confuse, can someone help me??  Welcome to RSS.  RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including Middle Atlantic Swimming.  Tired of browsing the web for up-to-date information? RSS feeds give exactly the news you need. They are fast, in fact, they are instant, and save you a lot of time.  Pretty much anything that can be broken down into discrete items can be syndicated via RSS: the "recent changes" page of a wiki, a changelog of CVS checkins, even the revision history of a book. Once information about each item is in RSS format, an RSS-aware program (think of this as an RSS Reader, almost like Adobe has a reader for PDF files).  We have two examples of "readers" below) can check the feed for changes and react to the changes in an appropriate way.

RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the weblogging community. Many weblogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favorite weblogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them.  RSS feeds by themselves don’t do much. If you view one in most browsers, you’ll see the raw XML, which is roughly human-readable, but intended for computer programs.  RSS reader software that runs on your own computer may be a standalone program or integrate into a program that you already use, such as Microsoft Outlook.

a screenshot of a typical three-panel RSS aggregator

 

Why should I use as RSS reader?

For anyone that reads a half dozen or more pages that have RSS feeds, a reader is a necessity. RSS readers are set up to periodically check for new items in the feeds you are subscribed to, commonly once every hour. In other words, the news comes to you, rather than you having to go to the news. This saves a tremendous amount of time. Or conversely, you can read many more feeds in the same amount of time. Many people read several hundred feeds. That just wouldn’t be feasible without an RSS reader. Additionally, you avoid all the non-new information on a web page, including the ads, menus, etc. Middle Atlantic Swimming is hoping that by using RSS feeds will help our MA swimming community know when we have placed important updates on the web site.  Think of it like this: When swim meet information is posted for a certain meet, or when results are posted from the weekend swim meet, if you have an RSS reader, your will be instantly notified on your own computer that these updates were made, and with a simple click, you will have the meet information, or results on your desktop.  No more checking and re checking the website.

Choosing an RSS Reader:

There are many RSS Readers.  We have listed some examples below.  You may also google for them.   What reader you should use depends on your own needs. Some people find it convenient to read RSS feeds in a program that they are already using. For example, My Yahoo! has an RSS reader, and NewsGator integrates into Microsoft Outlook. Some people prefer an aggregator that shows new items as a news ticker on their desktop, and others prefer a full-fledged application to read RSS feeds in. We should also note that the aggregators mentioned on this page, with the exception of NewsGator, are all free to use, at the time of this writing.

How do I get content delivered to my desktop?

Your first step is to get a desktop newsreader that will read RSS feeds. Install the reader.  Then look for the XML or logo on our site. Clicking on it will take you to the feed for that particular page. Then the newsfeed should load directly into your reader.

 

Various RSS Readers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are several more resources to help you with RSS feeds:


RSS News on Demand - A Complete Guide - PC World - The best staring point
RSS readers offer new ways to keep up with the Web - USA Today
FAQ RSS news feeds from American Medical News
RSS (protocol) - Wikipedia
News aggregator - Wikipedia
Syndicate yourself - PC World NZ
RSS: Hot Fix for Info-Junkies - Real Smooth Stuff - PC World
The Coming RSS Revolution - Forbes 2/04

 

How do you stay on top of the news and blogs that matter to you the most? Do you visit 5, 10, 15, or more web sites every hour to get the latest stories and news headlines? Do you switch back and forth between Outlook, your browser and a stand-alone news reader application? If so, you now have a better solution with You Subscribe: RSS.

You Subscribe: RSS is a news aggregator that brings the news that matters to you right into your Microsoft Outlook inbox. Stay on top of news and your favorite blogs without all the surfing.

 

If you have further questions on the Middle Atlantic RSS Feeds, or RSS Readers, email our web staff at webmaster@maswim.org.