Subscribing to feeds

Websites which offer RSS feeds display an icon similar to this

Alternatively there may also be a link labelled XML or even 'feed'. To all intents and purposes they are all the same thing.

Confusingly there are several different standards - for example RSS2 or Atom. Some sites may offer a choice but it shouldn't make too much difference which you subscribe to. The standards are more important to the content originator than the subscriber.

Whether you are using a browser or a feed-reader the software will have a dialogue box which enables you to add an RSS link.

There will be a 'subscribe' button which then displays a box saying 'subscribe to new feed'.

It usually looks like the URL address box at the top of your browser and may have http:// already entered.

Go to the website page that offers an RSS feed you want to subscribe to.

Click the RSS button or a text link to the feed.

Copy the URL (the page's web address) in the address box. The address will end in either .rss .xml or .rdf.

Put the URL in the feed-reader's URL box. (If the http:// part of the address was already there, you will only need the part beginning www.)

Click 'Add' or 'Subscribe' depending on the programme.

The programme will then automatically list the feed in the browser main window.

A typical feed will have a bold heading which may also be a link to a main website page, followed by a short description of the feed.

Other feeds may be longer, complete articles.

RSS directories

Many websites already have their own feeds.

There are many RSS directories in which you can enter a search for any subject. See the sidebar on the right for a short list.

RSS directories

A directory is simply a searchable registry of feeds.

Some of the more common ones are:

Syndic8

Search4rss

NewsIsFree

There are many others including directories of blogs.