What is RSS

EZLAN.NET

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1st Published, Dec. 2004

Over 6,500,000 Hits Site Wide in 2006

What is RSS? (and how to use it).

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a lightweight XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content. Think of it as a distributable "What's New" for your site.

RSS is like an Instant News Messenger. An RSS Reader program runs in the Tray Bar and will notify you whenever new News is available from Sites that you subscribe to.

It might be more clearer when we will go through the process of Installing and using an RSS Reader.

We would use Sharp Reader illustrate a deployment of RSS. There are many other similar programs, and you can search and decide which one you like. We choose Sharp Reader since is free and easy to use.

You can download it here: Sharp Reader.

Note: Sharp Reader as well as most Free RSS Feeders needs .NET Framework It is available for free from Microsoft. This library puts in your windows directory the core files that are necessary for .NET applications. it does nothing in its own. Sooner or later you will need it since more and more applications come out using .NET programming.

Download here: .NET Framework 1.1

Install Sharp Reader and start it.

Copy this address and paste it into the address bar at the top of Sharp Reader Screen.

www.ezlan.net/news.xml

Press <ENTER> and the RSS News Page of EZLAN.NET will appear in Sharp Reader.

Most RSS feeds provide a direct link to the new page as part of the Title.

Click on the Title and your browser will open the Title's Internet page.

At this point you can click on the Subscribe** Button (Top Left), and every time there is a new entry on EZLAN News Page a PopUp Window at the lower right corner will appear for 6 seconds and will automatically inform you about the New page.

In a similar manner you can subscribe to any other RSS Feeds that are available on many Internet Sites

Enter an RSS news address into Sharp Reader address bar and press <ENTER>.***

If you just want check the Feed of Site without a constant future Feed, do not subscribe to the "Feed" you can enter the address manually when ever you would like to check the Feed.

The pages that are Fed to the RSS Reader are special pages written in XML and are posted on the Sites.

If you want to see how a page like this looks like click here: www.ezlan.net/news.xml

To get the RSS address of other Sites click on the RSS button that the Site displays, copy the address of the page from the Browser Address Bar, and paste into Sharp Reader.

As an Example, this is the address of Microsoft's Security News Feed.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/secrss.aspx

Once your get the action going look at Sharp Reader Tool/Options you can change few entries to make it more suitable to your style of Internet usage.

You want to put a RSS page on your personal Site/Network.

Link to: How to publish RSS News Feed.

*** If you have Software Firewall Blocking Application you have to give permission to the RSS Reader to connect to the Internet.