Real Simple Syndication; Everything you need to know about.

• Author: Larkin, John
• Position: Feedme

The internet is becoming increasingly dynamic as information is being added, updated and deleted at unprecedented rates. Even the casual surfer is finding it more difficult to keep up.

Way back in the old days (pre-2005, that is), internet users maintained their collection of useful websites in their browser's "Favorites" folder, and every so often would go into the folder and check out what might be newly added to those sites.

But the amount of time required to sift for updates through each site--which can sometimes number in the hundreds for some people--is becoming increasingly unmanageable. As websites become more complex, finding those sections that have been updated can be frustrating.

Enter the RSS feed.

Real Simple Syndication is a technology that notifies users whenever any of their favorite websites have been updated.

Notification of these updates is pushed directly to the user through a "feed." --a type of web file that is read by web browsers equipped with RSS feed readers or by feed aggregators. In short, RSS feeds make it possible to keep track of a large amount of dynamic online content in a relatively short amount of time because information updates are pushed directly to users.

Why Use RSS Feeds?

CalCPA recently introduced RSS feeds into some of its online content. By subscribing to a CalCPA RSS feed, you can be alerted to new magazine articles and chapter events without having to visit the website and without having to wait for reminder e-mails.

If you use Google or Yahoo! as your browser's home page, you will know of an upcoming CalCPA chapter event as soon as it is announced. [figures 1 & 2]

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Finding Feeds

When you visit a website that you plan to revisit frequently, look for "RSS" in an orange rectangle or for the symbol to the right.

When you click on it, you will see a list of articles or podcasts that the site's webmaster has associated with that particular feed. (If you don't, you may need to upgrade your browser. See the end of this article for details.) This is what CalCPA's RSS feed of California CPA magazine articles looks like in Internet Explorer v7 [figure 3] (in other browsers, such as Firefox and Safari, all the information will be the same, but the presentation will differ slightly).

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Subscribing to a Feed

The power and convenience of RSS feeds are realized when you subscribe by clicking on the link that is appropriately labeled: "Subscribe to this...