Managing Your Information with Feeds
Published: March 21, 2006
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What is a feed?
A feed (also known as an RSS feed) is collection of syndicated Web content
that can be organized and viewed from a single location using a Web browser, news
reader, a mobile phone, or really any technology that is capable of interpreting
the feed data.
Typically, feeds deliver content from sites that are frequently updated and organized
into distinct chunks of information, like news headlines, magazine articles, blog
posts, forums, and time schedules. However, there is really no restriction on the
sort of content that can be delivered through a feed. While a lot of feeds consist
of material from multiple sources (typical of news feeds), many also contain material
from a single author—such as the posts from a syndicated blogger.
Note: There are other formats (such as Atom), but they all essentially serve
the same purpose—to syndicate Web content.
What are the benefits of feeds?
Feeds provide the following advantages over normal Web browsing:
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Information aggregation. Feeds reduce informational noise by letting you
select out only the content in which you are interested and presenting it in a single
location. Moreover, feeds can consist of content from many different Web sites.
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Improved readability and organization. Unlike Web sites that present entire
blocks of content, many feeds (particularly news stories) provide summaries that
you can quickly scan. Furthermore, feeds can be organized into categories, making
them easy to find.
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Timeliness. Unlike your browser's static “favorites” or “bookmarks”
links that sit there until you click on them, many feed applications can send you
notifications to let you know when some new content has come online. This helps
you stay on top of information and reduce the chances of missing time-sensitive
material.
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Spam-free alerts. If you currently receive e-mail newsletters from content
providers, some of those mailings may get lost amid the influx of spam that vexes
most e-mail services. You can completely avoid the spam problem when you receive
these alerts through feeds.
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Increases readership (for content providers). If you’re a blogger or
some other kind of content provider, you’ll find that syndicating your content
through feeds can really help pull readers to your site.
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Why do I see code when I click a feed (RSS) link?
The contents of a feed are determined by a small XML-based document created by the
content provider. The XML contains both text that shows up in the feed, as well
as information that describes the content (called metadata). You may have
already run into examples of feed files on the Web by clicking one of those curious
orange buttons labeled “RSS,” “XML,” or “Atom,”
only to pull up a page of code that looked similar to this:
So what is this code and why would you want to see it? It’s XML, and you wouldn’t
want to see it. This code is actually meant to be interpreted by feed reading software
(often called news aggregators), which know how to present the feeds in readable
form.
Internet Explorer 7, with Feeds Support
Among other great new features, the latest version of Internet Explorer 7 (due for
release in 2006) supports feeds, so when you click on a feed link, you will no longer
see the XML. You go straight to the feeds. (Find
out more about Internet Explorer 7.)
Why are these links labeled XML, RSS, or Atom?
You may have seen the icons
,
,
, or
on some websites. These are all links to feeds. As mentioned above, feed files are
made up of a kind of code called XML (Extensible Markup Language). XML is a tag-based
programming language like HTML. However, unlike HTML, XML allows authors to define
their own tags, and thereby create a custom language. RSS and Atom are both XML-based
file formats designed for creating feeds.
So if the label on a feed link says RSS or Atom, it merely means that
the feed file is using that particular standard. Whereas a label that says XML
tells you that it is a feed link but doesn’t tell you which format is being
used. Unless you are a Web developer interested in creating your own feed, the actual
XML format probably isn’t that important to you, as long as your software
understands the format.
About RSS
One of the first things you may be wondering is what “RSS” actually
stands for. The quick answer is “Really Simple Syndication.” However,
the correct answer is: it depends on the version of RSS.
RSS is actually a family of XML file formats. There are two major branches of RSS.
The first branch is based on the RDF (Resource Description Framework) specification
and is therefore sometimes referred to as RDF Site Summary. It includes RSS .90
(by Netscape), RSS 1.0 (created by RSS-DEV Working Group), and RSS 1.1 (also by
RSS-DEV Working Group).
The second RSS branch (RSS 2) was initially developed by UserLand (later by Harvard
University) and does not comply with the RDF specification. It includes RSS 0.91
(the most common variant); RSS 0.92 through 0.94 (enhanced versions of 0.91); and
RSS 2.0. For version 0.91, RSS stands for Rich Site Summary; for version 2.0 it
stands for RSS Really Simple Syndication. Because of this naming inconsistency,
many people either generalize and say that RSS stands for
Really Simple Syndication or just avoid referring to it with a long name.
About OPML
As you become more familiar with feeds, you will likely encounter OPML (Outline
Processor Markup Language) files. Like RSS and Atom, OPML is an XML-based document
format used by feed software, but it serves a different function. Though originally
developed by Radio Userland to describe outline structures, the most common use
for OPML files by feed technology is for transferring lists of subscriptions between
applications that read feeds (see below).
What do I need to use feeds?
To receive and view feeds, you need some form of feed reader that can parse the
raw XML and then display the feed into a readable form. There are two general types
of feed readers: Web-based services and desktop clients. Web-based services provide
either a personalized Web page that retrieves content based on user preferences,
such as www.bloglines.com or
newsmonkey, or a searchable Web page, like Feedster.com.
A desktop news aggregator is software that is installed on your computer, either
as a stand-alone application or as an add-on to another program. Most, if not all,
such applications can be downloaded from the Internet, and most have free (or free-to-try)
versions available.
The list of feed readers is quite long. Here is a short list:
Notes:
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This list is provided for your convenience and is not intended to advocate any particular
product. Furthermore, this list should in no way imply that Microsoft has verified
the quality of these products (other than those created by Microsoft).
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All the desktop news readers listed are based on Microsoft .NET Framework and require
the
.NET runtime to work. However, there are many desktop news readers that
will work on other platforms.
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Some feed readers do not support all feed formats.
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How to subscribe to a feed
Finding feeds
Most well-designed sites make the feed (RSS) links pretty easy to discover. Other
sites may require you to poke around a bit or use the search tool to find their
feeds. Many Web sites use the icons
,
,
, or
to link to their feeds.
If you don’t have a particular content provider in mind, you can find feeds
using search tools such as www.feedster.com
or directories such as www.2rss.com or
www.syndic8.com.
You will also find different collections of feeds on Microsoft-owned domains. Here’s
a list of some useful links:
Subscribing to feeds using a desktop aggregator
Since there are many feed readers to choose from, the exact procedure for subscribing
to a feed can’t be provided here. However, the basic process is the same:
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Copy the URL for the feed you want to your clipboard. If you don’t know the
URL, click the feed link from your browser, and then copy the URL from the address
bar.
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Paste the URL into the “Add Feed…” or “New Feed…”
dialog of your feed reader. You can usually find an “add feed” dialog
in the application’s menu bar or by right-clicking one of the feed category
folders.
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Type a name for the feed. Many feed readers will let you use the name provided in
the feed document.
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Click OK or whatever button allows you to complete the subscription process.
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Reading and subscribing to feeds using Internet Explorer 7
The newest version of Internet Explorer (version
7 due for release in 2006) will support feeds, including automatic discovery
of feeds on Web pages, basic feed reading capabilities, and basic support for saving
feeds.
