Simply put, the definition for RSS is "Really Simple Syndication". Of course, to someone new to the concept of RSS and RSS feeds, learning how to use RSS can seem daunting and complex.
First, let's discuss what this protocol is supposed to do, and how it's used, then we'll dig just a bit into the inner workings of how it all happens.
RSS is a formatted text value, which describes published information. The data is organized within RSS feeds to create a standard way of communicating information that is updated frequently, such as blog posts, images, and so on. The standard formatting means that any application that understands RSS feeds can 'read' the incoming information.
Applications that know how to use RSS can be automatically aware of when new information is available. As an example, search engines use the feeds to determine when a blog has a new blog post, so it can quickly index the new information.
Another beneficial use is to update a site with content from other sites as it becomes available. A good example of this would be news aggregation sites, which gather news from a lot of sources and then display it on their own pages.
When learning how to use RSS, some site owners are not sure if they should include everything in their feed or just a small preview. This is somewhat dependent on what type of information you are publishing and how often you are updating. If you are publishing a blog with the main purpose to get visitors to come to your own site, putting all of your post information into your feed might mean people can read your content elsewhere. However, in this case, you might consider putting some information into your feed, with the majority of the story on your own own site.
This is not as simple with photo blogs or other similar sites. Web cartoonists often wrestle with whether to put their work into their feed, since it's the work that is the primary reason to come to their sites. However, podcast creators find that iTunes, which uses the feeds for users to subscribe to the broadcasts, drives up their listener count, a distinct benefit.
The feeds are able to be used as a standard because the format is based in XML, a widely adopted standard that uses human-readable text as its basis.
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