RSS Feed Technology
Term RSS marks four HTTP data transfer protocol over Internet (feed):
- Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91 extension .xml)
- RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 i RSS 0.90 extension .xml)
- Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0 extension .xml)
- Atom Syndication Format (Atom extension .atom ; .xml)
RSS (shortcut for Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, Really Simple Syndication - really simple news; as well as a sign for Atom feed format and protocol) is a "family" of HTTP protocols/formats that enable data distribution over the Internet.
RSS feeds do not use HTML Internet language HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) so regular Internet browsers cannot be used to see content (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari).
RSS avails for a quick Internet content checksum, because informations are "cleaned" from unnecessary data that contain HTML language that Internet is based on.
Big advantage of RSS feed is based upon its speed and simplicity in web pages viewing.
It is not necessary to go to web pages to see the newest changes (news and similar informations that are being changed every few minutes). By RSS readers, you can "fly over" the newest changes on several websites in just few seconds. It is usually done automatically (in scheduled time) and RSS informes you about the new changes.
RSS feeds are used by websites that change its content regularly, web blogs and websites that want to make viewing easier to its visitors (RSS feeds don't include commercials).
For website owners RSS feeds are a way of promotion, because it attracts new visitors by short view of websites' contents. If visitors want to read whole story they'll come to the website over the links given.