An Introduction to Feeds
Feeds are a way for content creators to syndicate content and for people to easily receive content from a Web site, weblog, or other source. Used quite a bit among bloggers, this method of distributing and receiving content is gaining in popularity and applications. More news sources are sending headlines and articles via feeds. Developers have figured out how to send large files, like sound files, through feeds.
There are two main kinds of feeds: RSS and Atom. Both use XML to encode the content of a source. The differences between these two kinds of feeds may not be very obvious to users. RSS, which has nine different standards, can mean: Really Simple Syndication, RDF Site Summary, Rich Site Summary, or nothing at all. Developers disagreed over where RSS was headed and came up with Atom. One kind of feed might be slightly more popular than the other, but that might change with time.
What Feeds Do
The names and history of the feeds aren't nearly as important as what they do. Feeds allow content creators to easily let people know when there's new content on a Web site, weblog, or other source. When a site is updated, a feed goes out to subscribers. Feeds might contain all of the new content, just a link to the new content, or partial content with a link. Feeds can contain images and other files.
By receiving feeds, which is usually done with software called an aggregator or through scripts on a Web site converting XML to HTML, people can learn about the new content without visiting the source and finding the new content on their own. Because it can minimize effort and save time, subscribing to feeds can be especially useful for people who read a lot of weblogs and Web sites. They can also be a great tool for Web sites without a regular update schedule. Visitors don't have to keep going to the site to see if it's been updated; instead, a feed can let them know there's new material. Many newspapers, like The New York Times and the Boston Herald, send out headlines with links to their articles. Get those sources to come to you instead of going to them!
Posting Feeds on a Web Site
By using a script on a Web site, it's possible to post RSS or Atom feeds. Some companies are using feeds in this manner to share content from various sources, including business publications and newspapers. Some Webmasters are pulling feeds from related sources onto their pages using scripts. Some people find maintaining a weblog much easier than a Web site, so they use a weblog to manage their content, then post that content on a Web site with a script. Several services offer XML to HTML conversion and scripts for people to use on their own servers.
Aggregators
Aggregators allow people to receive feeds. They come in many different forms. There are aggregators that are Web-based and desktop; built for handheld devices, Macs, and PCs; private and public; free and expensive; and integrated into Web browsers and portals. Some aggregators are very simple; others have many sophisticated features, like being able to sort sources by priority. It's a good idea to look at several different kinds of aggregators before choosing one. Many sites on the Web provide far more detail about aggregators and link to where you can download them. Some blog platforms and at least one Web browser include an aggregator.
Finding Sources
Discovering sources you might want to subscribe to can be tricky. Weblogs and Web sites you already visit and publications you read might offer feeds. Search engines like Feedster are good tools for finding feeds. Friends and colleagues might be able to recommend sources of interest. Following links from Web sites and weblogs could be another good way to find feeds to subscribe to.
Sometimes getting a feed of feeds can be more useful than subscribing to one source. Feedster offers several special feeds, like recipe feeds, ego feeds, and search results in feeds. A recipe feed finds recipes posted on the Web and sends them to you. If you want a recipe with a particular ingredient or ingredients, add it to the search. Since feed subscriptions can be temporary, a recipe feed can be a great way to find a good recipe for a special meal. Once you're finished in the kitchen, delete the feed from your aggregator. Find what others write about you with an ego feed, which finds sources with your name (or a name similar to yours). Create your own feed based on a search you do in Feedster. Feedster also has feeds for different types of files, like MP3s.
How to Subscribe to a Source
To subscribe to a source, look to see if it has its own feed. Often, an orange icon with XML on it (like the one at the bottom of this page) indicates the presence of a feed. A "subscribe" or "syndicate" link does the same. The icon or text is a link to the feed. Some feed URLs end in .xml.
Once you know what the URL is, you can use it to subscribe to the feed. Many aggregators have some place where you paste or type a feed URL. Different aggregators have different methods for users to subscribe to feeds, so this document won't elaborate further. Some aggregators can even facilitate the process of finding a feed.
Sources without their own Feeds
Someone may have already created a feed for a source that doesn't have one. If that feed is available publicly, searching for it in Feedster might find it. Numerous third-party services allow people to create feeds for Web sites that don't have their own. There are also services to convert Atom feeds to RSS feeds because some aggregators only handle RSS feeds.
Tools for Feeds from Feedster
Feedster is unique among search engines because it uses these feeds for its content. It already searches more than 2 million feeds from an array of sources and its database will continue to grow as the use of feeds increases.
Feedster offers tools for people interested in reading and searching feeds and people creating feeds. FeedFinder is a quick way to locate a single source. Feedpaper is a kind of aggregator. A MyFeedster account also contains an aggregator, as well as tools for content creators to manage the appearance of their feeds in Feedster. Those services are free.
Some of the tools for content creators include claiming a feed, search engines for sites based on feeds, and creating a table of contents for a blog based on its feed. Many weblogs lack features to help people find old content. Adding a search engine or a table of contents aids with navigation and retrieval.
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