RSS is a simple data exchange format which allows web sites to provide specific types of data in a manner which is easy-to-use in news tickers, or for syndication on other web sites. The RSS format can be used to export almost any sort of data, though is most commonly used today for the export of news data from web sites or for the export of blog (i.e. web diary) entries.

How do I access an RSS feed?

RSS feeds contain specially-formatted data (RSS is a subset of RDF, an XML data format) which is not usable by most web browsers. In order to make use of RSS feeds, you will need to install a special piece of software on your system, called a RSS reader or RSS aggregator.

There are many RSS readers available (for a variety of OS platforms). Several RSS readers are hosted on SourceForge.net, including AmphetaDesk (available for MS Windows platforms, Linux and Mac OS). A number of lists of good RSS readers are available on the Internet; Google may be of use in finding an RSS reader for your OS platform.

You may use the orange XML icons ( or ) on the page to access the links to the RSS feeds. The process for adding an RSS feed to your subscription list will vary from reader to reader; typically a facility to "Add a RSS feed" or "Add a channel" is provided (feeds are synonymous with channels) where you may enter the URL to the feed you wish to include.