What is RSS?
RSS feeds (it stands for "Really Simple Syndication") allow a website (like this one) to "syndicate" various pieces of content (audio files, video files, news articles, etc.) to people interested in the site. The syndication is done by creating an .xml file that includes links to specific items (those podcasts or .mp3 files of our songs), and whenever you see a website that includes a small orange graphic like these:
or 
...then you'll also see a similarly-colored graphic on the right side of your browser's address bar, which looks like this: 
. This means that the page you're viewing includes links to syndicated content.
So why should I care about that?
Well, as an example, let's assume you like to visit this website's Tunes page, and download the newest versions of songs we post to the site. By using this syndication stuff, you can pretty easily set things up so that every time we upload a new recording of a given song, you'll have it downloaded to your computer automatically, or the "perma-link" you've made to the Tunes syndication feed will now display songs available for download that weren't available before (like our newest stuff...and we write a lot of new songs!) It makes it easier to keep up with any changes we make to the song distribution page, because instead of you having to frequently visit the page, you can have the updates sent to you.
OK, how would I get started with this?
You've got a lot of choices, and the method you choose will probably be determined by how you choose to read/listen to/watch your RSS content:
- You can either use your browser to check in on this content from to time, whenever you remember to check for new content. There are various browser plug-ins and extensions available for this, and the Firefox browser has the capability built right in. These can help you organize your feeds, but you'll probably have to download each audio/video file syndicated through the feed manually.
- You can use a web-based aggregator, which is a website that acts like an aggregator in that you can use it to organize your feeds, but these are usually not as well-suited for downloading the audio and video files syndicated through the feed.
- You can use plug-ins for your email program, which will then present the syndicated content for you in an email-like appearance.
- You can download a stand-alone program called an "aggregator", which stores the links to the various feeds you decide to collect, and provides its own interface for handling the feeds. The real upside to an aggregator is that you may also configure how frequently each feed is checked for newer content, and set it to download files of a certain minimum size or larger during specific hours (say, while you're asleep). Then, when you get up in the morning, you simply check the various download folders for each feed, where you'll now see whatever content was newly released/downloaded overnight.
Where would I get those things?
Find links to browser extensions here, web-based aggregators here, and links to stand-alone aggregators here (Win - Mac).
OK, so now what do I do with that ?
If you're using a browser extension or web-based aggregation - Click on this graphic, and you'll be prompted to create a "Live Bookmark", so click OK. Live Bookmarks are not the same as regular bookmarks, so don't bother looking for it under your Bookmarks/Favorites menu. Instead, look for the Bookmarks Toolbar (make sure yours is visible by checking the settings under View | Toolbars), and when you click that Live Bookmark you just made, you'll see a description of the content provided by that feed, plus a sub-menu that identifies each item in the feed (i.e., articles, songs, podcasts, etc.). This way, you can leave the same link on the front of your browser all year-round, since we take care of updating the content that the link points to.
If you're using a stand-alone aggregator - Right-click on the orange RSS or XML button, and select Copy Link Location. Then create a new feed in your aggregation program, and paste the link into the feed location field. Save the feed, and you'll be subscribed. You can always manually cause the program to go and check for new content (there'll be a lot the first time you run the program, especially if you have added other feeds as well), and many programs allow you to configure settings for readability, downloading preferences, download scheduling, and more.
Where can I learn more about RSS?
Click here, and you'll go to the results of a Google search on the term 'RSS'.
Anything not making sense to you?
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