The meaning for the acronym, RSS, has been evolving since its inception, is dependent on the version. For instance:

- RDF Site Summary is RSS 0.9 and is the original version of RSS.

- Rich Site Summary is a prototype and is version RSS 0.91.

- Relly Simple Syndication is version RSS 2.0.

Today RSS will generally stand for Really Simple Syndication and will include versions 0.90, 0.91, 0.92, 0.93, 0.94, 1.0, and 2.0.

Designed as a group of files that share information, RSS tools provide headlines, content, and links to full articles and attachments. The data is in the form of XML or extensible markup language and can also be referred to as RSS feed, Webfeed, RSS stream, or RSS channel.

Webpages typically display these feeds as an orange-colored rectangle with XML or RSS inside of it. It is these feeds that can be used to deliver all kinds of information. Such feeds can include:

- Blog Feed, whereby blog entries are briefly summarized, making scan of blogs easier.

- Article Feed, used to notify readers that new articles or content has been added.

- Forum Feed. Users receive the current forum posts.

- Schedule Feed, used to broadcast events, make announcements, or forward meeting agends. Schools and other organizations find this type of RSS very useful.

- Discounts or Special Feed. Retail and online stores use this type of feed to deliver notices of specials or discounts.

- Ego or News Monitoring. Readers receive filtered headlines or news about a particular keyword or phrase.

- Industry-Specific Feed, is self-explanatory in that technical professionals will market or communicate with customers or clients within their field.

If users desire to track a large number of blogs or news sources, then RSS feeds are definitely the way to go. Creating a feed begins with content or an article and a validated RSS text file. Then this file must be registered at various RSS aggregators or readers. This allows other sites to 'grab' the feed and update it as necessary.

Sites that are always adding or changing content can benefit from using RSS tools. For instance:

- News Websites

- Marketing

- Bug Reports

- Personal Weblogs

The benefit of using RSS feeds are many. Feeds provide another channel of communication and is an ideal marketing medium. Plus RSS tools are free or cost very little. RSS tools offer:

- Easy distribution of content. RSS feeds allow you to capture and display any external site and advertise on them.

- Easy updates of content. Feeds provide automatic updating any time you change your content in any way.

- Content Services are Custom. Visitors can control what they want to see with RSS.

- Attracts Highly Targeted Traffic. Only visitors that are interested in your content will actually visit the site.

RSS tools can provide much more, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

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Good Luck! :-)

Jeff Spires