Understanding RSS
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a seemingly difficult concept for people to grasp. I have been trying for the past couple of months to push the use of RSS for a web site that I developed for work. It is amazing that people really lack even the slightest grasp of RSS or what it can do for you. Let’s talk about it!
What is RSS?
Think about the content that you are viewing on this web page. The content includes text, images, and formatting. What if you had 3, 4, or 10 web sites that you visit daily, but did not want to This web site displays RSS feed, or the content for every article or blog post that I publish to the site. In its raw form, RSS is displayed as text as seen here. 
Let’s extend this concept one step further. RSS in this raw form is largely unpleasant to read. Imagine reading unformatted text on a screen without paragraph breaks or graphics. Also, throw in a Yes, difficult to read to say the very least. Instead of reading RSS in the form displayed here, developers created RSS readers to help us translate and format raw RSS into something more palatable.
Types of RSS Readers
There are 3 main types of readers available, web-based, server-side, and client-side. Web-based and client-based readers are by far the most common types of readers because they require little to no technical knowledge from the user. Why use a reader? Instead of viewing all 10 of your favorite sites individually, you can read content from ALL of the sites in one location without ads or risk of malicious activity from visiting the site. Web-based readers are accessible from your web browser and do not require you to install software on your machine. Examples of web-based readers include Google Reader or Bloglines. Server-side readers are more advanced as they require you to have an operational web server or third party hosting account with Bluehost or other company. Client-side RSS readers require installation of software on your computer. Generally, client-side readers have more flexibility and options for feed display and usually do not require you to register as you do with web-based readers. Examples of reader software include Miscrosoft Outlook (yes, it has a built in reader) and FeedDemon. I do not endorse any of these products. If you are looking for additional software or reader resources, Wikipedia has an extensive list of choices.
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