What is XML and RSS?

When you see this XML icon, , it means the site you're visiting has an RSS feed.

By clicking the icon you will usually see a page that is full of incomprehensible code, because RSS feeds are created in XML rather than HTML like normal Web pages. Most browsers can't translate XML, which is why you get the unreadable page. What you need is an RSS feed reading program (like Amphetadesk, a free reader that works with Windows or Mac) or a Web-based feed reader (like My Yahoo!), because they take that XML code and use it to give feed subscribers a title and short description of the latest articles and items in the feed. Feed readers collect all of the user's subscribed feeds into one location – either a program window or a Web page – so the user can see all at once which sites have recent updates rather than checking each site individually.

If you see the XML icon on a site and you'd like to subscribe to the feed, you simply click the icon, copy the URL of the page and paste it into your feed reader.

To subscribe to J-Lab's RSS feed, click here.

More from J-Learning:
RSS is a fast-growing way to get information quickly from the Web. Basically, it drives information from the Web directly to readers instead of forcing those readers to surf a list of bookmarked sites. Think of it as the difference between subscribing to a magazine and going out each month to buy that magazine at a newsstand.

For example, subscribers to the New York Times’ RSS feed see a constantly updated list of the front-page stories on the Times’ Web site without having to visit the site itself. If they see a headline that looks interesting, they can simply click on it, and their Web browser automatically opens the story.

RSS feeds are written in a language called XML. If HTML creates Web pages designed for humans to read, XML presents information in a way that’s easy for other computers to read.

A news aggregator is a program designed to read, catalog and subscribe to RSS feeds. It's designed to interpret RSS feeds and display them to readers as lists of clickable headlines.

There are many different aggregator programs with varying features; some cost money and others are free. You can find a selection of news aggregators by searching such sites as Download.com. We’ve provided links to a few of the more prominent programs at the end of this chapter.

As users browse the Web, they are increasingly seeing links inviting them to subscribe to an RSS feed. Many sites with RSS feeds display them with small orange “XML” buttons like this one:

When users click that button, they get the address of a site’s RSS feed file. By entering that address into their aggregator – much like bookmarking a Web site in a browser – they subscribe to that feed. Every time readers open their aggregators, they’ll see lists of that feed’s latest items. Clicking on a headline in the list opens the reader’s browser to the Web page with the full story.

You can read more about RSS, including how to create an RSS feed and what aggregators work with what operating systems, by reading the full article on J-Learning.

J-Lab is a center of the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. It is a spin-off of the Pew Center for Civic Journalism (www.pewcenter.org). © 2004 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism
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