RSS Support Center
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a recent technology enabling users to keep up with web sites without having to visit each page. RSS is an application of XML technology combined with programs called RSS aggregators or RSS readers. These programs go out to each web site's RSS feed at scheduled intervals and see if there are any new headlines. The user is then notified if there is new content. Instead of the user going to each page to find out if there is new content, they are notified by the RSS feed that there is something new. This allows users to have information brought to them instead of having to go out and get the information. Further information and history about RSS can be found at the Wikipedia article about RSS.
Uses at the Help Desk
The Help Desk now offers a number of RSS feeds for the Help Desk site, including outage information and new articles and announcements. Links to the Help Desk RSS feeds can be found below:
- Articles and Announcements
- Major Alerts
- Normal & Major Alerts
- Normal, Minor & Major Alerts (All Alerts)
RSS Readers and Aggregators
There are a wide variety of RSS readers available for almost all platforms, including the web. Due to the variety of programs and features, the Help Desk does not recommend any specific readers. Also, the Help Desk does provide the RSS feeds listed above but does not troubleshoot problems with RSS readers. If you are getting started with RSS, we would recommend doing an Internet search for "rss readers" or "rss aggregators" to see what is available and what would work best for you.
Last Updated: 04/24/2008