The document discusses RSS feeds and how they can be used to aggregate and easily scan articles from various websites. RSS feeds use standard tags that allow browsers and aggregators to display the feeds. The feeds include things like the article creator, publication date, and other metadata to help users decide which articles to read. Aggregators take many forms, like personal start pages that offer a limited number of items per feed and group feeds by site.

1. This lets you scan the articles
on the page more efficiently.
Safari shows a blue rectangle with
"RSS" written in white letters.

2. Aggregators take many forms. When you use a current-
generation Web browser to visit or news sites, you'll
probably see the square orange logo that indicates the
presence of an RSS feed.
• Most personal start pages offer only a
limited number of viewable items per feed,
though you may have the option to see
more. More than likely, these personalized
pages will also group your feeds together by
site.

3. The Web browser on your computer knows how to interpret
these tags, because they're based on a set of industry-
accepted standards. Like HTML, RSS is a standard that
can be read by a variety of Web browsers and aggregators
that display the feeds so they can be scanned easily.
• RSS tags also include the name of the creator of the feed, the date
it was published, when the feed was updated and more useful
information that helps you decide which articles to select from the
feed and read in full.
You can do this, too, though it will involve learning how to write
a programming language.

4. Lots More Information
Related HowStuffWorks Articles
How Semantic Web Works
How Blogs Work
How Web Pages Work
How Web 2.0 Works
Is there a Web 1.0?
How Web 3.0 Will Work
How Internet Infrastructure Works
How Web Servers Work
More Great Links
HowStuffWorks RSS Feeds
List of Feed Readers
RSS 2.0 at Harvard Law
AtomEnabled.or

5. • Featured
• How did the Internet start?
• The Internet is an integral part of our daily
lives. How did we function before online
shopping and bill pay? And what does the
satellite Sputnik have to do with how the
internet started?

6. It's an extra step that happens on
the back end and is invisible to you
as you view an RSS feed.
• These weblog programs include
everything needed to publish a feed: the
address, title, meta and other necessary
information are all included for you.