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Understanding RSS, Feed Displays, and Mashups

This module is a feed from our site:

RSS Feed - MTS Information

 

 

 

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

As a site-owner it is a way of sharing useful information that you have on your site with your followers. As a site visitor it is an easy way to keep up with any new articles on a site.

Any site can be syndicated and doing so will produce an link that will bring your latest news to your visitors feed readers. Okay, so what is a feed reader and do I have one? Once you select the rss icon rss then you will be given the choice of how you would like to receive your feed. A feed is nothing more than links to the latest articles published on the site that you are selecting. This is referred to as subscribing to a feed. Your options are usually Google reader (which comes standard if Google is your homepage) Yahoo! (this also comes standard if you are using Yahoo! as your home page), Outlook (this option will email you a link whenever the site you are subscribing to updates their articles), or you can elect to choose another program from your computer. There are many free feed readers avalable to the public that you can download that will help you to arrange and manage your subscriptions.

 

Mash-Up

A mash-up is simply taking feeds from other sites and displaying them on the same page. News portal sites do this as a way of putting categorized news articles together in one place. It should be noted that some sights require that you receive express (written) permission in order to display their feeds on your site. Keep in mind that most feeds are preset to open in a new window and the link to the article will take you to their site. If you try to change this you may find yourself in a little hot water. Special permission is often required (like on the Moore Tech Solution website) to use a feed in a way that it was not originally intended.

If done right, a mash-up is a great way to generate advertising revenue because you are placing common peices of information in one convenient location for your viewers to easily find relative information.