RSS Tutorial

How Does RSS Work

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Summary

This is how RSS works:

1. A website or a blog creates an RSS Feed. Many Blog services automatically create RSS Feeds. For Websites, RSS Feeds can be created manually or with software.
2. The RSS Feed that is created is an XML file that lives on an Internet server. There are now hundreds of thousands of RSS Feeds sitting on Internet servers waiting patiently for an RSS Reader to subscribe to them.
3. The RSS Feed Reader reads the RSS Feed file and displays it. The RSS Reader displays only new items from the RSS Feed.

Detail

Step 1: The Website or Blog creates an RSS feed.

I will use one of my blogs as an example called the RSS Tutorial Reference Blog. The blog service creates the RSS Feed automatically

The Blog: RSS Tutorial Reference Blog

Step 2: The RSS Feed lives on an Internet Server

The RSS Feed from the RSS Tutorial Reference Blog. It is an RSS XML file. Browsers apply formatting so it is difficult to see the actual source code.

The RSS Feed: The RSS Tutorial Reference RSS Feed

Step 3: The Feed Reader reads the RSS file and displays it.

An RSS Feed Reader reads the RSS feed file, finds what is new, converts it to HTML, and displays it like the following: