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What is RSS (and Why Should I Care) ?
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What's in a name?
All the new buzzword technology just sounds cooler as an acronym, no? While it would be really easy to say that RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication", that wouldn't be the whole truth.
In fact, RSS is quite a clever acronym in that it stands for a few different things, depending on its usage. RSS started its life meaning "RDF Site Summary". Like all good technologies, as RSS evolved, as did its name.
It soon became known as "Rich Site Summary".
Today, the meaning of RSS means depends on which version you are refering to. Here is how it breaks down:
- RDF Site Summary (Version 0.9 & 1.0)
- Rich Site Summary (Version 0.91)
- Really Simple Syndication (Version 2.0)
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Great, but what is it ?
In its simplest form, RSS is a data format used to allow web users to subscribe to websites. You can "subscribe" to any website that provides an RSS feed. Special programs, known as "aggregators", handle all your website subscriptions.
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Okay, but how can I subscribe to a site ?
Simple. Follow these steps:
- Download an aggregator.
- Find the RSS feed for the web page you'd like to subscribe to.
You can usually look for an image like this: RSS 2.0
- Copy / Paste the URL for the RSS Feed into your aggregator.
Most websites update their RSS feeds every so often. Your aggregator will frequent all your subscribed sites, collect all the changes in the RSS feeds, and display the new info for you to read.
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Does Galaxy offer an RSS feed on classifieds ?
Yes. In fact, you can subscribe to any classified listing in any region (that's over 110,000 feeds!).
Near the bottom of any listing page, you'll see Galaxy's RSS feed icon, simply copy/paste this URL into your aggregator and you'll be one of the first to get new listings as they appear.
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