syndication format

A publishing format that lets people view headlines of the latest updates from their favorite blogs and Web sites all from within a single newsreader program. The major syndication formats are RSS and Atom, and most newsreaders support both formats. See RSS and Atom.

The XML-based format, known as a "feed," "news feed" or "Web feed," includes a headline, short description and link to the article. For a master list of syndication feeds, visit www.syndic8.com.

Software automates the process of creating feeds, and many blog publishing applications offer a feed creation option. The syndication feed has also become a way to advertise software updates. Since spam filters are automatically trashing many e-mail newsletters, the syndication format has become an alternate way of disseminating up-to-date information.

For Web Sites
A syndication format enables Web sites that share a common interest to expand their content by publishing news headlines from other Web sites and blogs. In fact, a large news site can be entirely made up of syndication feeds.

The User's Newsreader
By subscribing to several feeds, users can quickly review the latest news on those sites from a consolidated index rather than browsing from site to site. The software viewer, which is called an "RSS reader," "newsreader," "news aggregator," "feed viewer" or "headline viewer," automatically searches selected sites and presents the latest headlines in chronological order to the user. The headlines are clicked to retrieve and render the content (see example below). Viewer plug-ins for Web browsers are also available.

In addition, there are Web sites that search for and aggregate feeds that are displayed entirely in the browser. Subscribing to sites such as BlogLines (www.bloglines.com) and PubSub (www.pubsub.com) eliminate the need to download a news reader or a plug-in, as any Web browser can be used. A source for finding feeds is the RSS Network (www.rss-network.com), a search engine devoted to finding sites with syndication feeds. For help in creating and managing your own feed, an informative source is www.feedforall.com.

Headline Viewer

This appropriately named Headline Viewer (www.headlineviewer.com) aggregates headlines from RSS and Atom feeds. To get users started, it comes with a library of feeds by category to choose from. The feeds are displayed in a hierarchical index on the left, the article's titles at the top, and the page rendered at the bottom. Dragging and dropping an orange XML or RSS button from a Web site into the index automatically subscribes to a new feed.

The Feed Icons

Orange XML and RSS icons on Web sites are feed subscription identifiers. Either dragging and dropping them into a software viewer subscribes to the feed or right clicking them reveals the URL, which can be copied. An XML icon may be an RSS or Atom feed.