How to:

Read RSS / XML Feeds

RSS feeds bring automatically updated information straight to your desktop. You can monitor news, blogs, job listings, personals, and classifieds. More and more sites offer feeds, which you can identify by a small button that says either RSS or XML. However, if you click one of these links, you will most likely get a page full of code in your browser. To properly read the feed, you need an RSS reader. Here's how to get and use one.

Step 1: Get a reader

Visit about.com and choose from among the many RSS readers listed there.

There are two main types of RSS reader. Standalone applications are simply programs that process RSS feeds for you. The advantage of a standalone is that it is a new application that you can populate as needed. The disadvantage: it's one more app to have open on your desktop. The other type is the plug-in. This app works within an existing program such as Microsoft Outlook or Internet Explorer. The advantage of having RSS work with an existing app is that you likely have Outlook or IE open already, so the reader becomes a new component of that app. The disadvantage is that if you have a lot of e-mail folders or bookmarks already established, you may not want to overload your application with daily feeds of new information.

Step 2: Installation and Setup

Standalone reader
When you first launch a standalone reader, most often you will see a toolbar and three window panes arranged much like the preview mode in Microsoft Outlook. The pane on the left side typically displays RSS feeds, or channels, to which you are subscribed. These can be organized into categories or folders. The upper-right panel typically shows a list of articles within whichever channel is selected, and the article content is then displayed in the lower-right panel. To change channel groups, just click the drop-down box at the upper left beneath the menus. Sometimes a brief description will appear in the lower right; if so, click the link in the article to load the complete text. Some standalone apps can be configured to send you e-mail every time there's a new article on a topic you're interested in. Most, however, will display a small dialog or pop-up window over the taskbar informing you of the channel, the title, and the URL of the new article.

Add-on reader
Standalone readers that plug into existing applications such as Outlook and Internet Explorer typically include a column for channels and a display area for a headline, a brief description, and a URL. Outlook readers make it easy to organize your channels in convenient folders along with your e-mail. They usually display only the headlines and summaries within the e-mail application; they open an instance of Internet Explorer to display the full articles. Internet Explorer readers, on the other hand, automatically display a chosen article within the browser. The downside here is that the channel column can take away much of the browsing space and/or replace the Favorites bookmark collection.