RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a standardized, computer-readable web feed format that lets people and tools follow new press releases automatically instead of checking a newsroom page by hand. Publishing an RSS feed, and linking it in a page's head with a simple autodiscovery tag, makes a newsroom easier to track.
RSS is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format, as Wikipedia describes it. It began at Netscape in 1999, when the acronym stood for 'RDF Site Summary'; the widely used RSS 2.0 version, released in September 2002, popularized 'Really Simple Syndication' as the expansion most people now use. A feed reader checks a site's feed regularly and can automatically show or download new items.
For a newsroom, an RSS feed of press releases means journalists, aggregators and monitoring tools can follow new announcements the moment they are published, without visiting the page manually. Each item in an RSS 2.0 feed can carry a title, a link, a description and a publication date, giving subscribers enough to judge relevance immediately.
Making a feed discoverable is simple: a link element in a page's head, using rel='alternate' and a type of 'application/rss+xml', lets browsers and readers find it automatically. Good practice is to expose one clear autodiscovery link for the site's main feed, with a descriptive title, so subscribing is a one-click action rather than a hunt through the page.
How to: 1) Publish new releases as items in a standard RSS 2.0 feed, each with a title, link, description and date. 2) Add an autodiscovery link tag in the page head pointing to the feed's URL. 3) Keep the feed's URL stable so existing subscribers do not lose it. 4) Update the feed the moment a new release goes live, not on a delay. 5) Consider also offering a JSON Feed for developers who prefer JSON over XML.
QUESTIONS
What does RSS stand for?
Really Simple Syndication, in its current and most common usage. The acronym has changed over time: it began as 'RDF Site Summary' at its 1999 launch and was also called 'Rich Site Summary' before settling into its current name.
Why should a newsroom have an RSS feed?
It lets journalists, aggregators and monitoring tools follow new press releases automatically, without checking the page by hand, which increases the chance that timely news actually reaches interested readers and tools.
How do I make an RSS feed discoverable?
Add a link element in the page's head with rel set to 'alternate', a type of 'application/rss+xml', and the feed's URL as the href, plus a descriptive title. Browsers and feed readers use this to find the feed automatically.
Is JSON Feed a replacement for RSS?
It is an alternative, not a replacement. JSON Feed serves the same purpose using JSON instead of XML, which some developers find easier to work with. Offering both formats is reasonable if resources allow it.
SOURCES
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