RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish often updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed," "web feed," or "channel," contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites without having to check them manually. This flow of content between websites and users is called "web syndication".
RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader," "feed reader" or an "aggregator." The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that begins the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds often for new content, downloading any updates that it finds. This content is stored in an standard XML file that many different computers and programs can understand. This file tells the programs how to show the content to the user.
The letters "RSS" are used to refer to any of these formats:
- Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
- RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
- Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)
RSS is used also on exchanges. An example of using RSS, is Carbon Place, which uses it to show orders to the public.