Today’s word of the day is RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (although some would tell you it stands for Rich Site Summary). I prefer Really Simple Syndication because it better describes the technology. RSS really is simple.
RSS and Users
For the user, it involves “subscribing” to a site or subject. The content of an RSS feed usually involves something that changes daily. Common uses are News and Blog contents. An RSS reader is needed to see the contents of the user’s assorted RSS feeds. The following is a screenprint of my personalized Google Homepage. It is an example of an RSS reader. Note the types of RSS content that I can see at a glance. If the content title is something that interests me, I click on the title to read it.
RSS and Developers
To create RSS content, developers must create XML that complies with RSS standards. This can be done in a variety of ways. See my list of RSS links on my del.icio.us for more information.
RSS and the Intranet
Think of the possibilities. Each user could subscribe to either a pre-defined list of RSS feeds within the company, or they could subscribe to feeds found on the internet. Following is a brainstormed list of potential pre-defined feeds.
- Job Postings
- Cafe Menu
- News
- Ticket Drawings
- Divisional News
- Corporate News
- Divisional Events
- Corporate Events
- Market Intelligence News
- Word of the Day (from the corporate glossary)
- Activity Tracking Hours
- Executive communications
- Severity 1 tickets
- Changeman Tickets
- Corporate blogs
Following is a prototype of how this might look.
More Information
My RSS links
Wikipedia’s definition on RSS
To create a Personalized homepage on Google, click the personalized home link on the top right hand corner of http://google.com