RSS

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication (with some early references to RDF Site Summary), is a family of web feed formats based on XML used to publish frequently updated content. It is commonly employed for distributing items such as blog posts, news headlines, or podcast episodes so that users can subscribe and receive updates in one place.

An RSS feed is a structured XML document hosted at a URL. It describes items with elements such as a title, a link to the content, and a description or summary. Optional elements can include the publication date, author, categories, and enclosures for media files such as audio or video. Feed readers or aggregators fetch the feed periodically and present new items to the user, providing a centralized view of updates from multiple sites.

Versions and formats have varied over time. There have been several RSS flavors, including RSS 0.9x and RSS 2.0, which are widely used, and RSS 1.0, which is based on RDF and differs in structure. Atom, a separate standard introduced later, is often mentioned as an alternative to RSS. In practice, RSS 2.0 remains the most common format for distributing short-form site updates.

RSS remains in use for many purposes, including podcasts that rely on enclosures to deliver media files. While social media and other distribution methods have changed how content is shared, RSS feeds are still generated by many content management systems and consumed by a variety of feed readers and browser extensions.