What is RSS? (short version)

RSS is a service you can set up on your web browser that acts like a combination of bookmarks and the WhatsNew page. RSS feeds are like bookmarks that update themselves whenever there are changes on the website.

Currently I know how to tell you to set up your Mozilla Firefox browser, or your Opera browser, to read the RSS feed from Kitchen Table Math. Setup instructions for RSS feeds on other browsers are needed -- if you figure it out on your browser, please send it to me and I'll gladly incorporate it!

What is RSS? (longer version)

From RudbeckiaHirta, here is a simple explanation of RSS, which stands for "Really Simple Syndication". The explanation was so simple that even I could understand it.

An RSS feed is just a file coded in xml that contains information about the recent additions to content on the site. It might contain entire posts or just sumaries or just titles. It has links back to the original web page so that the reader can look at the information in its original setting. (This clicking through is necessary if your feed features only titles or summaries; it is optional if you publish complete posts.)

Companion to this file (which often looks like gibberish) is a piece of software called a feed-reader. This software might be built into a browser, might be a stand-alone application on your computer, or might be web based. The feed-reader will send a request to the web page every now and then (usually you can set the interval), and if the RSS file has been updated (meaning if new content has been added), then the feed-reading software will alert the user to changes. This way people like me don't need to click obsessively to find out if there is anything new: we have a piece of software that clicks obsessively and then tells us.

How can I get RSS working on Mozilla Firefox?

1. Go to Bookmarks-> Manage Bookmarks on your browser.
2. In the Manage Bookmarks window, select File -> New Live Bookmark.
3. Name the new live bookmark (I called mine 'KTM RSS').
4. In the 'Feed Location' textbox, put exactly this text: http://www.kitchentablemath.net/twiki/bin/view/Kitchen/WebRss?skin=rss
5. That's it. The new bookmark will be just like a regular bookmark.
6. If you're comfortable tweaking your browser and, like me, you find that the live bookmark isn't getting updated as much as you'd like (the default refresh rate is only every 30 minutes), instructions to make it update more frequently are here.

How can I get RSS working on Opera?

(This was submitted by a kind KtmGuest -- try it at your own risk, as I can't confirm it works)

Select the "Feeds -> Manage Feeds..." menu option, click New, and enter the above URL in the Address field.

-- CarolynJohnston - 27 Nov 2005