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About RSS:

What is RSS?
Rather than visiting all of your favorite sites a few times a day, you can bring the Web to you!

RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a term used to describe a new technology that allows for syndication of website content. A user subscribes to a content feed, and updates are downloaded to them automatically; rather than requiring the user to request the items manually. RSS files are commonly posted as "feeds", or files that include a number of items in a list format. As new items are added to the top of the list, older items at the bottom of the list drop off.

Using a news aggregator program, you subscribe to news feeds. Like with an E-mail program, the aggregator automatically and regularly checks feeds to which you've subscribed. When the news changes, the aggregator retrieves the new news and lets you know that new news is available. For example, if you subscribe to the Medicare.gov Spotlight or CMS.HHS.gov Spotlight News Feed, your aggregator will check our news feed regularly and bring you any new news we've posted since the last time you visited our site.



Page Last Updated: August 3, 2012