What is RSS?

RSS, "Really Simple Syndication," distributes lists of headlines, update notices, and content right to your desktop. The items appear on your desktop in an organized, easy-to-read list.

When you sign up for RSS, you will be notified automatically when AANS Neurosurgeon content is new or when it has changed. Follow the instructions to add an RSS feed or scroll down to find out more about RSS.

How do I "RSS" and add an RSS Feed? To copy a URL, click the RSS button and use your mouse to highlight the URL in the address bar. Right click and select copy from the drop down menu. Or, click the orange RSS button press "Ctrl-C" on your keyboard to copy the URL. If you are using a Mac copy the URL by doing a "Control-Click" and choose "Copy Link" from the dropdown menu. To set up your feed you can use a browser such as Yahoo or MSN that accommodates RSS feeds. Another way is to download free RSS Aggregator software. The easiest way to find the free software is to enter "Free RSS Aggregators" into the Search bar of your search engine. Once you have your RSS feed set up, go to http://www.aansneurosurgeon.org and find the orange RSS button on the home page. ( ) When you click on the RSS button, it will link you to the AANS page containing "mark-up" language. You will need the URL found in the address bar of your browser on this RSS coded page. Copy this URL and paste it into the News aggregator software you downloaded or into a Web browser interface that is requesting this information and accommodates RSS feeds like Yahoo at MyYahoo. For detailed help, see the side bar. To paste: right click inside of the URL text input box of the aggregator software and then select "paste" from the dropdown or "Ctrl-V" if you used keystrokes on your keyboard. Mac users click inside the text input box and choose Edit then Paste. The URL should appear inside the input text box. The next step will be to click the Add button or Add Feed button and you are done! Place or paste this URL into the News aggregator software you downloaded or into a Web browser like Yahoo or at MyYahoo or MSN. Note that the browser must be able to accommodate RSS feeds – not all of them do. That’s basically it. You will have your feed added and you will receive updates as they occur.

More About RSS

How does RSS work?
A Web site can offer a means to an "RSS Feed." Those who are interested in finding out the latest headlines or changes use this feed. Software programs called "RSS aggregators" are available that automatically access the RSS feeds of Web sites you are interested in and organize the results for you. Producing an RSS feed is very simple and hundreds of thousands of Web sites now provide this feature.

What information does RSS provide?
RSS provides a list of items presented in order from newest to oldest. Each item usually consists of a simple title describing the item along with a more complete description and a link to a Web page where additional information is located. Sometimes this description is the full information you want to read and sometimes it is just a summary.

The RSS information is placed into a single file on a Web site in a manner similar to normal Web pages. However, the information is coded in the XML computer language for use by a program (the RSS aggregator) and not by a person, like a normal Web page is.

RSS aggregator programs
Think of an RSS aggregator as a Web browser for RSS content. RSS aggregators automatically check a series of RSS feeds for new items on an ongoing basis, making it possible to keep track of changes to several Web sites without needing to read sites yourself. They detect the additions and present them all together to you in a compact and useful manner. If the title and description of an item are of interest, the link can be used to quickly bring the related web page up for reading.

There are many RSS aggregators. Some are accessed through a browser, some are integrated into email programs, and some run as a stand-alone application on your personal computer.