What's this?

Employee Rights Blog regularly publishes new posts about employee rights and related matters in the news. It also announces new employee-rights articles and resources that we've published outside of the blog at EmployeeIssues.com.

To make it easy for you to stay up to date, Employee Rights Blog provides you with what's called an "RSS feed" as indicated by these icons:

By clicking on one of those icons, you may "subscribe" to the RSS feed; in other words, Employee Rights Blog will come to you! Subscribing is easy, free and anonymous. You may cancel your subscription at anytime through your feed reader.

Keep reading to learn more about RSS feeds, feed readers and subscribing.

What's RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's a communication protocol that allows Web sites to easily distribute (syndicate) content via the Internet.

Syndicating content in this way is referred to as an RSS feed, which renders the content in Extensible Markup Language (XML). Subsequently, other names for an RSS feed include XML feed, Web feed and syndicated content.

How do I view an RSS feed?

You'll need an RSS feed reader to view the XML content of an RSS feed. RSS feed readers automatically display XML in a user-friendly format. They are also referred to as RSS readers, news readers and aggregators. Most are free and easy to use.

If you're viewing this page in a recent version of a popular Web browser, then you already have an RSS feed reader. That's because feed readers are integrated into modern, popular Web browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Firefox. If you don't have a recent version with a built-in RSS feed reader, then consider upgrading; it's typically free.

If you're a member of a Web service that provides you with a home page that you may personalize, then you might have the option to add RSS feeds to its built-in, Web-based reader. Many Web services, including the ever-popular Yahoo, Google, AOL and MSN, offer such an option for free. Your Internet service provider (ISP) might also offer a free home page with a built-in reader.

If you'd prefer a standalone feed reader, some Web-based and desktop versions are available for free. A standalone Web-based reader is one that you'd view and manage online in your Web browser, independently from the Web services mentioned above; an example is Bloglines. A desktop reader is software that you'd install, view and manage on your computer; examples are FeedDemon (Windows) and NewsFire (Mac).

A modern, popular Web browser alone will do as a feed reader, but the others mentioned typically provide more ways to enhance your RSS experience.

How do I discover an RSS feed?

To discover if a Web site (or one of its pages) provides an RSS feed, look for an icon that indicates same. Four examples are displayed below. The first from the left is the standard RSS feed icon, but the site might display one or more different or additional icons that resemble the remaining three (or those that Employee Rights Blog displays).

   

To save you the effort of looking for icons on Web sites, your feed reader might automatically detect and notify you of RSS feeds; for example, the latest version of Firefox will display the standard icon in its location bar, while the latest version of Internet Explorer will play a sound if you set it to do so.

How do I receive an RSS feed?

Requesting to receive an RSS feed is generally referred to as "subscribing". But it's typically easier than subscribing to other media; better yet, it's usually free and anonymous.

Start by clicking on whatever feed icon the site displays or, if your feed reader automatically displays it, by clicking on the standard icon. Then, in either case, just follow the prompts to complete your subscription.

How do I subscribe to Employee Rights Blog?

To add the Employee Rights Blog RSS feed to your home page, start by clicking on the appropriate icon below. If you're not a member of one of the services displayed and if you don't wish to become one, then click on to add the RSS feed to your Web browser or other reader.

To complete your subscription after clicking on an icon, just follow the prompts that the service, browser or reader displays.