What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Also referred to as News Feeds or just Feeds, RSS is a means of tracking updates to your favorite websites without having to go to the site each time to check. With IMG, that might mean getting a heads-up on a new trip report, photo galleries, climb coverage, mountaineering news, etc. After you've acquired an RSS Reader and subscribed to an RSS feed, you just keep an eye on the feed, and when a significant update has been made to the site, the headline will appear, and you can choose to click on it to go to the site to see the whole story.

All the Details Step-By-Step

In order to subscribe to an RSS feed (like IMG's) you'll need two things, an RSS reader (also known as a news aggregator) and url (web address) of the RSS feed that you wish to subscribe.

1. Download an RSS Reader / News Aggregator
   An RSS Reader (or News Aggregator) is software or customizable online site that collects and displays news headlines and summaries from sources that you have designated. An RSS feed is a collection of headlines and summaries from websites (like IMG's).

   An RSS Reader can be web-based, which means you go to it online to check the new feeds from all the sources you've subscribed to. Or readers can be a software application on your local computer that downloads new RSS feeds whenever you launch it, like an email program that downloads your email to your local machine for reading later.

   RSS Readers

   Web-based

   • Google Reader
   • Bloglines
   • NewsGator
   • My Yahoo!
   • FeedZilla

   Browser

   • Firefox

   Windows

   • Newz Crawler
   • FeedDemon
   • Awasu

   Mac

   • Newsfire
   • NetNewsWire

   Most Convenient: The Firefox Browser (available for PCs and MACs as a free download from Mozilla.com ») automatically processes RSS feeds as bookmarks, so you don't need separate reader software and can track your chosen RSS headlines from a bookmarks folder. In Firefox, when you click on an RSS link, it acts like you've requested a Bookmark, creates a folder for that feed, and when you got to check the folder in your Bookmarks drop-down, the RSS headlines are listed there and updated automatically. Firefox can be installed without interfereing with any of your existing browsers, but can import addresses and bookmarks from any browser you've been using. Newer versions of Opera and Safari for the MAC and IE7 for the PC also have built in RSS readers.

   How To for MyYahoo: To set up web-based RSS, you can go to MyYahoo! and click the "Add Content" link in the upper left (under the "Search" box.) On the next screen choose the "Add RSS by URL" link to the right of the "FIND" button, then copy and paste the RSS url, like IMG's: https://www.mountainguides.com/rss.xml. Now those RSS headline links will appear on your MyYahoo page.
2. Install the RSS reader or news aggregator on your computer. All will come with an installer and step-by-step instructions.

3. Locate the web address (url) of the RSS feed (XML file) that you wish to subscribe. This is often linked from a small orange button with the RSS logo, or text "RSS".

   You can subscribe to IMG's General RSS Feed by clicking here: https://www.mountainguides.com/rss.xml

   Or to follow expedition updates and news from IMG's Blog, click here »

   If using IE 6: You will need to copy the entire url address, and paste it into your chosen RSS Reader.

4. Insert the url of the news feed (there is usually an "add feed" button). Most readers (and Firefox) will automatically grab the url when you click the RSS button. For others, you may need to cut and paste.
5. The information in the feed will be updated when the feed contains new content. Many of the news readers will allow you to set the interval that the software will look for a feed update others simply update automatically.