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This week, several of us at Beaconfire have been helping an organization set up a new RSS feed to syndicate their site’s content. We’ve been setting up a number of these feeds in recent months, and we often help the organization compose a page that describes what an RSS feed is, how it benefits them, and how to subscribe. Each time, I’m disheartened by how such an incredibly useful technology remains so terribly unfriendly for many users.

Chief among my gripes is the unfriendly name. "RSS" isn’t terribly self-describing. There isn’t even consensus of the acronym’s meaning. It’s either "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary," depending on who you ask. I much prefer the terms "Web Feed" or "Site Feed" but neither seem to be gaining much traction.

The unfriendliness is exacerbated by the diversity of ways that site owners and bloggers present the RSS feeds on their pages. Button styles and wording vary even though all buttons generally all indicate serve the same purpose. Some sites display an orange "RSS" button or badge. Other buttons say "XML" or "Atom." Some simply say "syndicate this site"  or "subscribe." There are even services that can help you create different subscribe button looks and wording.

The only convention seems to be that many of the buttons are orange. The wide variety of presentations is clear in this list of feed presentations and types collected by Blogger Molly E. Holzschlag.

In spite of these challenges, RSS Feedsâ?¦errâ?¦Web Feedsâ?¦are an extremely easy way for organizations to extend the reach of their content. But nonprofit publishers do need to keep in mind that it’s not always equally easy for their constituents to use them — at least right now. Clear, short, and straightforward instructions for visitors are a first step.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2005 at 12:34 am and is filed under Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.