RSS, Web News or Webpage

How to tell the difference?

The Digimind Smart Tracker will automatically identify if a source is an RSS feed, web news or a simple web page.

However, at times it can be useful to know how to spot each type of page.

RSS

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  It is used to publish posts that are frequently updated (blogs, news headlines, etc.) and to inform readers that new information is ready.  This kind of feed is often present in blogs and newspaper sites.

These kinds of feeds are identifiable by the RSS logo:

Web news

Web news is an alternative, less sophisticated way of displaying periodical information.  Digimind can track changes in web news pages and will do this if there is no RSS feed available for that page.  In this way, you will be able to monitor changes in the web news page and any changes to what is in the links on that page.

These kinds of sources have three elements:

1. A title
2. A date
3. A link to a news article

In addition, these three elements are present at least three times on the same page.

Web page

Web pages are more basic and are less used for regularly updated information.  Digimind can monitor the pages of a web site for changes, with the possibility of configuring zones that need to be checked.  However, any changes to the links on that page are not tracked.

These pages do not have an RSS feed or web news.