RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is a syndication format that uses various standard web feed formats to publish content in a structured XML file. An RSS Feed is an XML file in this format. The XML file ensures data compatibility across multiple workstations and programs, and the format enables for automatic data syndication.
Any content that is often updated on blogs, such as news headlines or media, is usually included in the feed. Users can subscribe to RSS feeds to receive updates from their favorite websites without having to check them manually. They can use RSS feed readers to subscribe to a website's feed. These feed readers can be desktop or web-based, depending on whether their browser has a built-in feed reader. The feed reader scans the user's feeds for fresh information on a regular basis and downloads it.
Because RSS is sometimes considered an out-of-date standard, the Atom web feed format was invented. Although some websites only provide Atom feeds, RSS is still the most popular format, and most websites provide RSS feeds.
For articles and comments, WordPress generates an RSS feed in RSS 2 and Atom feed formats automatically. WordPress themes then include a meta tag in the source code that allows feed readers, news aggregators, and feed crawlers to find the feed automatically.