How does the syndication part of RSS work?

Question

I understand how to make an RSS file. The XML for it is simple enough. But do I have to anything special for updates to get distributed or do I just need to update the file periodically and the rest will take care of itself? All of the stuff I've found on rss talk about what it does but not so much how.

Answer 1

Clients periodically or occasionally re-download your RSS resource, based in part on the update schedule you can suggest in the RSS data itself. If the clients retained what they downloaded before, then they can notice what's new from last time.