Slack is a great communication app, but it can do much more than just hold a back-and-forth conversation between you and your colleagues. Here's how to keep up with your favorite websites by adding RSS feeds to Slack.

Despite social media feeds and mobile apps, RSS feeds are still one of the easiest and simplest ways to consume the output of a website.

Like SMS and email, RSS feeds are robust, simple, and supported just about everywhere, which is why---like SMS and email---they're likely to be around for a very long time. So if you want to keep an eye on what's published by a website or blog, then RSS feeds are the best way to do it.

Slack allows you to connect as many RSS feeds to whatever channels you like as you want. The first thing you'll need to do is install the free RSS app from the Slack directory.

Once that's done, you can add feeds to a specific Slack channel by using slash commands in the chat window, or you can manage all your feeds from the RSS app page.

There are three slash commands you can use to manage feeds in a channel.

  •  
            /feed [feed address]
        
    to add a feed
  •  
            /feed list
        
    to see all of the feeds, including their ID numbers
  •  
            /feed remove [ID number]
        
    to remove a feed

To add a feed, type

        /feed [feed address]
    

 (replacing the feed address), then press the Enter or Return key.

The "/feed" command.

Slackbot will confirm that you've added the feed.

The message from Slackbot confirming your feed subscription.

You can add as many feeds to a channel as you like. If you want to see all of your feeds, use

        /feed list
    

.

The list of feeds subscribed to in a channel.

To remove a feed, you'll need to know its ID number, which you can see by running

        /feed list
    

. Copy the ID number of the feed you want to remove, and run

        /feed remove [ID number]
    

.

The confirmation that a feed subscription has been removed.

To manage all of your RSS feeds, no matter which channel they're in, go to the RSS app page. This will show you all the feeds from all channels (except private channels that you aren't a member of) and let you delete any of the feeds by clicking the "X" next to them.

The "Your feeds" section of the RSS app page.

Below the "Your feeds" section, you can add a feed to any public or private channel you're a member of. Add in the feed address, choose a channel to post to, and click "Subscribe to this feed."

The "Add a feed" section of the RSS app page.

Managing RSS feeds in Slack is quick and easy, so if you're a Slack user who wants to keep up with your favorite websites, this is the way to do it.