What is RSS?
RSS enables you to keep track of the latest website updates quickly and easily without having to click from site to site. It's a format used to syndicate website content and stands for Really Simple Syndication. Using RSS is like having your favourite newspaper delivered each morning; you choose what you want to read, we make sure you get it straight to your desktop along with your other news and features from other sources.
Understanding RSS Feeds
News and other content delivered by RSS is commonly called an RSS feed. To start using RSS feeds, the first thing you need is a News Reader. Many different versions are available, some of which are software applications that you download, and some of which are linked to or accessed through your web browser, the application you use to look at pages of websites. All News Readers allow you to subscribe to the RSS feeds you want, collecting the news and updates from your favourite sources in one place.
Choosing a News Reader
A number of different News Readers are available, some require you to pay a fee to download them, others are available for free. You should search the web for one that is appropriate for your computer system and ensure that you are happy with the application before downloading it to your computer. Here are some examples that you might like to check out:
- For Windows: NewzCrawler, FeedDemon, Awasu.
- For Mac OS X: NewsFire, NetNewsWire.
- Web-based: Google Reader, NewsGator.
Some web browsers—including Firefox, Opera and Safari—have functionality that automatically picks up RSS feeds for you. If you are using one of these web browsers you can access our RSS feeds without having to download additional software. For more details on these, please check their websites.
Deciding on the Content
Once you have a News Reader, the next step is to decide on the content that you want. For example, if you would like details of the latest OUTeverywhere events near Oxford, simply go to our events calendar, type 'Oxford' into the location box and click 'Go!'. The site will display a list of all events coming soon near Oxford; you'll notice an orange RSS button at the end of the list. If you click on the button you can subscribe to the feed in various ways:
- Drag the orange RSS button into your News Reader
- Drag the URL of the RSS feed into your News Reader
- Cut and paste the URL of the RSS feed into your News Reader
Using our RSS feeds on your site
We encourage our members to use our RSS feeds as part of a website. This enables members to give their visitors the latest information about OUTeverywhere events or include details of events that they're organising. We make it easy to add our event listings to other websites and we do the hard work in ensuring that the content is always relevant and up-to-date. This is a free service.
All feeds must be used in accordance with the Terms of Membership of OUTeverywhere. We reserve the right to prevent the distribution of our content. OUTeverywhere events are organised by our members. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information within the feeds and OUTeverywhere does not accept any liability for its RSS feeds. Under no circumstances will we be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from anyone's reliance on, use or misuse of, OUTeverywhere RSS feeds.
