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If you would like to keep up to date with the information provided on this blog without regularly re-visiting the site then you can use our RSS feeds function. Access to this function is found in the top, right hand corner of any page of this site, and is very easy to set-up a subscription to. You can also visit our RSS feeds by clicking here.

The following information is copied directly from Mark Annand’s IT help pages at Bath Spa, which provides some useful tips on how to follow websites that have RSS enabled.

RSS: What it is

RSS are referred to as ‘Feeds’ because that’s what they do. RSS feeds to be found on web sites that change frequently. Rather than visit the web site itself and hunt down whatever’s changed, the feed will alert you as soon as updated stuff appears. Examples of frequently-changing web sites include:

• News sites
• Blogs
• Wikis

Where to find an RSS feed

On a web site, look for an ‘RSS button’, this tells you that an RSS feed’s available. You’ll then need to subcribe to the feed – read on.

RSS feeds: what you’ll need

Feeds generally have an address that resembles a web address – here’s an example – the Guardian newspaper’s rss feed’s address looks like this:

http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/rss

Select the link to the Guardian newspaper feed, modern browsers display the feed as a list of articles – and also tell you what to do next, which is to set up a subscription. For this, you’ll really need RSS software – either on your own computer or via a third party web site. You’ll often need to copy the feed’s address from your browser address bar, and then paste it into a feed reader’s ‘Subscription’ dialogue.

Click on it and use ‘Subscribe to this feed’.

Firefox will display the feed, and when you subscribe, place it (and display its contents) in your bookmarks. IE7 will do something similar.

Use RSS via a web site

Set up an account with the likes of Google Reader (that’s just one example). Once you’re logged into the web site feed reader, you’ll need to subscribe to feeds you’d like to track – to subscribe, just follow their instructions.

RSS via a browser add-on

For example, the ‘Sage’ add-on for Firefox is one such. You’ll need to install it. Once installed you can subscribe to web site RSS feeds and read them in Firefox’s sidebar.

RSS in Outlook

Outlook 2007 includes an RSS feed reader. If you’re using Outlook 2003, you can download and install an add-on such as RSS Popper – that adds RSS to Outlook. After which, you’ll need to subscribe to RSS feeds that you’ll find useful.