VIEWING RSS CONTENT
What is RSS?
RSS is an acronym for "Really Simple Syndication." RSS is a method that Web content developers can use to "feed" news information to you, so you don't have to seek it out yourself. You can subscribe to RSS feeds based on very precise topic areas that are of interest to you, so it's a nice, targeted way of receiving information.
What is a feed?
A feed is the listing of news content from a specific site. Feeds have an address, just like Web sites do. So, for example, CNN Top Stories can be found at rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss. BU's RSS feeds are listed at www.bu.edu/rss/.
How can I view RSS content?
There are many different readers or "aggregators" that will allow you to view and manage content. Since the idea is that you're getting information quickly and easily, choosing a method that coincides with something you already do is going to be your best bet. An excellent list of options can be found in this external list of news aggregators. Here are some of our suggested methods:
Using a Web browser
Most current Web browsers will seamlessly handle the presentation
of RSS content. When you're on a Web page, you'll
know that an RSS feed is available to you when you see an icon, probably
in orange, that looks something like these images:
or 
or 
For those browsers that don't handle RSS feeds you can use a Plug-in. One such Plug-in is Sage (sage.mozdev.org) but there are others, as listed in this external list of news aggregators.
Using an e-mail client (especially Mozilla Thunderbird)
If you use Mozilla Thunderbird to read your mail, you can also use it to read your favorite RSS feeds. (Although documentation isn't supplied on our page, it is our understanding that you can also integrate RSS with an e-mail client using Outlook or Opera. Details on that are provided at the related Wiki.)
To use Mozilla Thunderbird,
get the address of the feed first and then set it up as follows:
1. (Do this only once.) Go to File-New-Account and add an Account for RSS News & Blogs.
2. Do a right click on that Account and choose to Manage Subscriptions, then click on Add.
3. Enter the address for the feed to want to view and click on OK. For example:
4. Click on that feed to view its content, just like you would to view an e-mail. Note that the news items will accumulate over time, just like e-mail, so you will need to delete them.
Using a desktop or Web-based reader
You can also install a stand-alone desktop RSS reader (a search
in Google will turn up many options, as does the Wiki list) or use a Web-based service such as MyYahoo or
the Rocket RSS Reader, Bloglines, Google
Reader or similar.
How can I find RSS feeds?
You'll stumble across them as you use your favorite Web sites (look for the orange graphics shown above) but also if you do a search on something like "favorite RSS feeds" you'll find lists that people have already compiled. You'll find too that, if you are using a Plug-in or reader, some feeds will come pre-packaged for you. The Web sites for those utilities will probably also have useful lists.
How can I set up RSS feeds from my site?
Boston University departments wishing to set up a news feed can do so by requesting that service at www.bu.edu/webcentral/help/departments/news/.
