Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

What is a news feed?

News feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest headlines and video in one place, as soon as it is published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from.

How do I start using a news feed?

In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader. This is a piece of software that checks the feeds and lets you read any new articles that have been added. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications. Browser-based news readers let you catch up with your RSS feed subscriptions from any computer, whereas downloadable applications let you store them on your main computer, in the same way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it on a web-based service like Hotmail.

When you have chosen a newsreader, you need to click on the small orange RSS button (in the left column on this site). When you click on the RSS button you can subscribe to the feed in various ways, including by dragging the URL of the feed into your news reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader. Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari, automatically check for feeds for you when you visit a website, and display an icon like this when they find one. This can make subscribing to feeds much easier. For more details on these, please check their websites.