What are RSS feeds?
News feeds (RSS feeds) allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest headlines or events in one place and as soon as they are published - without having to visit the websites.
How do I start using feeds?
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 Gmail or Hotmail.
Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want it to receive by adding the relevant feed.
Subscribe to news feeds
You can subscribe to RSS feeds in various ways, including by dragging the URL of the feed into your news reader or by copying and pasting the URL of the feed into a new feed in your news reader. Most sites that offer feeds use a similar orange RSS button (like the large example on this page), but some may just have a normal web link.
Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera, Safari and Internet Explorer (7 and above), automatically check for feeds for you when you visit a website, and display the orange RSS icon when they find one. This can make subscribing to feeds much easier.
Where do I find the orange RSS icon in my web browser?
-
Internet Explorer 7 and above: the RSS icon can be found next to the 'home' button on the top-right of the browser window, right underneath the search box. Please note that Internet Explorer 6 does not support RSS feeds.
-
Firefox 3: the RSS icon appears in the address bar at the top of the browser window, next to the URL and the 'add to bookmarks' star icon.
-
Opera: the RSS icon appears in the address bar at the top of the browser window, next to the URL.
-
Safari: a blue RSS icon appears in the address bar at the top of the browser window, next to the URL.
Using our RSS feeds on your website
If you run your own website, you can display the latest headlines from other websites on your own site using RSS.
We encourage the use of our feeds as part of a website, however, we do require that the proper format and attribution is used when our content appears. The attribution text should read "News from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust" or "www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk" as appropriate. You may not use the NHS logo to advertise the feed.
We reserve the right to prevent the distribution of our news content and we do not accept any liability for our feeds.
