About RSS

What is RSS?

RSS stands for (among other things) Really Simple Syndication. An RSS feed is a continually updated list of new and updated content on a particular web site, consisting of headlines and short article excerpts. When you subscribe to the This Week @ UCSD RSS feed in your web browser or e-mail program, you'll automatically see all of the latest top stories without having to visit the web site. When you find a story you're interested in, you can just click the link for it and you'll go directly to the full text.

How do I subscribe to an RSS feed?

Depending on the e-mail client and web browser you use, there are different ways to subscribe to a feed. A few of the most popular web/e-mail clients are listed below:

Web browsers:

Firefox (PC or Mac): If a web page has an RSS feed associated with it, a small orange icon () will appear in the address bar to the right of the page's URL. This will allow you to create a "Live Bookmark". When you click this icon, a "Live Bookmark" window will pop up. In this window, you can name this bookmark and tell Firefox which bookmark folder to save it in. Choose "OK" to save your bookmark.

Safari (Mac): If a web page has an RSS feed associated with it, a blue "RSS" icon () appears in the Safari address bar. Clicking on this icon will bring up a window in which you can name the bookmark and decide what folder to save it in. Choose "OK" to save your bookmark.

Internet Explorer (PC or Mac): Using Internet Explorer 7, if a web page has an RSS feed associated with it, a small grey icon (between the 'Home' icon and the 'Print' icon) will turn orange (). Simply click on the orange RSS icon to read the RSS feed. RSS feed requires a third party reader for Internet Explorer 6 and earlier.

E-mail clients:

Thunderbird (PC and Mac): Instructions for setting up RSS feeds are available on the Mozilla web site.

Outlook (PC): Currently, RSS is not natively supported. Third party solutions (such as NetGator) are available to access RSS feeds in Outlook.

What do I do if my browser doesn't support RSS?

A variety of companies offer standalone RSS readers called "aggregators"; many of these are free. The RSS Compendium offers a fairly comprehensive list. CNET has also reviewed some popular aggregators in a 2004 article. To add the This Week @ UCSD feed to one of these aggregators, you will need to copy the feed address (http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/thisweek/rss/thisweek.xml) and paste it wherever required by the subscription process.

I want the e-mail version of This Week @ UCSD. How can I sign up?

Just fill out the subscription form. You will begin receiving This Week e-mails the following Monday.

I still don't understand! What should I do?

You can contact us at thisweek@ucsd.edu if you have any questions or comments about our news service or the RSS feed.