RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and can help you stay up to date on the latest from OnCampus.

RSS feeds allow you to identify the content you would like to receive from your favorite Web sites and blogs, and then have that content delivered directly to you through a browser, Web-based news reader or desktop news reader.

OnCampus events calendar RSS feeds

Global Calendar
Arts & Humanities Calendar
Business & Law Calendar
Lifestyle & Community Calendar
Politics & International Calendar
Science & Technology Calendar
Sports & Health Calendar

OnCampus content RSS feeds

General- includes all newly published content
Articles- features, press clippings and accolades
Multimedia- video and photography

RSS how-to

The first step is to select a news reader (also called a news aggregator) or determine if your favorite browser has RSS capability.

There is an almost limitless selection of news readers to choose from. Some are Web-based and can be accessed using your favorite browser, while others are downloadable applications that you then access from your desktop. All news readers in some way will allow you to subscribe to and then display the RSS feeds you’re interested in.

Browsers such as Firefox, Opera and Safari have built-in functionality which can automatically detect and pick up RSS feeds for you. For example, Firefox Live Bookmarks do this, and Safari RSS provides a similar feature.

Once you select a news reader or browser, you can then decide what content you would like to subscribe to. Visit your favorite University of Texas at Austin Web sites to check if they syndicate their content.

Some Web sites identify their RSS feeds with a small orange icon that has the acronym “RSS” or “XML” on the graphic. Others use the small orange icon used by Firefox, for example, in the Web address bar to indicate when an RSS feed is available on a Web page.

All you need to subscribe to the syndicated content is the Web address, or URL, for the site’s RSS feed. You can subscribe to the RSS feed in a couple of ways. You can drag the URL of the RSS feed into your news reader or copy and paste that URL into a new feed in your news reader. Some sites even have buttons or graphics for their RSS feeds that correspond to a specific Web-based news reader and allow you to subscribe that way. Or you can use a browser that has the built-in RSS functionality to recognize and then subscribe to feeds.

How do I get a news reader?

Many different news readers are available. There are free Web-based and downloadable applications out there, while others require a subscription fee or software purchase.

If you download a news reader application to your desktop, make sure you choose one that is compatible with your operating system.

You can find available news readers using your favorite search engine. Web sites that provide lists of the many news readers out there include:

• News on Feeds List of News Aggregators
• Open Directory Project List of News Readers
• AggCompare Chart of News Aggregators

Using RSS feeds on your Web site

We encourage the use of University of Texas at Austin RSS feeds for personal, noncommercial use.

However, we do require that proper attribution to the university be used wherever the content appears. The attribution text should follow the guidelines noted for each host’s RSS feed.

The University of Texas at Austin reserves the right to stop the distribution of content through RSS feeds at any time and does not accept any liability for its RSS feeds.