Web feeds and podcasts are a great way to keep up with news and
events. Please use the feeds provided by the School of Graduate
Studies so that you don't miss out on important opportunities.
If you don't know what web feeds are, take a look through this page. If you
have questions about our web feeds, come to the School of Graduate Studies
Annex, B12 Basement Floor, Burgin Dossett Hall, and we will be happy to help you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers
What are web
feeds?
Web feeds are technologies that allows content providers (e.g.
School of Graduate Studies) to publish content in a way that is
easy for subscribers (e.g. students) to get updates. You can think of
a feed as a kind of web page that can be subscribed to. Clients can "subscribe" to
feeds with a piece of software called an aggregator. This FAQ
contains instructions on how to use a few common aggregators to access the Graduate Studies feeds.
What is a feed aggregator?
Feed aggregators (a.k.a. feed readers,
news readers, or podcatchers) are the software used to access
web feeds. The most common browsers (Internet Explorer 7,
Firefox, and Opera) have RSS feed aggregators built in. However, you can use your favorite software to access feeds.
Browsers are popular for RSS because they present feeds as self-updating bookmarks. Guides to using IE7 and Firefox are found elsewhere in this FAQ. If you'd like to use something other than your browser, here is a
sample list of aggregators:
What are RSS and
podcasts?
RSS is a type of web feed that is
commonly used to publish news, blogs, and other text media.
The School of Graduate Studies uses RSS to communicate news and
announcements. We have a few feeds that cover different events
about Graduate Studies new, GPSA events, and graduate
assistantship vacancies. To see a list of available feeds, see "What
feeds does the ETSU School of Graduate Studies provide?".
Podcasts are similar to RSS feeds in that
they allow users to subscribe to content. The difference between RSS and Podcasts are that Podcasts contain media files. That means, if you use a software like iTunes or Juice,
you can subscribe to feeds that have audio/video attached to them.
Many websites have
icons, like these, on the navigation bar or front page of their
sites. Just click them, and you will be given the option to
subscribe to the feed in your default aggregator.
How do I
subscribe to feeds with Internet Explorer 7?
Subscribing to an RSS web feed in
Internet Explorer is easy. When you go to a site that has an RSS feed, the feed button in IE will be enabled. After subscribing you can access the RSS feed in your "Favorites" right next to your bookmarks. Accessing your feeds looks like this:
Figure A-1: Accessing RSS feeds in Internet Explorer 7
Instructions:
- Visit the site that has a feed, and you'll see the orange icon to the bottom right of the address bar. If the site has a valid feed, this button will be enabled.
Figure A-2: The feed button is circled.
You can add the feed(s) by clicking the orange icon and subscribing to one. If there are more than one RSS feeds, IE lets you pick from a list.
- You will be taken to a page that summarizes the feed. Click the "star-plus" button to subscribe to the feed. It looks like this:
Figure A-3: The feed summary with the subscription ("star-plus") buttons circled.
To subscribe click the "star-plus" icon. They have been circled in figure A-3. You will see the "Subscribe to this feed" dialog box. Save the feed like you would a regular bookmark.
- That's it! Access your feeds from your favorites (the same way you access your bookmarks) by clicking the star icon.
How do I subscribe to feeds with Mozilla Firefox.?
Subscribing to an RSS web feed with Firefox is as simple as creating a so called
Live Bookmark. After subscribing you can access the RSS feed in your bookmarks or in the bookmarks toolbar. It will look something like this:
Figure B-1: Accessing RSS feeds in Mozilla Firefox
Instructions:
- Visit the site that has a feed, and you'll see the orange icon in the bottom right part of the Mozilla Firefox browser window (the status bar). If you are using version 1.5 or newer, the icon will be in the right most part of the address bar.
Figure B-2: The feed detection icon is circled.
You can add the feed(s) by clicking the orange icon and subscribing to one. If there are more than one RSS feeds, Firefox lets you pick from a list.
- You will be taken to a page that summarizes the feed. It looks like this:
Figure B-3: Feed summary and the "Subscribe Now" button.
Click the "Subscribe Now" button, and you will see the Add Bookmarks dialog box. Save the Live Bookmark as you would a regular bookmark.
- That's it! Access your Live Bookmark as you would a regular bookmark.
These instructions on how to use Mozilla Firefox are based off the ones found here.
How to subscribe to podcasts with iTunes
For more information on using iTunes and podcasts visit the official iTunes site for podcasts.
ETSU has a special partnership with iTunes that provides ETSU-related podcasts in a convenient channel. Check out iTunes-U: ETSU on iTunes.
How do I subscribe to feeds with other aggregators?
There are literally hundreds of
aggregators you can use to access feeds. You must choose which
one you prefer and learn to work with it. Fortunately, the steps
for subscribing to feeds are basically the same for all
software: Copy the URL/address for the feed and paste it into your favorite aggregator.
What feeds does the ETSU School of Graduate Studies provide?
Currently, the School of Graduate Studies
provides feeds that distribute important information related to all graduate students:
- ETSU School of Graduate Studies News/Announcements Feed (RSS)
- ETSU School of Graduate Studies GA/TS Listings (RSS)
- ETSU Graduate & Professional Student Association News Feed (RSS)
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