RSS 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 RSS is, take a look through this page. If you still have problems with RSS, come to the School of Graduate Studies, 3rd Floor, Burgin Dossett Hall, and we will be happy to help you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers
What is RSS?
RSS is known as "Really Simple Syndication". It is a technology that allows content providers (e.g. School of Graduate Studies) to publish content in a way that is easy for clients (e.g. students)to get updates. You can think of RSS as a kind of media "channel" for the Internet. Clients can "subscribe" to these channels (called feeds) with their favorite aggregator software. This page will show you how to use common software to access the Graduate Studies feeds.
The School of Graduate Studies uses RSS to distribute announcements and news to the student body. We have a few feeds that cover different areas. To see the feeds we have available, check out "What feeds does the ETSU School of Graduate Studies provide?".
What are Podcasts?
Podcasts are similar to RSS in that they are feeds that 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. This is very much like subscribing to a television show or radio show.
What is a feed aggregator?
Feed aggregators, feed readers, and podcatchers are the software that are used to access feeds. The most common browsers (IE7 and Firefox) have RSS feed aggregators built in. However, you can use your favorite software (and there are many) 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 list of aggregators:
Many websites have icons, like these, on the navigation bar or front page of their sites. Just click them and you will be taken to your default feed aggregator.
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| Podcasts and iTunes: |
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How to subscribe to feeds with Internet Explorer 7.
Subscribing to an RSS web feed in Internet Explorer (IE)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 to 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.
To access podcasts for the School of Graduate Studies, just click the  icon in the list of feeds.
How to subscribe to feeds with other aggregators?
There are literally hundreds of software used to access feeds. You must choose which one you prefer and learn to work with it. Fortunately, the steps for subscribing to feeds are the same with all these software. These instructions are generic; so, use them liberally and try to substitute nouns with the terminology from your favorite aggregator. All you need to do is copy the URL/address for the feed and paste it into your favorite aggregator. The following are detailed instructions:
1. Go to the website that has the feed. Locate the RSS icon for the feed (see What is a feed aggregator? if you don't know what this looks like). Right click on the icon and click "Copy Shortcut" (IE7) or "Copy Link Location" (Firefox).
2. Open your favorite aggregator.
3. Select "add new feed" in the menubar. Usually there is a toolbar button or menu item that says something to the effect of "Add new feed" or "Add new podcast".
4. The software will ask you for an address or URL. Paste the link that you copied in step 1. It may ask you different things, but the important part is the URL for the feed.
3. That's it. Feed readers just need to know the location of the feed file.
Both Firefox and IE7 support using third-party software to use as a feed aggregator instead of the browsers themselves. This way instead of copying links, you'll just click the icons and it will register the feed with your favorite software. Support for this method varies with the software you choose. Please refer to browser and aggregator help documents to learn more about this option.
What feeds does the ETSU School of Graduate Studies provide?
Currently, the School of Graduate Studies maintains three main feeds that distribute important information related to all graduate students:
- ETSU School of Graduate Studies Master Feed (RSS)
- ETSU School of Graduate Studies News/Announcements Feed (RSS)
- ETSU School of Graduate Studies GA/TS Listings (RSS)
- ETSU School of Graduate Studies Podcast (Coming Soon)
- ETSU Graduate & Professional Student Association News Feed (RSS)
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