As an international student, making sense and trying to keep up-to-date with all the information that is available to you can be hard – you may have to visit 10 sites to get information, help and advice on a number of topics and then when that information changes, you want to be on top of it and the first to know.
Luckily, there is a way that you can manage this information quickly and easily through the power of RSS (or Really Simple Syndication). International Student and our entire network of sites now uses RSS feeds to allow you to collate all the information we provide into one central spot. Plus, it allows you to get the latest news and information the minute we post it!
But what is an RSS feed?
An RSS feed is basically a way to share information through an online web feed, that you can then read in your own RSS reader, which can either be an online RSS reader, or a local piece of software you download to your computer. To learn more about RSS feeds, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)
How do I get an RSS reader?
There are two main types of RSS reader, either online web based readers, or offline local readers that you download to your computer. They are all free, so you do not need to pay for a reader and the most popular ones to use are:
Online RSS Reader – http://www.google.com/reader/
Mac Download RSS Reader – http://www.vienna-rss.org/vienna2.php
PC Download RSS Reader – http://www.feedreader.com/
These are just a few examples of readers you can use, so please let us know if you use another reader which you find useful.
How do I subscribe to feeds?
If you have downloaded one of the software applications to your computer, you generally just need to click on the feed and most applications will automatically recognize its an RSS feed and load it up. For online readers, or for software readers that do not automatically add RSS feeds, you will need to look for the “Add” button or in the Google reader this is a large button which says “+ Add Subscription”
Where can I get feeds?
RSS feeds are all over the web – most of the time you just need to look for the words RSS or for the image that we have posted with this blog entry. This signifies there is an RSS feed there which you can subscribe to. At International Student, our main RSS feeds are:
Main Blog (this blog) – http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudentBlog
Study in the UK Blog – http://feeds.feedburner.com/study-in-the-uk
Study Abroad Blog – http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudent-StudyAbroadBlog
International Financial Aid Blog – http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalFinancialAidBlog
Calling Cards/ Sim Cards Blog – http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalCallingCard
Student Insurance Blog – http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudentHealthInsurance
Message Board Postings – http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternationalStudentMessageBoard/
And you can of course, track this all online at:
http://www.internationalstudent.com/blogs-forums/
If you have any questions about RSS feeds and how you can use them, or you currently use an RSS reader you like or subscribe to an international student RSS feed that you think we should all see – please post a comment!
