What is RSS?

It is an acronym for, amongst other things, Really Simple Syndication. Most blogs and many news websites offer RSS feeds of their content.

RSS allows you to have the site delivered to you instead of you going to the site constantly to see when it is updated. It is similar to getting e-mail updates, but without the e-mail clogging up your inbox.

How does City Stages use RSS?

When you subscribe to our RSS feed, you will receive all of our latest performer additions and schedule changes. If you would like more information about a particular performer, just click on the title of that item in your RSS reader and you will be taken to the detail page for that performer.

We also provide an RSS feed of the City Stages Podcast, which will notify you automatically when a new edition is available. Depending on your software, some will even download the newest edition for you automatically.

How can I use RSS?

RSS Feeds require a piece of software called a Newsreader. This application will bookmark the address of the RSS feed and check it periodically (again, similar to checking your e-mail).

There are several types of newsreaders available, so it is best to go with the one that suits you best. Once you have selected a newsreader, you can go to any site that has the orange RSS button on it and subscribe to the feed. Sometimes, RSS feeds are labeled with a button that says XML (which is the programming language used to generate RSS feeds.)

Selecting a Newsreader

There are many types of newsreaders. To start off, it would be good to try some browser or web-based readers. Bloglines is a good, free, web-based reader. It will let you subscribe to sites and pull them up anywhere you have an internet connection. Another online choice is NewsGator.

Web browsers like Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, and Safari have RSS capabilities built in to them.

Once you have started using RSS and your subscription list begins to grow, you will want to switch to a standalone newsreader application. FeedDemon for PC and NetNewsWire for Macintosh are both great applications.

Questions or comments? Contact us.