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RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to the AIDS.gov Podcast Add to Google
Receive regular updates regarding the AIDS.gov Podcast, including updates to the Conversations on AIDS.gov and special events Podcasts.

RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to the AIDS.gov RSS feed Add to Google
Receive announcements about new available resources, when recent news items have been added, when the recent funding announcements (RFAs) list has been updated, and reminders about upcoming HIV/AIDS-related events.

RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to the AIDS.gov Blog RSS feed Add to Google
Receive announcements from the AIDS.gov Blog about using new media in the fight against HIV/AIDS.


Other HIV/AIDS RSS Feeds

RSS Feed Icon HHS RSS Library
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides a wide range of information and services. This library provides a listing of RSS feeds available from HSS and its agencies. Feeds are organized by topic.

RSS Feed Icon HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
The National Prevention Information Network (NPIN) daily update service provides synopses of key scientific articles, lay media reports, and information from CDC and other government agencies on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis.

RSS Feed Icon National Institutes of Health Newsroom (National Institutes of Health, HHS)
The latest news releases from the steward of the nation’s medical and behavioral research.

RSS Feed Icon  NIAID News Releases (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH)
News releases from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.

RSS Feed Icon News From the Specialized Information Services Division (National Library of Medicine, NIH)
News from NLM’s SIS, which creates information resources and services in toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, and HIV/AIDS

RSS Feed Icon What’s New In HIV/AIDS Prevention? (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Lists the newest announcements, events, and resources provided by the CDC including Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Surveillance Reports, Publications, Slide Sets, and Conference & Training information.

About/Help with RSS

Topics on This Page
What is RSS?
How can I use an RSS feed?
Where can I get an RSS reader?
How do I subscribe to a feed?
What is strange code I see when I try to subscribe?


What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a tool to help you to keep up with news and information that's important to you, and helps you avoid the conventional methods of browsing or searching for information on websites. Through a simple language known as XML (eXtensible Markup Language), content is delivered to your reader without you even having to visit the website. This delivery of content is called a "feed." This feed is also referred to as RSS Feed, web feed, RSS stream, or RSS channel.

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How can I use an RSS feed?

RSS feeds are meant to viewed by RSS readers. Some newer internet browsers support the viewing of RSS feeds, but the most commonly used browsers do not. An RSS reader is a small software program that collects and displays RSS feeds.

There are different versions of RSS Readers; some are accessed using a browser, and some are downloadable applications. Browser-based news readers let you catch up with your RSS feed subscriptions from any computer. Downloadable applications, on the other hand, let you store them on your main computer, in the same way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it on a web-based service like Hotmail.

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Where can I get an RSS reader?

Some browsers, such as the current versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Safari have built in RSS readers. They can automatically check for RSS feeds for you when you visit a website, and display an icon when they find one. This can make subscribing to RSS feeds much easier.

If you're using a browser that doesn't currently support RSS, there are a variety of RSS readers available on the web; some are free to download and others are available for purchase.

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How do I subscribe to a feed?

Each reader has a slightly different way of adding a new feed – a feed can also be called a "channel." Please follow the directions for your specific reader. The instructions given here reflect the case in most RSS readers:

  1. Click on the “Subscribe to AIDS.gov RSS Feed” [insert url] link found on the AIDS.gov RSS Subscribe page [insert url].
  2. Copy the new window's URL (Uniform Resource Locator). That's the internet address that appears at the top of the page. For the AIDS.gov Podcast it should be: http://www.aids.gov/****.xml [insert url].
  3. Paste the copied URL/address into your Podcast application. Each application has a specific way of doing this. Some common ways to do this are “to add a feed”, “add content”, or “add a channel”.
  4. The RSS reader will update your feeds on a regular interval. This way when new information is made available, you can access it directly from your reader without having to come to the site. Most programs will also allow you to manually update a feed to look for new content.

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What is strange code I see when I try to subscribe?

If you are seeing a strange code when you try to subscribe to the AIDS.gov RSS feed, you are seeing the code that is meant for either a Podcast application or a RSS reader (a program that can understand the code – for more about Podcast applications, visit AIDS.gov’s Help with Podcasting page). Some older versions of browsers, such as Internet Explorer 6, cannot read the code correctly. The URL should be placed into your RSS reader to view the page correctly, or it can be viewed in most newer browsers such as Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2.0 (or higher).

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Last revised: 05/23/2008