What Is RSS?

To go directly to the CRPC Calendar Events RSS News Feed URL CLICK HERE. . .

To learn more about RSS Feeds and Readers (or Aggregators) Read On . . .

Crossroads Presbyterian Church (CRPC) RSS Feed TERMS OF USE

Depending upon who you may ask, RSS stands for either "Rich Site Summary" or "Really Simple Syndication". But no matter what it's called, RSS is a relatively new way to publish information online.

At the heart of the technology is special Web coding, called XML, that has been widely developed by the global online community over the past few years.

The XML code for RSS describes a new type of Web information called a "News Feed" or "RSS Feed". Essentially, the feeds can contain a summary and links of the new content on a Web site or anything else a creator desires to share. A company may publish an RSS feed that contains news of its latest products, for example.

Anyone — an online surfer or another Web site — can pick up the RSS codes and with the appropriate Web software display the information automatically.

The concept is similar to how a newswire service operates: Information published by one news organization can be "syndicated" — picked up and displayed — by any other news organization.

What Does RSS Mean for Site Publishers?

Through syndication, online web site content creators have a much easier way to get their information published and seen. For instance, a Web surfer who sees an RSS feed — say a ticker of top news stories — on one site might click on the content, which in turn drives more traffic back to the original Web site.

RSS can also be a way for Web sites to retain "loyalty" among visitors. By supplying the RSS code on the Web site, visitors can simply "subscribe" to the feed and automatically receive updates on their personal computers of new content on the site.

Such an RSS feed will free content creators from creating and sending e-mail reminders — many of which may be stopped by today's anti-spam filters.

Why Would Ordinary Web Users Like RSS Feeds?

For Web surfers, the advantages of RSS Feeds are quite simple: They save time and bandwidth.

Instead of remembering to visit a favorite Web site, the news comes directly into your computer daily or at whatever interval you want.

What's more, most RSS feeds contain just links, headlines, or brief synopsis of new information only. That means the small amount of Web data can be sent to any XML-compatible device — a cell phone, pager, or handheld computer — without a lengthy download process.

More importantly, RSS Feeds give you control over receiving information you want without revealing information about yourself. Unlike subscribing to an e-mail list or newsletter, you never have to give out your e-mail address with an RSS feed. That avoids the possibility of receiving spam or unwanted junk e-mail from the Web site.

Which Online Sites Use RSS technology?

Almost all technology-oriented Web sites offer RSS feeds to satisfy the crowds of computer savvy users online.

You'll also find that some Weblogs — or online diaries — also offer RSS feeds.

What Do I Need to Receive RSS Feeds?

First, you will need a feed reader. Performing a search for "RSS Feed Readers" in any major online search engine such as Google or Yahoo! will produce a bundle of software options — many of which are free or at little cost.  You can also go to http://www.rssfeeds.com/readers.php for a list of RSS Readers that you can download, install and use.

One quite simple and straight forward RSS News Feed Reader is called GreatNews, and is available by clicking here.  (Clicking on the link to the left will open a new web browser window and allow you to download the program without leaving the CRPC web site).

Once you've obtained an RSS News feed reader, subscribing to an RSS feed is as simple as looking for the appropriate feed link. Most Web sites that publish an RSS feed will display a tiny orange box like this or a button labeled as or .

Click on the feed link that you are interested in and your Web browser typically goes to a page of cryptic XML code. No worries, just copy the Web "address" or URL of that page and plug it into your feed reader. The software will then automatically retrieve and display that site's latest information.
 
Use of RSS Feeds:
RSS is a free service offered by the Crossroads Presbyterian Church (Hereafter referred to as CRPC) for non-commercial use only. Any other uses, including without limitation the incorporation of advertising into or the placement of advertising associated with or targeted towards the RSS News Content, are strictly prohibited. You must also use the RSS feeds as provided by CRPC, and you may not edit or modify the text, content or links supplied by CRPC.

Link to Content Pages:
The CRPC RSS News Feed service may be used only with those platforms from which a functional link is made available that, when accessed, takes the viewer directly to the display of the full article on the CRPC Site. You may not display the RSS Content in a manner that does not permit successful linking to, redirection to or delivery of the applicable CRPC Site web page. You may not insert any intermediate page, splash page or other content between the RSS link and the applicable CRPC Site web page.

Ownership/Attribution:
The CRPC retains all ownership and other rights in the RSS Content on and from this web site.

Right to Discontinue Feeds:
The CRPC reserves the right to discontinue providing any or all of the RSS feeds at any time and to require you to cease displaying, distributing or otherwise using any or all of the RSS feeds for any reason including, without limitation, your violation of any provision of these Terms of Use. The CRPC assumes no liability of any kind for any of your activities in connection with the RSS News feeds or for your use of the RSS feeds in connection with your website.

How do I subscribe to the Crossroads Presbyterian Church's Events news feed?

1. Select and Copy, or just Copy the URL below.
2. Paste the URL into your RSS Reader's "subscribe" dialogue.

CRPC Calendar and Events News Feed: http://www.crossroadspresbyterianchurch.org/wordpress

Alternate Method: Simply RIGHT-Click on the above URL and select "Copy Link Location" and then manually paste (RIGHT-Click and select 'Paste') it into your RSS News Feed Reader.

What are the advantages of RSS News Feeds?

In general, it means time savings, because, thanks to RSS, you stay ahead of what’s new without having to browse every site you normally visit. An RSS Feed reader aggregates the content for you to view in one place, this saves time and brings
you the content like when you're reading a newspaper with the advantage to view
only headlines. You're in control of which articles you want to read.

You can also go to http://radio.xmlstoragesystem.com/rcsPublic/rssHotlist
for a list of the '100 Most subscribed to' RSS Feeds.

For even more information about RSS Feeds, you can go to:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS