RSS Feeds

Have news from the Virginia Department of Forestry delivered to you!

Thanks to the technology of Really Simple Syndication (RSS), you can get government agency news and information delivered directly to your desktop.

• See the list of feeds below.

What is RSS?

RSS feeds are free content feeds from Web sites, including the Virginia Department of Forestry Web site, that contain headlines, summaries and links back to the Web site for more information.

From a technical standpoint, RSS is an XML-based format for electronic content distribution. RSS allows developers to structure content and make it available for users to pull to their desktop via a news reader (or "aggregator") software that displays RSS feeds.

Used most often to disseminate news and Web logs (blogs), RSS allows content producers to create feeds to which users subscribe, like subscribing to a broadcast e-mail list.

Advantages of RSS

RSS is an easy way for you to be alerted when new content appears on Web sites you have selected. Instead of visiting a particular Web site to browse for new articles and features, RSS automatically tells you when something new is posted online.

There are several other advantages to using RSS feeds:

1. Feeds update themselves whenever new content becomes available.
2. You don't have to give out your e-mail address to get feeds.
3. You won't receive feeds to which you haven't subscribed.

How to subscribe

Step 1: Get a news reader

To start using RSS, you need a news reader that displays RSS content feeds from Web sites you select. There are many different news readers available, many of which are free of charge. The news readers vary slightly in form and function, so you may want to try a few before picking one. Google lists many news readers you can download.

You may be able to subscibe to feeds through your Web browser.

• In Netscape: Select Help > Help and Support Center. Find "Index" on the left side of the page, select it, and scroll to "RSS Feeds."
• Firefox: You can use a Firefox Live Bookmark, or a feed reader that you've installed on your computer.
• Internet Explorer 7 allows you to subscribe to feeds.

An alternative to downloading a dedicated news reader is to use a Web-based news reader through a Web service such as My Yahoo!, Bloglines or Google Reader. For example, My Yahoo! users can add RSS feeds (for example, "Add RSS by URL") directly to their personal page. By subscribing through your Web page, you can access your RSS feed without having to run a special program.

Step 2: Sign Up for Feeds

To add the Virginia Department of Forestry feed to your news reader:

1. Copy one of the URLs (Web addresses) below
2. Open your news reader
3. Select New Channel, Subscribe, etc.
4. Paste in the URL
5. Follow prompts as directed

The Virginia Department of Forestry RSS Feeds

Fire Information: Daily Situation Report, Burn Bans, Grants, and more

http://www.dof.virginia.gov/website/fire.xml l Validate RSS.

News releases from the Virginia Department of Forestry Public Information Division

http://www.dof.virginia.gov/website/releases.xml l Validate RSS.

Last modified: Monday, 10-Mar-2008 19:52:43 UTC