RSS feeds are nothing new or flashy in the internet world, but they have maintained their popularity over the years for good reason!
RSS feeds provide a great way to keep up with the latest news from your favourite publishers (including the Vatican Observatory, of course) and can be used in a wide variety of platforms.
Using RSS feeds in lieu of email newsletters also keep your inbox clean while getting you the news you want even faster than having to wait around for the next newsletter!
So how do you use an RSS feed? 3 simple steps:
- Install an RSS feed reader. More on that below…
- Find the URL of the RSS feed you’d like to subscribe to. Ours is here.
- Add the RSS feed to the platform, and you’re done!
Choosing an RSS feed reader
While an RSS feed itself provides the news, you need an RSS reader to be able to digest it (unless you want to read pure HTML/XML code!).
There is no shortage of ways to consume RSS feeds, but here are some recommendations:
- Feedly. This platform aggregates all the news from the various feeds you subscribe to into a nicely tailored, organized format. Mobile apps are also available. Makes for fun reading!
- RSS Feed Reader (Chrome extension). There are multiple options on the browser extension market, but if you use Chrome, this one is the best, and easiest to use (will automatically detect feeds and ask to add them to your reader). It has companion apps for mobile devices as well.
- Feedreader. This is a no-frills, web-only reader. A great choice if you want an uncluttered, simple reading experience.
- Feeder.co. A great browser extension option, if you want a platform that works across multiple browsers.
Simply follow the instructions provided within each platform to install it on your computer. These platforms are all very straightforward to setup and you should be up and running in no longer than 10 minutes.
Reading RSS feeds using an email client (Outlook and Thunderbird)
If you’d rather not install a new tool, and currently use either Outlook or Thunderbird to check your email, you are in luck! Both of these platforms support adding RSS feeds by following a few steps.
If you are using Outlook, click here.
Once again, you’ll need our feed URL to set things up, which can be found here.
Happy RSS-ing!
