What are News Feeds?

News feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest headlines in one place, as soon as it's published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from.

Feeds are also known as RSS, which, in its latest format, stands for "Really Simple Syndication". RSS makes it possible for you to keep up with your favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually. You can visit this Wikipedia article for more information.

RSS content can be read using software called a "feed reader" or an "aggregator." This is a piece of software that checks the feeds and lets you read any new articles that have been added. There are many different types of readers, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications.

Browser-based news readers let you catch up with your RSS feed subscriptions from any computer, whereas downloadable applications 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 Gmail.

Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want it to receive. A list of the Energy Current News Feeds can be found in the left column of this page.

You can subscribe to the feed in various ways, including by dragging the URL of the feed into your news reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader. Most sites that offer feeds use a similar orange button, but some may just have a normal web link.

Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari, automatically check for feeds for you when you visit a website, and display an icon when they find one. This can make subscribing to feeds much easier.

There is a range of different news readers available and new versions are appearing all the time.

Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work with your computer. The list of news reader in the left colum of this page will help you get started.