Jeff Maltbie, Administrative Services Department (Information Technology Division) 600 Elm Street San Carlos, CA 94070 Phone: (650) 802-4333 Fax: (650) 595-6770
RSS, Feeds & Podcasting Information
Introduction
RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a new way to distribute information on the Internet. It is used most commonly to allow readers to subscribe to information on web sites and blogs. The information you can receive through these "RSS" subscriptions include "Feeds" of Web Pages and "Podcasts" which are video and audio files on a web site such as the City of San Carlos Web Site.
Like the City's eNotify Service, the beauty of a RSS Feed or Podcast is that when you subscribe to them with the appropriate software, you will be alerted when new information is available - without the need to visit each of the web sites or blogs that you are interested in tracking.
Feeds on the City Web Site
To enable readers of the City Web Site to take advantage of Feeds on the City Web Site, we began testing a feed of the What's New on the City Web Site page on October 4, 2004 and made it available to the public on Monday, October 11, 2004. In November 2004, we have added 4 more Feeds to the City Web Site. In August 2009, we added a Twitter RSS feed.
To use the Feeds on the City Web Site: 1. Install one of the compatible news and feed readers listed below 2. Right click on the feed logo () of the feed (or feeds) you want to subscribe to below 3. Add the address of this feed to your news and feed reader.
As noted above, some feeds include Video content rather than web pages. These feeds with videos are often called "Video Podcasts" and can be played back on your desktop or laptop computer or a portable media device. They include archived video copies of our City Council Meetings and the Mayor's Summaries of these meetings.
To use the Video Podcast Feeds and Video Files on the City Web Site:
Right click on the feed logo () of the Video Feed (or feeds) you want to subscribe to below.
Copy the address of the Video Podcast feed to your Video Podcast Software or Portable Media Device.
After the software or device loads the Video Podcast from the City's server, select the individual Video file(s) you wish to view in your software or media player.
Note that you can also copy the address of an individual Windows Media Format Video file directly into your Video Podcast software or device if you only want to watch a specific video rather than choose it from a list.
Audio Podcasts on the City Web Site
A third type of feed are those that include audio information rather than web pages. These feeds with audio are often called "Audio Podcasts" and can be played back on your desktop or laptop computer or a portable media device. They include archived MP3 formatted audio copies of our City Council Meetings and the Mayor's Summaries of these meetings.
RSS News and Feed Reader Software
Today there is an ever growing list of web browsers, news readers and feed readers that support RSS and the City's new RSS feeds feature.
This is not meant to be a comprehensive listing or an endorsement, but checking these links will give you access to some of the products that can help you take advantage of this interesting new web site feature.
) of the feed (or feeds) you want to subscribe to below