What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content. RSS feeds bring automatically updated information straight to your desktop. You can monitor news, job listings, events, and more. You can identify sites that offer feeds by a small button that says either RSS or XML. However, if you click one of these links, you will most likely get a page full of code in your browser.
The web site provider packages the information in a standard format, called a feed, and sends them to anyone who has 'subscribed' to them. The City of Hurst is offering an RSS v.2.0 feed of updates to our web site. Using an RSS reader, you can view data feeds including recent news and events, police crime notices, and other City activities.

How Do You Subscribe to a RSS 'feed'?

To properly read the feed, you need an RSS reader, (sometimes called a 'news aggregator'), which is a software tool that collects and displays the feeds you choose to subscribe to. There are many programs out there to do this, some are free, some charge a fee. Visit about.com for a list of articles on Windows RSS feed readers / news aggregators.

Find the 'Add feed' or 'Subscribe' feature of your reader, copy the feed URL, and paste it into your reader.

Why Would You Want to Subscribe to a RSS feed?

Our RSS feeds include headlines and short summaries. They link directly to pages on our site that contain complete information.
Unlike e-mail subscriptions, RSS feeds don't clutter your e-mail inbox. News aggregators also give you more flexibility in what you subscribe to than e-mail subscriptions, and more flexibility in how information is displayed. And if you read a lot, it can save you time compared to browsing all the sources in your bookmarks or Favorites folder. And it's spam-free.