Really Simple Syndication or "RSS" refers to an alternative way of viewing a webpage. The term RSS is used interchangeably with feed, news feed, RSS feed, and XML feed.
Websites that change frequently, like this one, often have RSS pages. An RSS page presents the titles of new and recent articles, or in this case, events in a list. A link to the full information is included.
When you go to a website that has an RSS page, Safari and other web browsers sometimes put an RSS icon at the right end of the address bar.
Many websites have more than one RSS feed. For example, a newspaper¹s website may have separate feeds for news and entertainment articles. This web site has separate feeds for each of the major categories you see across the top of the page (theatre & dance, music, etc).
Setting up your web browser to see RSS feeds
Each browser does this a bit differently, here are some general instructions that you may need to adapt a bit for your particular browser and version.Add a bookmark to an RSS feed
Go to the rss page that you want to bookmark and then use the browsers method to add a new bookmark or favorite. - in Safari, click on the + sign to the left of the web site address bar - in Firefox and Internet Explorer, use the Add Favorite or Add Bookmark menu optionTo get automatic notices of new events
Set bookmarks to the RSS feed you'd like (using the method above and addresses at the bottom of this page)Then while in Safari - go to the Safari menu and select Preferences
Click on the RSS tab and select how often you'd like Safari to check for updates.
In Firefox - use Live Bookmarks. Instructions for Live Bookmarks
Live Bookmarks checks every hour for updates automatically.
In Internet Explorer - if you click on the links on the various category pages with the RSS symbol by them, Internet Explorer will show you the feed and provide you with a link near the top of the page asking if you want to Subscribe to This Feed. Just click on that link to add the feed to your browser bookmarks.
Mankato Events as your screen saver
Macintosh OSX users - you can set up a screen saver to display content from RSS pages when your computer is idle.- Choose Apple menu -> System Preferences, click Desktop & Screen Saver, and then click Screen Saver.
- Open the Screen Saver pane of Desktop & Screen Saver preferences
- In the Screen Savers list, click RSS Visualizer.
- Click Options and select an RSS feed. (use addresses below) Click Done.
- The change takes effect when you close Desktop & Screen Saver preferences.
Each feeds for this site starts with the same base web site address:
http://www.greatermankatoevents.com/rss.php
Subscribing to the above feed will give you EVERYTHING, all events. You may only be interested in certain types of events however, and so you can slim down the list of events you follow by the following methods.
Filter by Category
To filter your RSS feed by a category, browse to the category you are interested in. You will see an RSS link at the top of that page that is specific to category. It will be something like:
http://www.greatermankatoevents.com/rss.php?categoryid=4
Filter by Keyword
Maybe you are really interested in one type of event, for example any event that has anything to do with the Gophers. If so, there is an RSS feed that can be crafted just for you! Simply subscribe to the following feed:
http://www.greatermankatoevents.com/rss.php?keywords=gophers
Filter by Free, Family and Senior Events
This site also allows submitters to classify events as Free or to designate age groups that the event would be appropriate for. Events appropriate for young children are classified as Family-Friendly and those of particular interest to those over 55 are classified as Seniors. You can subscribe to any of these three types of events with the following RSS code:
http://www.greatermankatoevents.com/rss.php?free=true
http://www.greatermankatoevents.com/rss.php?families=true
http://www.greatermankatoevents.com/rss.php?seniors=true
You'll also find a link to this RSS code on each of the pages, when you click on the buttons at the top of the page that say "free", "families" and "seniors".
Advanced Feed Creation
Lastly, we provide some more advanced RSS feed creation by allowing you to mix these ideas together. You can take up to one from each method for one special custom feed. The following example shows how one might craft an RSS feed to follow Theatre & Dance events put on by students that are targeted at families:
http://www.greatermankatoevents.com/rss.php?categoryid=1&keywords=student&familes=true
