The questions and answers are organised along the following categories:

1. Getting started

   • What is the RSS format?

     RSS is a data presentation format facilitating the automated broadcast of information streams to Internet users. It also facilitates the syndication of content by giving other web sites the opportunity to reproduce such data, in full or in part, with ease.

     With the RSS format there is no need to visit your favourite sites one by one to receive news from them; all you have to do is enter their RSS information stream into a compatible program and all your news sources will appear on a single screen!

     In this way, by receiving Research Participant Portal information streams you can read the latest news published on our site on your computer screen without even having to visit our homepage.

   • How to access RSS feeds

     There are several ways to receive information streams published by Research Participant Portal on your computer.

     You can:

     • use your e-mail application to consult this information source while reading your e-mails
     • use your Internet browser to display the various newsfeeds in the form of a homepage
     • use specialist RSS information stream aggregation software, known as an RSS reader or news aggregator
     • or even read information streams on your smartphone, PDA or pocket PC connected via Bluetooth to a GRPS mobile phone.

     Whichever method you choose, you must register the URL of each newsfeed you wish to receive in the chosen software. This is a very simple operation - often it only takes a click of your mouse.

     Indeed, most sites broadcasting information streams display a small icon on their RSS or XML pages. By clicking on the icon, your software application will recognise the information stream automatically and add it to your content aggregation list.

   • What do they look like?

     For a first look at a newsfeed, without installing anything on your computer, you can use an online RSS reader which can read any RSS feed. Open a new window in your browser and enter one of the following URLs in the address field:

     • RSS Feed - FP7 Call Latest information
     • RSS Feed - Recently published FP7 calls

     This is what a Research Participant Portal RSS feed looks like. If you wish to view another feed, simply enter its address in the address field. Now you can move on to the next step by installing a real content aggregation tool.

     There are content aggregators to suit all users and all platforms; many are available free of charge.

     

2. Step by step

   • How can I read RSS feeds?

     You will need a news reader to check the feeds you subscribe to and let you view headlines and links to newly published content. See below for details of how to get a reader if you don't currently have one

     RSS feeds, on this site, are indicated by orange icons next to the title of a specific RSS feed.

     Clicking the icon will take you to a page that describes the feed in greater detail. From there you can click a link to open the feed window. Copy and paste its URL into your newsreader to subscribe.

     Some browsers including Internet Explorer 7+, Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome, automatically support RSS and do not require you to paste the feed URL into a separate reader.

     If you have difficulties subscribing to a feed, please refer to the instructions that come with your reader.

     When new content is published, you can use the reader to scan headlines and click through to our web site to view the full version of the article or feature.

   • How do I get a news reader?

     There are many different versions of newsreaders, some accessed using a browser and some which are downloadable applications. Deciding which one to use is a matter of personal choice. Different readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work with your computer.

     Below is a list of popular readers that you may wish to use:

     Windows:

     • Feeddemon
     • Newzcrawler

     Mac OSX:

     • NetNewsWire

     Web:

     • Bloglines
     • Newsgator
     • Google Reader
   • How do I unsubscribe from an RSS feed?

     Please refer to the instructions that come with your browser or newsreader if you would like to unsubscribe from an RSS feed.

   • Webmasters

     Content contained in Research Participant Portal RSS feeds can be added to websites a number of different ways. Each method for displaying the RSS feed has pros and cons associated with it. Webmasters will need to determine which option will best meet their hosting and technology needs.

     Using Javascript to Display RSS:

     Javascript is the easiest way to display RSS feeds on a website. There are a number of sites that will allow you to generate code that can be inserted into a website. The javascript will auto-update, showing the latest headlines as the feed is updated. Each time a visitor visits the website the javascript pulls the data from the feed. Often, the various scripts can be customized so that the look of the feed can be made to match a specific websiteeeds with hopes that the search engines will devour and spider the contents, you will be disappointed. When javascript is used to display RSS feeds, search engines do not actually "see" the contents of the feed, meaning that the search engines will not index the contents of the feed within the website.

     Feedroll:

     Feedroll is a free service for syndicating RSS and ATOM news feeds on your website. Simply select a feed, customize the design, then copy and paste the code provided onto your page - Feedroll

     Using PHP to Display RSS:

     PHP is a slightly more complex solution for displaying RSS. Like javascript, as the contents of the feed updates, the web page contents will update as the page is refreshed. The benefit of using PHP to display RSS is that the contents of the feed displayed with the webpage can be spidered and indexed by search engines. The result is a feed that always displays the most current information from the RSS feed and the web page content is considered search engine spider and robot-friendly.

     rss2html.php:

     The rss2html.php script allows users to create web pages that will always display the most current information from the RSS feed, and because the resulting page is pure HTML, it will be in a format friendly to search engine robots. Using rss2html.php, webmasters can customize the format and look of the web page created from the feed. The RSS feed's contents can easily be integrated into an existing website's theme. The rss2html.php script parses the RSS file, extracts the pertinent information, formats it, and serves it up as regular HTML - Feedforall

     Using ASP to Display RSS:

     ASP is similar to PHP. The free ASP/ASP.NET scripts can be used to convert RSS feeds into HTML and display on ASP/ASP.NET web-server.

     rss2html.asp:

     ByteScout has implemented a guide for displaying of RSS/XML feed using free RSS2HTML.ASP script in ASP or ASP.NET environment. This script can be used free of charge on any ASP or ASP.NET web-server and generate HTML from RSS feed. This free ASP script uses MSXML to load RSS feed from URL and display it. You can use it as a standalone or call from script on HTML page to generate HTML content from RSS feed and then display on your HTML page - Bytescout

     RssFeed:

     RssFeed is an open-source custom ASP.NET server control that displays the contents of a specified RSS feed in an ASP.NET web page - RssFeed

     If PHP or ASP is used to update feeds, the website will have free fresh, relevant content each time the feeds referenced are updated.

     Export RSS to HTML:

     If you wish to dress up the feed's appearance you can use a template exporting the feed as HTML or an HTML table. Publishers can incorporate exported tables into an HTML template using a server-side include. Each time the feed is updated, the feed will need to be exported to HTML and uploaded along with the feed. Though this only takes a few moments, exporting RSS to HTML does require webmaster intervention to update the content. The end result, though, is a complete web page with an RSS feed in it that will be search engine-friendly.

     FeedForAll:

     FeedForAll allows users to export RSS feeds from RSS to HTML. The look of the HTML can be modified to match an existing website's design - Feedforall

     Using Services:

     There are a number of services available that host and display RSS feeds, in many cases free of charge. Because these services operate on a different domain server there is little benefit to end-users displaying their feeds in this fashion. That said, the services are generally free of charge, so you get what you pay for.

     RSS2HTML.com:

     Select a layout, color scheme and enter the URL of the feed. A web page URL will be generated that will display the feed in the selected scheme - RSS2hTML

     FeedBurner:

     FeedBurner provides a number of online services. Among them is a service that displays RSS feeds on a website - Feedburner

     Using XSL to Display RSS:

     Although using XSL and CSS stylesheets to display XML directly is easy to understand in theory, it is rather tricky to implement in the real world and is very tough for novices to use successfully. Webmasters must be fairly familiar with CSS and XSL to have the formatting work well, and webmasters then have to address browser incompatibilities and exceptions. As a result, not a lot of resources or services yet exist to display RSS using XSL.

     Using highly targeted feeds, webmasters can enhance their websites with themed content. Ultimately, providing relevant, educational or newsworthy information from reputable related sources will establish expertise in a specific area.

   • Research Participant Portal RSS feeds

     Choose your feed

     • RSS Feed - FP7 Call Latest information
     • RSS Feed - Recently published FP7 calls