Help with Feeds
This page contains advice for those wishing to learn more about newsfeeds and podcasts, or having problems subscribing to, or using our feeds. A list of feeds offered by ECPS can be found here.
What is a Feed?
“Feed” is used to describe news and content delivered in the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) standard. You can subscribe to these feeds in your browser or feed-reader, and when a new item is added, it is added to your reader. This makes it easy and convenient to keep up-to-date about things that are important to you, as you don’t have to constantly check a website - the news comes to you.
These feeds can take several different forms. A newsfeed usually consists of text, and web links to articles, and sometimes pictures. Another type of feed is the “podcast” which began as an audio recording, with episodes distributed via RSS feed. Today podcasting goes beyond audio, and can include video and other media.
How do I access the feed?
A good feed-reader can handle any type of feed, whether it contains text, images, audio or video. However, some readers are geared towards specific types of media. For example, iTunes works well for audio and video podcasts because it is a media player (and you may already use it for managing your music and audiobooks). However, it is not well suited to text-based newsfeeds. On the other hand, the RSS reader built into the Firefox or Safari browsers is well suited to text-based newsfeeds, but not very convenient for audio or video podcasts.
You may find it convenient to use iTunes for podcasts, and your web browser for newsfeeds. However, if you use feeds frequently or want more advanced features, installing a stand-alone feed-reader is a better option.
Click here for a list of podcast and RSS feed software for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Once you have set up your reader, you can either click on a link to the newsfeed or podcast (if your reader software is set as the default RSS client), or you can cut and paste the link into your reader.
Enhanced Podcasts
Enhanced Podcasts are audio podcasts that offer extra features. For example, they can play a slideshow synchronised with the audio, to give a visual representation of a lecture - while maintaining a small file-size and low bandwidth. A video podcast would take up much more space than an audio podcast enhanced with images.
Another feature of enhanced podcasts is that they offer chapter “bookmarks” which enable you to skip directly to a particular section of the podcast. This is particularly useful for long lectures and presentations. Chapters are available in both audio and video podcasts. They can be labeled, so in your podcast software, you can see the name of the chapter you are jumping to.
Currently, enhanced podcasts are only guaranteed to be compatible with iTunes or Quicktime. They will also work in third-party products which use Quicktime for media playback. They may work in other players, but without the extra features.
Rest assured, whenever we offer an enhanced podcast, we will also offer a plain version in standard MP3 or MP4 format. So if you have any problems with your software, just click on the alternate download link in the podcast.
Still Having Trouble?
If you are having any problems you can’t resolve, please contact the ECPS webmaster for further help.