What is this RSS stuff anyway?

RSS (or Really Simple Syndication) is a protocol that shares headlines over the internet and provides a link to deliver the media content to anyone that clicks the link. It's a "What's New" list on your computer in which you choose what you want to watch (subscribe) and your list is automatically updated when the publisher provide new content for their subscribers to view.

Why should I subscribe?

When I first started reading newspapers on the internet, I had to log into whatever web site that I wanted to read and then check out the headlines and features to see if there were any of interest. Without going to the site, I never would know if it was worth the trip.

Using RSS, I tell my computer to send me the headlines from all the feeds I choose to subscribe to - and then I can review the list before I choose what to read. The feed reader software keeps checking the feed for updates - so I am always connected to the latest content.

How do I subscribe?

To subscribe to our RSS feed, you will need to have software on your computer that will display the "headlines" from your subscribed "feeds". There are three options that you may choose among:

1. Use a dedicated RSS reader, which is a separate program that displays the headlines of your subscribed feeds. If you have one of these, I assume that you already know how to use it.

2. Use a web based reader, such as MyYahoo! These are web pages to which you identify the feeds you want to read, and they keep your web page updated updated with the headlines form your selected feeds.

3. Use a web browser that is RSS enabled, such as Firefox or Opera. These programs automatically react when they encounter a feed URL and ask you how you want to set up the browser to read the feed.

How do I add the Vineyard's feed to my RSS aware browser?

If you use a web browser based upon Mozilla - such as Firefox - it is probably already set up to receive RSS feeds. To subscribe to a feed,  clicking on the RSS feed link (ours looks like ), your computer will probably ask you where you want the news feed connected. If you have more than one feed reader available, it will also ask you to specify which option to use.

If instead you see a page of text with bunches of <keywords>, your browser isn't equipped to handle RSS automatically. You can however add this our RSS feed to your web based newsreader as described in the next section.

How do I set up a web based browser to receive the Vineyard feed?

You will need to go into your browser's menu options to find the option to add an RSS feed. Typically this will involve entering the feed's URL -- our is "http://www.vineyardcfs.org/VCFSonline.xml". For example, to manually add our RSS feed to your MyYahoo! homepage:

1. select the Add Content link near the top of the page

2. select the option to "Add_RSS_by_URL" to the right of the [FIND] button

3.  enter "http://www.vineyardcfs.org/VCFSonline.xml" (without the double quotes, by the way) and click the [ADD] button

4. you should see a list of headlines from our current feed, if so - click the [+Add to MyYahoo page] option

5. when you open your MyYahoo! page, our latest sermons will be listed as a separate content section -- just click on any title to hear the selected message!

We are sure that this will be simpler even in the future, but we hope that this explanation gives you the confidence to try something new today.