As the internet grows larger and larger, keeping up-to-date with the information you want can prove to be time-consuming.

Would you like to get back the time spent visiting many websites by having only the news and features you're interested in delivered directly to you?

RSS ('Really Simple Syndication') feeds are the free online version of old-fashioned ticker-tape news wire machines.

An RSS feed allows you to see when sites from all over the internet have added new content. The latest headlines and articles (or even audio files, photographs or video) are delivered to one place for you as soon as they are published.

No longer will you have to remember to visit all your websites each day, to be fully up-to-date with news.

RSS is now found on the majority of news-based websites (e.g. BBC News, The Guardian, CNN) and is increasing its presence across the whole of the Web.

How do I start using RSS feeds?
You will need access to a news reader - a piece of software that checks RSS feeds and alerts you to any updates.

Some news readers are accessed using a browser. Others are applications which you will need to download to your own computer.

With browser-based news readers, you can keep up with your RSS subscriptions, no matter where you are accessing the internet from (i.e. not just your own computer).

After downloading an application, you you will be able to retrieve and store RSS feeds on your computer (as you would your email).

How do I find a news reader?
There is a range of different news readers available and new versions are appearing all the time. Use an internet search engine to look for 'RSS news readers'.

Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work with your computer.  

After you've selected a news reader
The next step is to decide which content you wish to receive.

This is done by finding and subscribing to the relevant RSS feeds offered by RICS.org

For example, if you would like the latest RICS Built environment stories, simply visit the Built environment Channel where you will notice an orange RSS button on the left hand column.

Clicking on this button allows you to subscribe to the feed in various ways, including:

• dragging the URL of the RSS feed into your news reader
• cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader.

Most sites offering RSS feeds use a similar orange RSS button, while others may present a normal web link to the feed.

Some web browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari, automatically check for RSS feeds each time you visit a website. If one is found, an icon is displayed for easy subscription. More details can be found on the official websites for these browsers.