RSS - Really Simple Syndication and blogging - crime messaging system for Mid Sussex

RSS is a modern system for delivering the latest news and information in a compact way directly to you rather than you having to click around a website trying to find it.  It shows you the very latest information that you're interested in.

On this site our RSS feed allows you to receive the latest crime alert messages in the Mid Sussex area directly to your computer.

Several years ago you would've needed to install RSS reader software - nowadays all modern web browsers such as Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, Opera and Safari have integrated RSS readers.

To add a feed, simply click the orange icon - - you see in your browser's address bar.  Alternatively you can add the feed manually by looking for the feed button on the page - - and clicking, or dragging it to your reader.  This is often called subscribing - but it doesn't cost you anything!

Should you have an older browser you can still use the feed by using a web-based reader, such as Google Reader or Bloglines.

To ensure you promptly get the latest messages provided by the feed you can add it to your RSS reader's Watch List, then whenever the feed's updated it will notify you visually, or audibly, or both.

RSS on Hassocks Neighbourhood Watch
The RSS feed on this site is updated frequently and intended to deliver news of the very latest crime issues and other related news items of interest to local residents and businesses in Hassocks and indeed the whole Mid Sussex area.

Further stuff on using an RSS reader

Many RSS readers have three panes, the first shows the RSS channels (feeds) you've added, the next lists the items (topics) in that channel and the last pane carries a short description.  Many channels added from different sites can be organised into categories.

Clicking the channel shows the list of items, selecting an item then shows the item details and clicking the item often shows more comprehensive details on a web page.  Read/unread items can be automatically marked as such.

Our RSS URI (eg, to paste manually into a reader) is:
http://www.hassocksnhw.org.uk/rss/rss.xml

Our blog (weblog) is simply a listing on a web page of the latest crime alerts in chronological order.  As it's derived from our RSS feed, the blog carries exactly the same items.

This provides yet another way to read what's going on crime-wise in Mid Sussex.

Additionally it could provide an interactive facility, with the ability for blog readers to post comments to items.  This is disabled on this site as the blog is only intended to give information.

In recent years RSS and blogging have grown rapidly in popularity with many, for example, news websites adopting systems to publish breaking news and allowing their readers to post comments.

What's wrong with e-mail for timely messaging?

Plenty these days!

• A need to regularly check for new messages
• Messages can get lost in a sea of spam
• Over-zealous spam filtering can delete wanted messages
• E-mail overload can mean important messages get diluted among many messages
• A required e-mail can get accidentally deleted - opps!
• Old, no longer relevant messages could be viewed as current. Oh dear!
• Organisations can fail to remove users from their mailing list when notified messages are no longer required. Grrr!
• Large attachments can slow or constipate users' inboxes
• Privacy concerns with users reluctant to provide their e-mail addresses to organisations

How does RSS overcome the issues above?

• Automatic notification when a new message is available
• Impossible to get spam! Nice!
• No chance of deleting wanted messages. Great!
• Users are in control - only wanted messages are received
• The message is always there on the feed for retrieval
• Old expired messages are removed by the feed provider
• Users simply 'unsubscribe' when they no longer wish to receive messages- no requirement to notify the sender
• Users choose if to / when to download attachments
• No privacy issue as there's no requirement for users to give their e-mail address to the sending organisation

Other advantages:

• As it's a 'push' system, messages come to users rather than them having to fetch them ('pull')
• Organisations have no need to maintain a mailing list database. Great admin staff time saver!