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LIFELines - Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds

In an effort to assist you from having to visit many websites to download content, LIFELines Services Network provides Really Simple Syndication (RSS) functionality utilized by many Department of Defense (e.g., DefenseLink) technologists and commercial sites. The LIFELines RSS feed can be viewed by an RSS-aware information aggregator installed on your desktop, and configured to pull RSS feeds from your favorite web sites. Instead of going to other websites to find information and resources, why not have the information and resources come to you?

What is RSS?

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It is a way to easily distribute a list of headlines, update notices, and sometimes content to a wide number of people. It is used by computer programs that organize those headlines and notices for easy reading.

How does it work?

RSS works by having the website author maintain a list of notifications on their website in a standard way. This list of notifications is called an "RSS Feed". People who are interested in finding out the latest headlines or changes can check this list. Special computer programs called "RSS aggregators" have been developed that automatically access the RSS feeds of websites you care about on your behalf and organize the results for you. (RSS feeds and aggregators are also sometimes called "RSS Channels" and "RSS Readers".) Producing an RSS feed is very simple and hundreds of thousands of websites now provide this feature, including major news organizations like the New York Times, the BBC, and Reuters, as well as many weblogs.

Why use RSS?

Most people are interested in many websites whose content changes on an unpredictable schedule. Examples of such websites are news sites, community and religious organization information pages, product information pages, medical websites, and weblogs. Repeatedly checking each website to see if there is any new content can be very tedious. Email notification of changes was an early solution to this problem. Unfortunately, when you receive email notifications from multiple websites they are usually disorganized and can get overwhelming, and are often mistaken for spam. RSS is a better way to be notified of new and changed content. Notifications of changes to multiple websites are handled easily, and the results are presented to you well organized and distinct from email.

How can I sign up for RSS feeds from LIFELines?

In an effort to avoid visiting many web sites, LIFELines provides RSS Feeds without the need for subscriptions. Once you have our RSS Feed, simply add it into your Feed Reader. Alternatively, you can enter our URL feed into your aggregator.

How can I learn more about the available RSS readers?

If you are not yet using an information or news reader, but would like to investigate if this new tool would be appropriate for you, there is an abundance of information available on the web. We recommended that you use any available search engine using "RSS Readers" as your search query.

Get started now with the configuration of your favorite information, resource and news aggregators to pull DoD related top headlines as well as links to documentation, software downloads, and technical articles! Current LIFELines RSS Information feeds include:

LIFELines - Headlines and Feature Articles

LIFELines encourages the use of our RSS Feeds as official Department of Navy (DoN) Quality of Life (QoL) content, information, and resources. Placement of LIFELines developed content in a public or restricted access website or application is to be used only in its present format, and not as a form of endorsement or approval from LIFELines. We ask that when you include our content you do it in an appropriate context as a service to your customers when they need to find official information and services. We also ask that you display and maintain links back to the listed host websites or applications.