A great website not only has compelling images and original content, but also ever-changing content. You're more likely to increase your returning visitor rate by having content that is fresh and up-to-date. One way to do this is to create a blog on your site. This can be department news, VUMC news, or perhaps a specific area of medicine. The key to blogging is to do it consistently, so what if you don't have time? That's where the VUMC News feeds come in handy!

What are VUMC News feeds?

Did you know that content featured in VUMC News is tagged? Not only that, but each tag has its own feed! What does this mean for you? It means an ever-changing, updating stream of news that you can add to your website and it maintains itself. For those of you that don't have time (or enough content) to start a blog, you can still implement a news-style block on your website.

How do I find available feeds from VUMC News?

Lucky for us, VUMC News has a list of tags and their feeds. You can view this list at http://news.vumc.org/subscribe/available-feeds/ Most likely you'll find your department feed and probably a few other feeds that would make sense to show on your website.

As an example, here is the School of Medicine listing.

You'll find two links for every listing. The first link (in this case the text "School of Medicine") will take you to the page on VUMC News where you can view all the stories tagged School of Medicine, newest listed first. The link for this is http://news.vumc.org/tag/school-of-medicine/. Add "feed" to the end of this URL (http://news.vumc.org/tag/school-of-medicine/feed). This will be the link used to create an RSS block in Barista.

How do I create an RSS block using the Vanderbilt News feeds?

Now that you have your feed URL, you can create an RSS block. Select "Blocks" from the top black admin bar. Next select the blue "Add Custom Block" button.

Select "RSS Reader" for the type of block.

On the next screen will be your settings. Create a label to identify the block in your block listing. The title is optional, but can be something like "School of Medicine News." In the RSS URL field, you'll want to add your feed URL. You can add multiple feed URLs into one block and the feeds will be merged and sorted by date. Alternatively you can create multiple RSS blocks and display the feeds separately.

Select the rest of the block settings according to your preferences and save the block. Place the RSS block on a page by editing the desired page and checking the box next to your newly created RSS block.

Now your site has a news area that will update automatically every time a new story is published with your specific tag. Easy to maintain and you're providing your readers with ever-changing, up-to-date content.