New Zealand Legislation

• What are web feeds?
• Feed readers
• Using the feeds to keep up to date: some examples
• Custom feeds, step by step

What are web feeds?

Web feeds, or RSS (sometimes called Really Simple Syndication) feeds, let you track updates to a website or web page. Look for the feed symbol .

To use a web feed, you first need a web feed reader. After you subscribe to a feed your feed reader automatically checks the feed and displays whatever is new in one place without you having to revisit the website. The reader lists all the relevant document titles, links to the documents, and information about the updated documents.

The format for feeds can vary, but this website uses the Atom XML standard. See more on web feeds at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed.

Feed readers

There are many different feed readers to chose from, most of them free. Many browsers come with a reader built in (eg Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, or Safari). You can download a reader, or use a web-based one. Different readers have different capabilities and display options, and some will even email you an alert message when a new item is published.

For more on feed readers, you can search the internet for “RSS reader”, “RSS news aggregator”, or “Atom standard reader”, or visit the Yahoo! directory of RSS Readers and Aggregators.

Using the feeds to keep up to date: some examples

To keep up to date on:	Do this:	Because:
all new Acts as they are enacted	click on the ready-made feed “All new Acts published in the last 30 days”	this will notify you every time a new Act is published
the latest consolidated Acts and Regulations	click on the ready-made feed “All consolidated Acts and Regulations published in the last 30 days”	this will notify you every time a principal Act or Regulation is updated with amendments
changes to the Resource Management Act 1991	set up a custom feed from the Resource Management Act 1991’s contents page	this will notify you every time a new version is published
changes to the Income Tax Act 2007 as soon as amending Acts are passed	set up a custom feed from Search: Acts with income tax in the title field, ensuring the box that excludes amendment Acts is not ticked	this will notify you every time an Act is passed with income tax in the title, including amendment Acts, without waiting until the changes come into force
a particular Bill as it progresses through the House	set up a custom feed from the Bill	this will notify you every time a new version is published
environmental law	set up a custom feed from Search: All with environment in the title field, ensuring the box that excludes amendment legislation is not ticked	this will notify you every time an Act, Bill, or Regulation is published with environment in the title

Custom feeds, step by step

To create a feed from a search or from browse:

1. Perform the search or browse that fits your needs. Note that a feed cannot include content searching.
2. From the results page, look for the feed symbol and click on “Create web feed from this result”.
3. Give your feed a clear, descriptive name (limit 60 characters), and change the number of days if you wish (a small number if you’ll check the feed frequently, otherwise a large number).
4. Click on Subscribe, which takes you to your default RSS feed reader (this depends on your own setup).
5. The next step depends on your feed reader, but probably involves confirming that you want to subscribe.
6. Return to the New Zealand Legislation web feeds page and click Reset.

To create a feed from an Act, Bill, or Regulation:

1. Navigate to the document.
2. Look for the feed symbol and click on “Add to web feed”.
3. Give your feed a clear, descriptive name (limit 60 characters), and change the number of days if you wish (a small number if you’ll check the feed frequently, otherwise a large number).
4. If you wish to add other documents to the feed, click on “Add more documents” and repeat steps 1–3. Delete documents using the Remove button.
5. Click on Subscribe, which takes you to your default RSS feed reader (this depends on your own setup).
6. The next step depends on your feed reader, but probably involves confirming that you want to subscribe.
7. Return to the New Zealand Legislation web feeds page and click Reset.

Note re Supplementary Order Papers: these cannot be included in web feeds. In particular, a web feed set up from a particular Bill's Versions page will not notify you if a Supplementary Order Paper is added to the page.

While you are building a feed, you will see a warning triangle next to the feed link on the navigation bar. This disappears after you click Reset.

Note that the page you are on now is where you set up a feed, but later management of the feed is done through your feed reader. So, for example, to cancel a feed, do this using your feed reader.