An RSS feed allows you to receive information and updates from a website. Subscribing to an RSS feed on BMU CTR can save time by saving your search criteria and alerting you when study records in your search are updated.
RSS feeds can provide updates on all recently added or modified study records on BMU CTR, or updates to the results of a specific search. The RSS feed will automatically list additions and updates in either your Internet browser or a feed reader (See Subscribe to a feed).
Create an RSS feed
You can create an RSS feed for all the studies on BMU CTR or for a specific search. Creating an RSS feed for a specific search allows you to easily access and browse study records meeting your search criteria that have been first posted or had an update posted in the last 14 days. To create the feed from the Search Results page, follow the steps below:
- Click on the RSS button, found on the Search Results action bar.
- A pop-up box containing RSS feed options will appear listing the search criteria you used. The pop-up box will say All if you did not enter any specific search criteria.
- Choose one of the following feed types:
- New studies first posted in the last 14 days.
Note: This feed is filtered using the study First posted date. - New and existing studies added or modified in the last 14 days.
Note: This feed is filtered using the Last update posted date.
- New studies first posted in the last 14 days.
- Click on the Create RSS Link. You can also click Copy RSS Link to copy the feed's address.
- Subscribe to the RSS feed using your browser or a feed reader. (See Subscribe to a feed)
Note that RSS feeds include both the First posted and Last update posted dates for each study record.
Subscribe to a feed
To read the RSS feed updates, you need a feed reader. Feed readers can be:
- Web based
- Part of your browser (for example, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Chrome)
- Part of your e-mail client (for example, Microsoft Outlook)
- Installed on your computer
Web-based and e-mail client readers let you read RSS feeds from any computer.
Feed subscriptions in your browser or reader software installed on your computer will be available only on the computer you used to subscribe to the feeds.
Using a browser extension
Most internet browsers do not have an RSS feed as part of the browser. However, you can use extensions that are available for all major browsers to add an RSS feed.
In your browser:
- Start by doing a search for the clinical studies you are interested in.
- Create the RSS feed that you want to subscribe to. (See the instructions for Create an RSS feed)
- Open the RSS feed XML document in the browser.
- Copy URL of this page and paste it into your feed extension (exact field name and location may vary for different extensions).
- Follow the steps for your extension to save feed.
Using a feed reader
In your browser, create or open the RSS feed that you want to subscribe to. (See the instructions for Create an RSS feed) Copy the URL of the RSS feed page open in your browser and paste it into your feed reader application or software.
The process for subscribing to a feed varies, depending on the feed reader software. The feed reader's instructions should explain how to modify the RSS feed name or delete the feed.
Alternative to RSS feeds - Saving your search
Instead of subscribing to an RSS feed, you can save your search by using your browser to bookmark a Search Results page or by labeling it as a "favorite."
For example, a bookmarked Search Results page for recruiting studies on pneumonia would appear as "Search for: Pneumonia, Recruiting studies | BMU CTR" in your favorites. Each time you visit the page, you will see all the current results for your search, including records that have been recently added or updated and records that have not changed.
Another way to save your search criteria is to copy the URL from your search at the top of the page, save it to a folder, and re-paste it into your browser when you want to search again.