antsmarching.org BitTorrent+RSS Feeds

Now that you've familiarized yourself with how to use BitTorrent on antsmarching.org, you can move on to more advanced uses. Namely, Real Simple Syndication (RSS).

What is RSS?

RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts. A simple example of RSS in use would have a user copy a "feed URL" into a news reader program, and that program would automatically gather the latest news stories, automatically. iTunes uses the same type of technology for podcasts, automatically downloading the latest episode of any podcast you've subscribed to.

What does RSS have to do with BitTorrent?

A very good question, and one that we think you'll like the answer to. RSS isn't limited to just news feeds and podcasts. With an RSS-capable BitTorrent client, like the antsmarching.org-recommended uTorrent, you can "plug in" a feed that will automatically download the latest show uploaded based on your search criteria. For example, if you've built a search feed that looks for all Dave Matthews Band shows in 2007, and plug that feed into uTorrent, you will automatically join the swarm on any 2007 DMB torrents as soon as they are uploaded on antsmarching.org. This, in effect, will "subscribe" you to the latest DMB shows, as soon as they are available!

How do I build an RSS feed?

Building an RSS feed for uTorrent is easy! First, head over to the Torrents page. You will see a form where you can filter the shows listed based on what you enter. Fill in some search criteria in the "Torrent Name" field, for example, "d&t1993" and click "Filter." You will see all the Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds shows from 1993 that are currently available on the site. You will also see an orange box with a web link above the show listing. This is the link that you need to copy and paste into uTorrent. If you're using Firefox, right click the link and choose "Copy Link Location." Internet Explorer users should right click and choose "Copy Shortcut." Then paste that link into uTorrent as outlined by the steps below.

uTorrent & RSS Feeds

We recommend uTorrent due to its ease of use and lightweight performance. This walkthrough is designed specifically for uTorrent; however, the same basic concepts can be applied to your RSS-capable BitTorrent client of choice. Now that you've built an RSS feed, you're ready to plug it into uTorrent. Find and click the orange RSS icon at the top of the uTorrent window (it looks like the icon at the top of this page). You will be presented with the Feeds window. Click the "Add" button and you'll be presented with a box to type the feed URL in. You can optionally name this feed by entering in something such as "d&t1993|" before you paste in your RSS feed URL. In order to make sure the shows from the feed you added download automatically, you must set up this feed as a favorite, so click on the "Favorites" tab now.

Once you're in the Favorites tab, click the "Add" button and name your filter something relevant, for example "d&t1993". Now, with your filter on the left highlighted and checked, shift your attention to the fields on the right. In the "Filter" field, simply enter an asterisk "*" - without the quotes. This will ensure that all shows in your custom feed are selected. You also need to specify a location on your hard drive to save the shows, so you need to have a location entered in the "Save in:" field. This is very important. If this field is left empty, the shows will not download automatically! Finally, Pull down the feed you added in the "Feeds" tab next to the "Feed:" field. If you chose to name the RSS feed in the above paragraph, this drop down box will contant the name of the feed. If you didn't, it will contain the URL that you pasted.

That's it, you're subscribed!

Congratulations, you've successfully set up uTorrent with a custom-built RSS feed! From this point forward, you will automatically join the Torrent swarm immediately for any new shows that match your feed's criteria that are uploaded to antsmarching.org. During tour time, we will provide pre-built RSS feeds so users who wish to subscribe to the tours will have the feeds already built and ready to be plugged into their BitTorrent client. Remember, it's good karma to leave your BitTorrent client open even after you've finished downloading a show so you can share back to the community. We currently don't enforce ratios, but will do so if the need arises.

RSS 2.0 or Legacy RSS?

There are two common RSS versions that are in use on the Internet today. RSS 2.0 and RSS 0.91, which we call "Legacy RSS." RSS 2.0 enables feeds to have "attachments," such as a podcast MP3 file would be "attached" to the RSS feed it belongs to. Most torrent clients that support RSS can handle the tags that are present in RSS 2.0 for attachments, but some cannot. For this reason, we've provided a "Legacy" RSS feed that should work in all torrent clients that support RSS.