Hello Visitor Register Sign-In
 
 
 
 
 

Frequently asked questions

What is Los Angeles Times NewsPoint?
How does it work?
How do I read a particular news item?
How do I select which content feeds to receive?
You mean I can look at stuff from other websites as well as the Los Angeles Times?
What computer system do I need to run NewsPoint?
How can I get more help?



What is Los Angeles Times NewsPoint?

Los Angeles Times NewsPoint is a desktop news reader. It allows you to sign up to receive updates from the Los Angeles Times and other online publishers. Once you've installed Los Angeles Times NewsPoint on your computer, it will automatically check for news updates from the Los Angeles Times and the other websites that you've added. This means you can get the latest updates directly on your computer desktop, without having to surf lots of different websites to find it.

How does it work?

Many online publishers, including latimes.com, are making content available to people in the form of "feeds." While this sounds technical, it's actually quite straightforward. When latimes.com publishes a page on its website, it also publishes a "summary" of that page, which includes the headline and a description of the story. It then puts these summaries together into "feeds" and makes them available on the internet. News readers like Los Angeles Times NewsPoint can then check whether new items have been added to a feed, and if they have, they pull the updates down onto your computer. You may have seen this process described as "RSS", which stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication.

How do I read a particular news item?

The power of NewsPoint is that it allows you to preview news from lots of different places quickly and easily. When you see a story or headline which interests you, all you need to do is click on it in NewsPoint and the full article will display in your browser.

How do I select which feeds to receive?

When you first install Los Angeles Times NewsPoint, it automatically displays updates from the most popular sections of latimes.com and other selected websites.

You can add new feeds quickly and easily from our list of recommended content:
  1. Click on 'Add Content' in NewsPoint
  2. From the page that appears in your browser, select "Browse list of Los Angeles Times recommended content"

If you want to add a publisher who's not in our recommended list, that's easy too:
  1. Click on 'Add Content' in NewsPoint
  2. From the page that appears in your browser, select "Search for content by publisher or topic"
  3. Type in what you're looking for

You can add also any feed by copying its address into NewsPoint. For more information on how to do this, click here.
There are thousands of feeds from many different types from publishers such as the New York Times, CNN, the BBC, and loads of blogs and smaller websites. Give it a try!

You mean I can look at stuff from other websites as well as the Los Angeles Times?

Absolutely! The idea is that you can add feeds from any website which publishes feeds. Many of the most popular feeds are already in the NewsPoint Directory, so try looking there first.

If you don't see what you are looking for in the Directory, you can add any web feed by copying its address into NewsPoint. For more information on how to do this, click here.

What computer system do I need to run NewsPoint?

Right now, you need Windows XP, 2000, ME, NT or 98 with Internet Explorer installed to run NewsPoint. You can also use NewsPoint with a Firefox web browser. Mac and other versions will be available soon, so if you're on another system and would like to use NewsPoint, please let us know in an email to support.latimes@mynewspoint.com.

How can I get more help?

This page is a brief introduction to Los Angeles Times NewsPoint. To get complete help, you can press the "?" button within NewsPoint, or you can go to the website at www.mynewspoint.com/latimes/help.



  Windows Only

  Signing in
  Viewing headlines and summaries
  Reading articles
  Adding other content feeds