info4local: Top tips

This is a page of tips about how to get the most out of info4local. We have put together the page to let you know about the full range of facilities provided by info4local’s email alert service, website and RSS feeds.

---

The info4local email alert

Email account settings

It’s a good idea to log in and review your email alert details every so often to make sure that what you have chosen is still relevant to your job. Log in to your account on the email alerts home page. You can find a link on the right-hand side of each info4local page. It’s easy to add a new department, change a region or remove a subject. You can also change your profile to receive your email daily, twice daily or once a week.

Summaries in your email

You can update your profile to receive your email alert with titles and links only, or with full or short summaries. With titles only, you click through to our website, where you can read a summary and decide whether or not to read the full document.

If you want to reduce your number of clicks, choose full summaries. Then you can just click once on the title and be taken straight through to the full document. Or you can choose short summaries, which give you more information in your email, but still link to the full info4local summary. Beware, though: both these options will make your email longer.

Your email and document types

Your email alerts will include items from all the subjects you've selected, split into consultations, publications, related links and news links. Publications are further split into 13 sub-categories, including circular/letter, event/conference, guidance, inspection report, newsletter, policy document, speech and more. You can choose whether or not you want to receive all document types. Select the information you want from this list and opt out of what doesn't interest you.

Titles of documents on info4local

Each item in the email alert and on our website carries the title given to it by the department or agency that published it. We can't change these titles, but we try to clarify them when we can.

Broken links

info4local provides summaries of and links to information on the sites of our contributing departments and agencies. Sometimes our contributors move documents from their original locations. We make every effort to catch the resulting broken links and update them on info4local. If you find a broken link, please contact us so we can fix it straight away. You can find a link to the contact form at the top of each info4local page.

Missed an email alert?

If you miss an email alert for any reason, you can check that day’s information by using our ‘missed an email alert’ function on the email alerts home page. You can find a link on the right-hand side of each info4local page.

How to unsubscribe

If you are changing jobs and no longer want to receive the email alert, you can unsubscribe on the email alerts home page. You can find a link on the right-hand side of each info4local page.

The info4local website

Updated throughout the day

You don’t have to wait for your email alert to see the latest information. We update our website at www.info4local.gov.uk throughout the day. You can see all the newest additions on the home page or on our RSS feeds.

Subject and region pages

We have pages for each of our 21 subjects and nine English regions. If you are interested in planning, for example, you can go to our planning, land and premises page to see the latest - and archived - information on that subject in one place. The same applies to the regions. Each subject and region page also includes an explanation of what that category covers. Links are listed on the left-hand side of each info4local page.

Content by topic

For big government announcements and special campaigns from our contributors, we sometimes put together special content by topic pages. These cover all information on a particular subject in one place. You can get to the content by topic main page from the left-hand side of each info4local page.

Searchable archive of past content

Our website contains an archive of all the links we’ve published in the email alerts. Individual items stay on the website for up to two years (or six months in the case of news releases), and all items are searchable by keyword, partial title or URL. The quick search bar is on the right-hand side of each info4local page. The next time you are looking for an important document from the last year or two, try searching on info4local. Or look at the subject and region pages.

Advanced search

Use the advanced search to look for consultations, publications, related links and news links. You can search by date and by any combination of information type, subject, department and region. You can find the advanced search link at the top of each info4local page.

Consultations ending soon

You can look at all consultations that have appeared on info4local in the last two years on our website. We list each consultation as soon as it is published on a contributor's site, and we include the deadline on the summary page. We also provide a list of all consultations ending soon. If you have chosen to receive reminders of consultation deadlines, your email alert will include a list of all relevant consultations that will end in the next week. 

Other info4local services

RSS feeds

info4local offers a range of RSS feeds that can help you stay up to date with new information as soon as it is published, without having to check the website or wait for the email alert. info4local RSS feeds can also be used to provide content on your organisation’s internet and intranet pages. Find out more about RSS and how to publish or subscribe on the RSS main page.

Twitter

Follow info4local on Twitter to get our links to highlights of the day from across central government.

Tell a colleague

If you think information from info4local may be useful to someone else, it’s easy to pass it on by using the tell a colleague form. Your colleague/s will get an email with a link to the relevant information and a message saying that you thought they might find it useful. You can find the tell a colleague form on the right-hand side of each info4local page and on each item’s summary page.

Contact us

If you ever have any questions about your email alert, RSS feeds or our website, you can contact us through our contact form. You can find a link to the contact form at the top of each info4local page.

About us, help and FAQ

You can find more information on info4local on the about us, help and FAQ links at the top of each info4local page.