Thinking of Subscribing To a RSS Feed?
RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’, it is a format for distributing and gathering content from sources across the Web, including newspapers, magazines, and blogs. With RSS you can quickly and easily get the latest updates from all your favourite websites in one place, rather than having to visiting them one by one. To do this you use an RSS reader that automatically checks for news and updates.
How can you tell if a website has an RSS feed?
Often you will see a small orange feed icon saying ‘RSS’, ‘subscribe’ or ‘feed’ next to it. Usually you just copy and paste the feed link into your RSS reader. Another great thing about RSS feeds: No spam and complete user control; unsubscribing to RSS feeds are as easy as it can get just delete it, and it is gone. Period.
Choosing an RSS reader
There are many different ‘feed readers’ (also known as RSS readers, RSS aggregators or simply newsreaders) to choose from, but they can be divided into two main types: web-based and application based. Web-based readers have the benefit that you can check your feeds from any computer, while the stand-alone applications often have more features and greater flexibility.
Browsers such as Internet Explorer 7, Firefox and Safari also have built-in RSS readers, although these are not as flexible and versatile as using a separate application.
Web Based RSS Readers
All you have to do is to sign up for an account and you can add as many feeds as you want. Below are a few of the most popular; some sites will have buttons that allow you to add it to these RSS readers automatically. Otherwise, just copy and paste the RSS feed link into your reader and you are up and running.
MyYahoo
Bloglines
MyMSN
NewsGator
GoogleReader
Locally installed RSS Readers
If you prefer, you can download an RSS reader and install it on your computer, below are links to a few of the most popular. Some of these are freeware/open source, others charge a licence fee:
FeedReader [Freeware]
Attensa
Lektora [Win, Mac and Linux]
Klipfolio
FeedIt [Open-source]
Blogbot for Outlook
Vienna [Mac OS X, freeware]
NewsFire [Mac OS X]
Browsing and subscribing to feeds is not that complicated. Today there are well over 2,000 different feed readers. Some require a small purchase fee but there are many free readers out there too. Performing a search for ‘feed reader’ or ‘feed aggregator’ on popular search sites will yield many results.
Managing your reader online has an advantage of being able to access your feed updates anywhere you can find a web browser. Plus upgrades and new features are added automatically.
Typically the feed reader will display your feeds and the number of new entries within each of those feeds. You can customize your feeds into categories of your choice and save your favourite entries.
If you were confused or did not know how to get started, hopefully this is a more palatable form to digest.
John E, Media Relations Adviser Easily.co.uk – Domain name registration, register your low cost domain name today! Search domain names quickly, all major extensions and no catches.
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