RSS has revolutionized the way we use the internet. RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication. Simply put - RSS brings website updates to you. Imagine, logging into your computer in the morning, and reading the recently added news articles, blog posts or podcasts all on one web page. The cool thing is, you don’t need to be a programmer or tech geek to set up RSS feeds.

How does it work? On the web programmer side, xml code is strategically placed into the code of a website, which creates the feed. On the user end, we use what is called an aggregator - where we subscribe to the websites rss or xml feed. Each time the website is updated, the content is sent to the aggregator, kind of like an email.

Whoa! How can you set up an RSS feed?! For just three easy payments of $19.99, if you order now.. I’ll throw in a free spatula, and my 2 week course that will get you started in setting up your own RSS feed.. haha. Ok, just kidding.

Aggregator: The quickest and easiest way to set up RSS would be to go to Google.com. Google Personalized Home, acts as a very simple RSS aggregator.
At the top right, you see a link called “Personalized Home” - click on this. You come to a page that has news feeds, weather, calendar, etc., all of which is customizable. Click on the “Show My Page” button.

Lets set up a RSS feed: We’ll start by adding TechBox to your list.

1) In Explorer 7 and FireFox 2, find the little orange RSS button (seen above) and click on it. The url will change to: http://tech.blogsmonroe.com/?feed=rss2

2) Highlight it and copy it (control c). Back in your Google home page.

3) Click on the “Add Stuff” link you’ll see on the Classic Home page (right side). Google has a number of them preloaded, which you can go back and add later.

4) Up at the top, by the search field, you’ll see a link called “Add by URL.” Click this, and paste in the TechBox link (control v) - be sure not to only include the ‘http://’ once.

5) Click the “Add” button, and you’re done! Top left corner there is a “Back to homepage” button. Techbox feeds will now roll in each time I update the site.
From your computer, if you book mark this page, it should come up the same each time. I’d recommend signing up for a google/gmail account, this way you can access your RSS feeds from anywhere.

Sites: Like I said, now that you’ve seen this little orange symbol, you’ll start to notice it on a ton of web pages. All of the Blogs in BlogsMonroe.com are RSS-able, as is MonroeNews.com - yes, you can even RSS the obituaries!

Other aggregators: Browser based: MyYahoo, Bloglines, Newsgator - Program based: Sharp Reader, AmphetaDesk, AlertBear and for the Macintosh folks; NetNewsWire (my fav). Also, if you really get into it - check out the recently released xFruits - allows you to use RSS in multiple ways - imagine, RSS to your cell phone!! wow.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 7:26 am and is filed under Odds and ends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.