Photo by harrietbarber
Several people have asked me recently about what it means to subscribe to a blog, and what exactly an RSS feed or reader is. So, we thought it might be helpful to have a little tutorial here at :simple:balance: to give you more information about the concepts involved and explain how you can subscribe to this blog (or any others you like).
First off, in the name of simplicity and finding balance in life, I promise that using an RSS reader will save you a LOT of time! Afterall, we barely have time to accomplish what we need to in the day… making time for things we want to do (like reading interesting blogs or websites) has to fit easily into our juggle in order to be feasible. Who has time to visit the websites they like everyday to check to see if there is something new posted? I used to maintain a list of bookmarks under my “Favorites” tab and scroll through them when I had time, checking to see what was new on each site. This took a LOT of time and, honestly, became something that I didn’t have time to do and so got dropped off my to-do list. I’m not a believer in spending all of my free time in front of a computer screen. But I do believe in the benefits of technology: staying in touch with other people, having a wealth of information at my fingertips when I need it, and having a tool to research and continue to learn about a variety of interesting topics. So while I don’t have time to surf the net for hours on end, I do want to stay connected. Enter RSS feeds and readers.
What does the terminology mean?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is basically a readable summary of the contents of a website. An RSS feed contains the contents of an individual website and is constantly updated as new things are posted to that site. A reader is the personalized tool you use to aggregate all of the updates, or feeds, from the websites you want - all in one convenient location.
How do I use a reader?
There are various options out there for readers, including Google reader, Blog Lines, NewsGator, and more. I suggest you check out several and choose one that best fits your needs. I personally use Google reader because it is so simple – already having a Google account allowed me to easily set up my reader. You will need to sign up and create a reader with whichever server you choose (usually just a couple of steps and very easy)… and then you are ready to go!
Once you have set up your reader, you can add feeds to it. An orange feed icon is typically used to indicate that feed subscription is available on a website. You may have seen these around the blogosphere and on other websites – clicking on the icon will subscribe you to that site’s RSS feed, and then you will start receiving those posts into your reader. You can also type a web address into your reader and it will automatically be added to your list of feeds. It really is that simple!
YouTube has a great video tutorial (less than 5 minutes long) that shows you how to use Google reader.
Now what?
Now, you are set to stay in touch with your favorite websites without wasting huge amounts of time. No more searching through your favorites only to find that they don’t have anything new posted. You will now be automatically notified when something new is added and have it in your reader, ready for you to read when you have time.
This has been a huge time-saver for me. I have found that I am able to stay in touch with more sites than I ever would have been without my reader. And since the updates aggregate in my reader, I can get to them when I have time. That might be today, or might be next week – either way, the new information will be there waiting for me.
Here at :simple:balance:, we have made it easy for you to subscribe. Look to the right and find the header that says “Subscribe.” You’ll see that little orange icon there, and you can choose to subscribe to posts, all comments, or both. If you click on “Posts,” for example, a list will appear of some of the commonly used readers. Just choose the one that you are signed up with, click on it, and follow a couple of steps to add :simple:balance:’s feed to your reader. Now you are set to stay in touch with us and with other :simple:balance: readers.
Do you use a reader already? If so, how has it impacted your juggle?
First off, in the name of simplicity and finding balance in life, I promise that using an RSS reader will save you a LOT of time! Afterall, we barely have time to accomplish what we need to in the day… making time for things we want to do (like reading interesting blogs or websites) has to fit easily into our juggle in order to be feasible. Who has time to visit the websites they like everyday to check to see if there is something new posted? I used to maintain a list of bookmarks under my “Favorites” tab and scroll through them when I had time, checking to see what was new on each site. This took a LOT of time and, honestly, became something that I didn’t have time to do and so got dropped off my to-do list. I’m not a believer in spending all of my free time in front of a computer screen. But I do believe in the benefits of technology: staying in touch with other people, having a wealth of information at my fingertips when I need it, and having a tool to research and continue to learn about a variety of interesting topics. So while I don’t have time to surf the net for hours on end, I do want to stay connected. Enter RSS feeds and readers.
What does the terminology mean?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is basically a readable summary of the contents of a website. An RSS feed contains the contents of an individual website and is constantly updated as new things are posted to that site. A reader is the personalized tool you use to aggregate all of the updates, or feeds, from the websites you want - all in one convenient location.
How do I use a reader?
There are various options out there for readers, including Google reader, Blog Lines, NewsGator, and more. I suggest you check out several and choose one that best fits your needs. I personally use Google reader because it is so simple – already having a Google account allowed me to easily set up my reader. You will need to sign up and create a reader with whichever server you choose (usually just a couple of steps and very easy)… and then you are ready to go!
Once you have set up your reader, you can add feeds to it. An orange feed icon is typically used to indicate that feed subscription is available on a website. You may have seen these around the blogosphere and on other websites – clicking on the icon will subscribe you to that site’s RSS feed, and then you will start receiving those posts into your reader. You can also type a web address into your reader and it will automatically be added to your list of feeds. It really is that simple!YouTube has a great video tutorial (less than 5 minutes long) that shows you how to use Google reader.
Now what?
Now, you are set to stay in touch with your favorite websites without wasting huge amounts of time. No more searching through your favorites only to find that they don’t have anything new posted. You will now be automatically notified when something new is added and have it in your reader, ready for you to read when you have time.
This has been a huge time-saver for me. I have found that I am able to stay in touch with more sites than I ever would have been without my reader. And since the updates aggregate in my reader, I can get to them when I have time. That might be today, or might be next week – either way, the new information will be there waiting for me.
Here at :simple:balance:, we have made it easy for you to subscribe. Look to the right and find the header that says “Subscribe.” You’ll see that little orange icon there, and you can choose to subscribe to posts, all comments, or both. If you click on “Posts,” for example, a list will appear of some of the commonly used readers. Just choose the one that you are signed up with, click on it, and follow a couple of steps to add :simple:balance:’s feed to your reader. Now you are set to stay in touch with us and with other :simple:balance: readers.
Do you use a reader already? If so, how has it impacted your juggle?
If not, are you willing to give it a try?
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