What is RSS?

If you have no idea what RSS feeds are, you are not alone. Here is a quick tutorial:

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Find the icon that is usually a square with two curved lines over a circle (sometimes it’s jazzed up to different shapes and color). It usually looks like this:

RSS Feed

Click on it. Sometimes the icon is just by itself, but often it will say “Subscribe to RSS Feed.” You will see a drop down menu of “readers” you can choose to get your RSS feeds from. The reader list includes such choices as Google Reader and My Yahoo. Choose one and register. Then “Subscribe Now” to the RSS feeds you are interested in by clicking on the RSS icon and answering the questions. Your feeds will be listed and updated on the reader you chose. All you have to do is visit your reader regularly to view them.

Feed readers work a little like email. As you subscribe to feeds you’ll see that unread entries from the sites you’re tracking will be marked as bold. As you click on them you’ll see the latest update and can read it right there in the feed reader. You are given the option to click through to the actual site or move onto the next unread item – marking the last one as ‘read’.

*One trick to make visiting your reader convenient is by making your reader the page you open to when you open Firefox, Explorer, or whatever your browser is. To do this, just go to your browser, click “Tools” across top menu bar, click “Options,” click “General,” and read the URL of your reader page  in to the “Homepage” space. (Sign in to your reader and the “homepage” of your reader should be the URL for the page.) I, personally, usually use Firefox. I have my secondary browser, Explorer, with my Google Reader set as my homepage. That way when I  I open up Explorer, it pops right up. There may well be a better way, and I will let you know if I find one!–Carrie

PS-Here’s a post by super marketeer and blogger Seth Godin that might be helpful, too: “In Defense of RSS

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