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Save Time and Stay Organized with RSS

02 Jan 2008

2 Jan, 2008  tips

rss.pngDespite its simplicity and ease of use, there are a number of bloggers who haven’t yet embraced RSS. If you continue to visit your favorite blogs through bookmarks and blogrolls, it is time to consider making the move to Really Simple Syndication.

RSS is used to publish frequently updated web content such as blog entries. RSS documents, or feeds, can be read through aggregators (readers) such as Google Reader or Bloglines. These readers keep your favorite blogs neatly organized and even indicate which of them has new content for you to read. You can view new posts right in the reader without ever actually visiting the blogs. And if you feel compelled to comment, clicking the post title magically transports you to the blog.

It’s simple - really simple, in fact. Just choose your reader and look for the RSS icons on your favorite blogs. With a simple click, you can subscribe to the feed in your reader, or even through email. Don’t see an icon? No problem. You can find the feed by entering the URL directly into your reader.

I’ve tried several different readers, but my favorite is Google Reader. It is powerful, yet easy to use. It allows you to create folders to more easily organize your blogs. You can star items for future reference, and even share interesting articles with friends. Keeping up with my favorite blogs now takes a fraction of the time it took when I was manually visiting each blog.

To begin using Google Reader, just sign in to your Google account. If you don’t have one, create one and you’ll be well on your way. Upon signing in, you’ll see a link for Google Reader. If you have something against Google, you can register for Bloglines or any other reader.

When it comes to your own blog, make sure that the feed is easy to find. I’ve visited a number of blogs that have no RSS icons to be found. If you would like new readers to return, an icon should be prominently displayed on the page, preferably near the top. If you’re interested in seeing subscriber stats for your feed, I suggest burning a feed through Feedburner. Though the icon I have included in this post is the universally accepted icon for RSS, there are many others to choose from.

RSS will save you time, help keep you organized, and ensure that you never miss another post on your favorite blogs. Give it a try. Let it make your life easier.


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4 Responses

  1. Michael C. Neel

    2008 Jan 02 1

    Great post Tish! Using RSS is one of those things once you try, you wonder how you lived life without it. I want to add too that FireFox and IE (others I’m sure) will put the orange icon in the URL bar if they find a feed on the webpage. You can click this icon and the browser will help you add it to your reader of choice.

  2. Andrew

    2008 Jan 02 2

    Well said, Tish. Great overview of RSS and some solid tips and links too! I know you thought it was nothing at the time, but when I first started getting into blogging a bit I was so clueless and confused about RSS, until you pointed me to Google Reader and while simple as you said, your direct guidance got me hooked on RSS. Just like you said, I used to have a bookmarks folder full of my favorite blogs. Now it’s all organized nicely in Google Reader. Though I haven’t taken advantage of some of the other things you mentioned like starring items and forwarding to friends. I’ll have to tinker a bit.

    Also, one thing to add to your post, users can also subscribe to comments on a blog via RSS (if they’re enabled that is). So if someone’s looking to foster their own community a bit, they should certainly offer a comments rss link.

  3. Les Becker

    2008 Jan 02 3

    I have to say, much as I LOVE my RSS reader, it doesn’t keep me organized OR save me time - in fact, I think it does just the opposite. For example, this is the first chance I’ve had to repay your visit to Where the Walls are Soft - mostly cuz I’ve been trying to catch up on and sort through my RSS feeds. I can’t even seem to find time to post, now. AUGH! Granted, my brain seems to work, ummm… oddly. Yes, “oddly” is about the kindest word I can come up with.

    Les Becker’s last blog post..A Ruby Kind of Christmas

  4. Bush Mackel

    2008 Jan 02 4

    I tend to use Sage with a addon for FF. It works great and is like always 5 pixels away from where I am!

    Bush Mackel’s last blog post..Street Fighter IV Gameplay Exposed!


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