rss = wtf?
If the title of this post applies to you, keep reading. 
I was one of you.
A few years ago, everyone started blogging. It was primitive, usually personal to a level that I didn’t really care to spend time reading. Design was primitive as well. None of it was really very appealing. It seemed like a lot of technological hoodoo. I was almost completely disinterested.
Then information started trickling through to me that I was interested in. Blogs were becoming beautiful, full of information that I was eager to absorb. I would bookmark them, high on them, and then would never remember to go back.
This orange button started showing up on blogs that I would stumble across. “RSS…WTF is that?” Great, I had just started to get the hang of this and then I found that there was something else I knew nothing about. I googled articles on RSS and was still pretty much lost on what I was supposed to do with them.
WTF is RSS?
RSS is a simple string of information that your blog generates as a way to easily transmit your blog posts out into the internet. You can access this string through a URL. This is what mine looks like:
http://imaquirkybird.com/?feed=rss2
To follow a blog using an RSS feed, you have to sign up for a feed reader – then ’subscribe’ to the blog by saving the RSS link that the blog generated in your reader. The RSS reader will then be automatically alerted and updated with any new posts from that blog.
Reading Feeds
I started off with Google Feed Reader. If you use igoogle, this would be a good option for you – it will post your feeds on your igoogle home page. My problem with Google Feed Reader was that I couldn’t remember to check it. So, it was a bust for me.
A few months ago, I found Feedly – a Firefox plugin. If you don’t use Firefox as your browser, you should. It’s the A-number-1-must-have if you use the internet. Seriously, go right now and get it here: the best browser ever.
Feedly is cool because:
It’s easy to remember to read
I’m a bit of a mad scientist, remembering is not something that comes easily for me. So a top quality in a feed reader is something that’s a little in my face. With the feedly reader plug in, there is an adorable little green rss button next to my url bar. I see it a bazillion times a day. When I have free time, I click it and it takes me to my feedly dashboard.
It’s easy to save sites I want to follow
a) open feedly
b) click add source
c) paste url of feed into the field
d) save
There is also a mini toolbar on your pages that will save an article in your reader, post it to your twitter, or email it to someone with one click. Easy Sneazy.
It’s easy to read
Feedly uses a magazine style layout, so you can see all of your favorites one one page like one big blog. You can create categories for things like friends, living, cooking, etc. Many already exist with some blog suggestions to get you started, you can add/delete feeds as you like.
It’s user friendly
Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m a usability freak. If it doesn’t have an easy to use interface, I’m never going to use it. You’ll be happy to know I use feedly almost every day.
Did I mention it’s easy?
Because it is. Real easy. So easy I can do it – and I was an RSS resister.
I’m a believer
So having found a reader that works for me, I’m officially a believer. One of my favorite pastimes on my computer is reading through the variety of blogs I’ve found to help inspire me, educate me, and entertain me. It’s not as scary as you might think, you just have to have the understanding of what it is and how it works and a tool that helps you manage the feeds you want to read.
