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Tutorial: RSS Feeds

April 26, 2008

What is RSS and what can it do for my MosaicGlobe site?

Depending on who you ask, RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" or "Remote Site Syndication". It is a format for delivering site content without actually visiting a site. Like a magazine subscription, you will be sent content. But instead of monthly, you'll receive an update each time the site is updated.

How do I find and subscribe to an RSS feed?
First you need a Feed Reader. You may want to try a stand alone feed reader for different approaches and features. Web-based readers are a good place to start. Google Reader and Bloglines are both free and work a little like an email client. At the end of this article I'll list a few other free resources.

However, the easiest way to access RSS feeds may be through your own browser. Most current browsers will tell you when you are on a page that has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to.

Internet Explorer 7.0: Click the 'feed icon' (The little orange icon - ex. above right) that appears towards the right of the Browser. Clicking on the subscribe now button will allow you to subscribe to the feed by putting the link in the Feeds section of your favorites.

Firefox: Click the 'feed icon' (The little orange icon) that appears to the right of the URL. Clicking on the subscribe now button will allow you to bookmark the feed.

Safari (Mac): the words RSS appear in a blue box to the right of the URL. Click on that link and select "Subscribe in Mail" to receive updates via Mac Mail.

The best way to learn how to use RSS is to start subscribing to some feeds!

What are the benefits of RSS?
RSS allows you to quickly go through the content of sites you enjoy but don't have the time to visit daily.

For site publishers (you): Your subscription based content is immediately delivered directly to your subscriber in a format that doesn't get lost in a crowded email inbox or get mistakenly marked as spam.

That's right, your fans can subscribe to their favorite sections of your MosaicGlobe site and they will be notified when you post an item to your blog or add a new image to a gallery.

Encourage your visitors to subscribe to the pages content and give the the link to do so. Where's that link again? Look for the link in the browsers URL window. Click on it and copy the address. For example the RSS Feed for this blog is: http://www.mosaicglobe.com/journal/rss/688

Subscribe to the page to be notified of new articles. While your at it, subscribe to the user forums to see what other members at chatting about.

MosaicGlobe's User Forums (RSS Feeds)
Announcements & Bug Reports http://www.mosaicglobe.com/forum/rss/1
Feature Requests http://www.mosaicglobe.com/forum/rss/3
Create - Using MosaicGlobe http://www.mosaicglobe.com/forum/rss/4
Showcase - Tell us about yourself http://www.mosaicglobe.com/forum/rss/5
Develop - advanced functionality http://www.mosaicglobe.com/forum/rss/6

RSS Feed Reader Resources
There are many newsreader applications with a wide variety of features.
Here are some popular Free RSS readers:

FeedDemon (Windows 98+)
NetNewsWire (Mac OS X) - Free
FeedReader (Windows 2000/2003/Vista/XP) - Free

Do You Have Additional RSS Tips or Readers To Share?