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Week 6 - RSS Feeds

Thing 22: Learn about RSS and set up your own RSS reader

We all have our favorite Web sites, right? We've bookmarked them and visit each of them every day to read the latest content posted there.

Wouldn't it be great if there were a way to gather all of the great content from all of our favorite sites in one place? If we could get everything we want on the Internet by visiting just one site?

We can, thanks to RSS.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's a technology that delivers all of your favorite Internet content straight to you, and it eliminates the need for you to visit each site manually whenever you want to see what's going on. If you've ever seen either of the images on the right, you've encountered RSS on the Web. Those are the universally accepted symbols for RSS, and whenever you see them, you know the content you are reading is available via RSS.

I could spend all day trying to explain RSS to you, but this YouTube video, entitled "RSS in Plain English," does a better job than I ever could. Take a look:

Really simple, right?

So what are we waiting for? Let's start exploring RSS for ourselves.

Thing 21 assignment: Get an RSS reader
An RSS reader is a piece of software that makes everything work. There are a ton of readers out there, and most of them are free. Some of the most popular ones are Google Reader, Feedreader, Feedly (that's the one I use) and Bloglines. If you have a "My Yahoo" account, you already have an RSS reader; My Yahoo is basically one big RSS reader.

For the sake of this exercise, we are going to use Bloglines. If you are more comfortable using a different reader, feel free.

Here's how to set up your Bloglines reader:

1. Visit www.Bloglines.com. Click on "Sign up now. It's free!" in the middle of the home page. (View a screenshot.)
2. Create your account by providing the requested information. (View a screenshot.)

That's it! You now have your very own RSS reader. In Thing 22, we will start setting up some RSS feeds in our new reader and see RSS in action.

More RSS resources
If you're interested in discovering more about RSS and what it can do, check out the following resources:

• CNET video: "RSS: Feel the Need for Feeds" (3:32): This is a good overview of what RSS is and the benefits to users.
• Using Bloglines tutorial (how to keep up with dozens of blogs every day): This online tutorial walks you through how to set up a Bloglines account and add newsfeeds. Follow Steps 1 to 3 to set up your Bloglines account. Steps 4–9 are optional and cover how to subscribe to different types of feeds (podcasts, Flickr albums, etc.)
• Adding RSS feeds to Bloglines: A short YouTube video created by Helene Blowers of thePublic Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
• Your co-workers: Tap into their knowledge or work through your discovery process together.

Thing 23: Add some feeds to your RSS reader

Now that we've set up our own RSS readers, it's time to pull in some of our favorite content. We'll start by setting up feeds for Google News, the online new aggregator.

Step 1: Subscribe to Google News' RSS feed
Here's how:

1. Visit Google News.
2. Right click on the orange RSS box on the left-hand part of the blog (under the "Top Stories" navigation). Choose "Copy Link Location"
3. Go to www.Bloglines.com and login.
4. Click on the link that reads "Add" on the left-hand part of the site. (View a screenshot.)
5. Paste the Web address that you copied into the box labeled "Blog or feed URL" and click on "Subscribe." (View a screenshot.)
6. Create a new folder called "News" That will keep all of the news content organized neatly in your RSS reader.

That's it! On the left-hand side of your Bloglines page, you should see an entry for News (above "Additional Features". The latest Google News posts will be featured in this entry.

Plus, here's the great thing: Whenever any new content is added to the blog, it will be automatically delivered to your Bloglines reader!

Step 2: Subscribe to a podcast's RSS feed
Now, create an entry for podcasts. We'll be adding the free podcast of "This American Life", the popular NPR show.

1. Visit the podcast's Web page.
2. Copy the specified URL (http://feeds.thisamericanlife.org/talpodcast) and create a new feed with it in your Bloglines reader, using the same procedure as the one above.

Step 3: Add some of your other favorite feeds
Visit some of your favorite Web sites and look for RSS feeds. Find content that interests you and add those RSS feeds to your Bloglines reader.

Once you've done so, you will have a collection of all of your favorite Internet content in one place. To read all of this great content, all you have to do is log into your Bloglines account.

Thing 24: Blog about RSS

Now that you've played around a little bit with RSS feeds, tell us what you think. Go back to your personal blog and create a post that examines RSS and its potential.

1. What do you like and dislike about RSS feeds?
2. Try to think of some ways in which your organization can use these feeds to benefit our members.
3. If you've used RSS feeds in the past, what are some of the creative ways in which you have used them?