So you want to receive notifications when there’s a new article at How to Be an Original? That’s great! You have two options to subscribe: by receiving email notifications or by subscribing to the RSS-feed. I’ll go into some more detail as far as RSS is concerned, as it might needs some explanation for new users.
But if you want to subscribe by email, just leave your address in the box below and hit “Subscribe”. This will trigger a pop-up window, asking you to confirm. After this, you will receive an email asking to confirm your subscription (again). Just follow the instructions in that email and you’re all set to go!
So what is this RSS thing?
RSS is a technology that ‘broadcasts’ new content over the internet. With the right software (RSS readers) you can receive the signal and read the articles right there in the reader. So updates are delivered to you, instead of you checking in for updates…kind of cool huh?
RSS is used by millions of people around the world to keep track of their favorite websites. And there’s a myriad of free software packages (the RSS readers) to choose from.
How to use RSS
To use RSS you need to do two things:
- Choose your RSS reader (web-based/online or client-based/offline)
- Subscribe to the RSS feed
- Read the articles
That’s all there is to it!
Step 1: Choose your RSS reader
Now to get the first step done, you need to choose a RSS reader that suits your needs. The main choice you’re facing is if you want to read the articles online or offline. I prefer online, but there’s a bunch of people that prefer the opposite. Here’s a list of readers that are used often:
- Google Reader [online; free]
One of the most popular readers online. It has a very intuitive layout and nice options to categorize feeds. And keyboard shortcuts for more advanced feedreading. - Bloglines [online; free]
This was the standard reader before Google Reader was released. It still is a very solid and intuitive RSS reader with nice options. - Firefox Live Bookmarks [online; free]
In Firefox there’s the option ‘bookmark’ the RSS feed. This is called a Live Bookmark and Firefox gives you notices when there’s an update to any of the Live Bookmarks you have. - Microsoft Outlook 2007 [offline; paid]
Outlook shows new messages in your RSS folders. If you use Outlook, this might be a good solution for you. - Windows Live Mail [offline; free]
This free email client can also read RSS feeds. - Omea [offline; free]
A popular reader with a lot of additional features, definitely worth to take a look at. - FeedDemon [offline; paid]
Another popular, but not free, feed reader.
All you need to do is set-up an account, or install the client on your computer.
Step 2: Subscribe to the RSS feed
The next step is to subscribe to the RSS feed. This can be done in two ways, either by using the link on the site or by using the internet browser.
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Most websites with a RSS feed available use the standard icon (or an adapted version thereof) for RSS feeds. This is the orange icon pictured to the left. But if you look around, there are loads and loads of custom icons used on other sites.
If you can’t find the link on the site, there’s the option to subscribe using the browser. If you look in the address line of your browser, at the right end side you will find the orange icon again (when there’s a feed available). If you click on the icon, you will be able to subscribe to the feed too. In Firefox it looks like this:
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So try it out, here’s the link to my feed: RSS feed for How to Be an Original.
Step 3: Read the articles
Well there’s not a lot of explaining to do here. The feed reader will show you the new and unread articles. Click and read. But don’t forget to come back over to leave a comment every now and then!
Half the fun is in the comments after all!
