RSS Explained, In Very Plain English

Published

michael lee

on 24 April 2007

in The Intra-Web-O-Sphere!, geek and technology

. Tags: geek, technology, The-Intra-Web-O-Sphere!.

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I’ve tried to explain RSS newsreaders before, but these guys do a much better job than I ever could.

15 Responses to “RSS Explained, In Very Plain English”

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1 1 Sharolyn
24 April 2007 at 2:13 pm

OOOOOOOOooooohhhhhh.
2 2 Karen
24 April 2007 at 2:19 pm

Very helpful. Thank you!
3 3 Gretchen
24 April 2007 at 2:26 pm

sweet. I totally followed that. Slow way, bad. New way, good.
4 4 Sharolyn
24 April 2007 at 4:39 pm

As someone who does not use a reader, I am wondering how often it is updated. As often as the blog site?

The humming at the beginning is nice, but I’m thinking something along the lines of “Production Techniques” is in order.
5 5 lorijo
24 April 2007 at 5:11 pm

that was AAAAmazing.
6 6 michael lee
24 April 2007 at 5:26 pm

[quote comment="77683"]As someone who does not use a reader, I am wondering how often it is updated. As often as the blog site?[/quote]

The RSS reader usually updates on a set time schedule. For example, every hour or so it checks all of your feeds for any new content.
7 7 Scott
25 April 2007 at 2:07 am

Let the record show that I’ve been toying with the idea of using a Reader for a while, and the video finally put me over the edge. Though it definitely could use a little “Production Techniques” magic. Good call, Sharolyn.

Congratulations Michael, you have a new convert.
8 8 June
25 April 2007 at 8:19 am

My one and only beef with RSS has been and remains: no pretty pictures and lovely layout! I can’t live without pretty pictures and lovely layout.
9 9 corey
25 April 2007 at 11:29 am

June- I’m with you. I still need the visuals to be happy. BUT, it beats checking in every 20-30 minutes to see if soemthing new has happened…

So, Mike, can you suggest a good reader that lets me monitor 5-10 sites at one glance?
10 10 Gloria
26 April 2007 at 6:47 am

Wow, you made the 53 yr old
grannie in Bakersfield a
little smarter today!!!
LOL
11 11 michael lee
26 April 2007 at 8:14 am

[quote comment="77997"]
So, Mike, can you suggest a good reader that lets me monitor 5-10 sites at one glance?[/quote]

Google’s news reader is pretty good, and free (as in beer), so that makes it a pretty good choice.

I use an app called NetNewsWire, which is now owned by Newsgator. Newsgator has a free online RSS reader, which will automatically sync with NNW. NNW will also install on multiple computers, and it will sync with itself. That means that if I read a news article anywhere, on any computer or on the online webpage, it will be marked as read everywhere.
12 12 corey
26 April 2007 at 7:56 pm

okay, so I grabbed NNW and like it so far. Is there any way to keep up with comments as wel or just new posts? Thanks for the hand-holding, BTW.
13 13 aly hawkins
26 April 2007 at 8:21 pm

[quote comment="78381"]okay, so I grabbed NNW and like it so far. Is there any way to keep up with comments as wel or just new posts? Thanks for the hand-holding, BTW.[/quote]

Oo, oo…pick me! I got this one, Mike.

Many blogs have a feed for comments that is separate from the post feed, which means that you have to subscribe separately.

My helpful knowledge ends here — I don’t know if the Roadhouse offers such an animal. Damn. I felt so awesome for like five seconds.
14 14 michael lee
26 April 2007 at 8:52 pm

We do in fact have such a feed, but we keep it very well hidden. If you scroll down the very bottom of the page, you’ll see a link that says “RSS Comments”

For those who can’t be bothered to scroll down that far, I’ll post it here, only a very little bit higher up.

http://addisonrd.com/WordPress/comments/feed/
15 15 corey
26 April 2007 at 9:42 pm

ah, yes. Indeed. mmm-hmmm. just like that. Perfect. And now it purrs like the Camaro I always wanted.