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melvbot · 20-12-2008, 11:15 AM

OK. Im not an expert on this by any means but Really Simple Syndication/Rich Site Summary ( RSS for short ) is a really handy but underused web feature that I hope more TD'ers will take advantage of if they already arent doing so.

You might have seen this before, the symbol thats used for RSS. Its usually orange but as you'll see in Firefox its blue, no idea why.

A simple way of explaining RSS would be "a way of delivering regularly changing content from websites" such as news sites like BBC, CNN along with blogs and a host of other types of sites that get updated regularly, including Teakdoor. It allows you to easily stay informed of updates to sites and save you time by not having to visit the sites individually to check whats new. The number of sites offering an RSS "feed" grows every day and includes all the big names like Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and loads more.

I'll start with the simplest way to use RSS which is using Firefox's built in feature called Live Bookmarks. It works by subscribing to the RSS feed, same as a physical newspaper where you subscribe and it gets delivered to your door. In this case its getting delivered to your computer.

If you look in the address bar and you see the RSS symbol, this means that a feed for that particular page is available. Each section of the site will have its own feed so the news pages have a feed, the sports pages have a feed and so on. It delivers the updates from that page or section of the site not necessarily the site as a whole.

Im using the BBC site for an example as its a news site which will have lots of new stories added over the course of a day

If you click on the blue button in the bar it should take you to a page like this with a button to subscribe to the feed. Select "Live Bookmarks" in the dropdown box if it isnt already done.

When you click the "Subscribe Now" button a pop up appears asking where you want to save the feed

Ive already created a folder for my RSS feeds in the bookmarks toolbar so Im saving it in there, duh. Choose where you want to save it and click the Subscribe button.

Each feed now has its own folder where all the updated info gets stored in bookmarks.

Because Ive subscribed to the front page it has delivered links to various headlines from the different sections, news, sport etc

Click on the story that grabs your attention and it take you to the relevant page

Thats it, as I said the feed gets updated automatically so the latest news, articles or info from whatever type of site you've subscribed to will get added automatically to the list of bookmarks.

CharleyFarley · 20-12-2008, 12:12 PM

Very well explained.

I never leave home without them.

klongmaster · 20-12-2008, 12:39 PM

good stuff Melv: thanks for taking the time with the piccies...

mac though?...

melvbot · 20-12-2008, 12:40 PM

yes. Is it different on Windows or something?

CharleyFarley · 20-12-2008, 12:44 PM

orange buttons, that's all.

melvbot · 20-12-2008, 12:46 PM

Same process though isnt it? Bloody hope so or that was a wasted hour or so.

klongmaster · 20-12-2008, 01:09 PM

just kidding Melv...you Mac types are always so sensitive...

melvbot · 20-12-2008, 01:13 PM

Careful, I might flounce and take my ball home.

CharleyFarley · 20-12-2008, 01:11 PM

I like that Juice thing you put up. Trouble with techie shit is people appreciate it, but don't post replies.

Keep it up

bobbysan124 · 22-12-2008, 10:44 PM

Thanks, Melvbot. Was never sure what RSS was all about. Now I am.

melvbot · 22-12-2008, 10:56 PM

It seems to baffle people for some reason (it did me for a bit) I had absolutely no interest in it for ages then it just made sense. I surf a lot of sites that get updated daily/hourly and it just clicked "use RSS" Oh yeah, that thing I keep meaning to look into using. There are programs that you can use as well to get the updated feeds, I'll cover them when Im not drunk.

melvbot · 23-12-2008, 07:13 PM

I was bored today so I faffed around making a screencast on using RSS in Firefox 3. You can hear my dulcet tones by clicking the links below, feel free to take the piss as I sound like a gimp after having a cough for the last 6 weeks.

YouTube - Firefox3 RSS

If you cant quite make out the buttons there a slightly higher quality version here

How To Use RSS and Live Bookmarks in Firefox 3 Video | Web Browsers Videos | Howcast.com

Might take longer to load though.

No idea why this Youtube vids showing as a link. Mods?

mancon · 28-12-2008, 06:23 PM

Thank you for the good tips Melv!

DaffyDuck · 28-12-2008, 11:33 PM

You do know Teakdoor provides an RSS feed, do you?

melvbot · 28-12-2008, 11:41 PM

Depends who youre talking to. If its me then yes, I do know Teakdoor has an RSS feed along with anyone who read the OP.

DaffyDuck · 29-12-2008, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvbot

Depends who youre talking to. If its me then yes, I do know Teakdoor has an RSS feed along with anyone who read the OP.

Except you didn't provide the URL for Teakdoor's feed.

Might have been kinda useful bit o' information

feed://teakdoor.com/external.php?type=RSS2

Grab it, whoever wants it.

melvbot · 29-12-2008, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaffyDuck

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvbot

Depends who youre talking to. If its me then yes, I do know Teakdoor has an RSS feed along with anyone who read the OP.

Except you didn't provide the URL for Teakdoor's feed.

Might have been kinda useful bit o' information

feed://teakdoor.com/external.php?type=RSS2

Grab it, whoever wants it.

Might have been useful to put that as an active link instead of plain text

feed://teakdoor.com/external.php?type=RSS2

baldrick · 29-12-2008, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvbot

feed://teakdoor.com/external.php?type=RSS2

that link asks me for a beef sandwich ???

The Fresh Prince · 29-12-2008, 12:43 PM

Cheers melv, I'm now an RSS user.

The Fresh Prince · 29-12-2008, 01:23 PM

Quick question melvbot. I've got my rss drop down in my toolbar and i'm subscibed to Teakdoor. Are the topic in the folder going to update them selves coz they seem a bit static at the moment. I know there's not a lot going on around the board at the moment but they havn't moved at all.

20-12-2008, 11:15 AM	#1 (permalink)
melvbot Gadgetologist Last Online: Today 04:40 AM Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Yoo K Posts: 5,341	How to use RSS OK. Im not an expert on this by any means but Really Simple Syndication/Rich Site Summary ( RSS for short ) is a really handy but underused web feature that I hope more TD'ers will take advantage of if they already arent doing so. You might have seen this before, the symbol thats used for RSS. Its usually orange but as you'll see in Firefox its blue, no idea why. A simple way of explaining RSS would be "a way of delivering regularly changing content from websites" such as news sites like BBC, CNN along with blogs and a host of other types of sites that get updated regularly, including Teakdoor. It allows you to easily stay informed of updates to sites and save you time by not having to visit the sites individually to check whats new. The number of sites offering an RSS "feed" grows every day and includes all the big names like Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and loads more. I'll start with the simplest way to use RSS which is using Firefox's built in feature called Live Bookmarks. It works by subscribing to the RSS feed, same as a physical newspaper where you subscribe and it gets delivered to your door. In this case its getting delivered to your computer. If you look in the address bar and you see the RSS symbol, this means that a feed for that particular page is available. Each section of the site will have its own feed so the news pages have a feed, the sports pages have a feed and so on. It delivers the updates from that page or section of the site not necessarily the site as a whole. Im using the BBC site for an example as its a news site which will have lots of new stories added over the course of a day If you click on the blue button in the bar it should take you to a page like this with a button to subscribe to the feed. Select "Live Bookmarks" in the dropdown box if it isnt already done. When you click the "Subscribe Now" button a pop up appears asking where you want to save the feed Ive already created a folder for my RSS feeds in the bookmarks toolbar so Im saving it in there, duh. Choose where you want to save it and click the Subscribe button. Each feed now has its own folder where all the updated info gets stored in bookmarks. Because Ive subscribed to the front page it has delivered links to various headlines from the different sections, news, sport etc Click on the story that grabs your attention and it take you to the relevant page Thats it, as I said the feed gets updated automatically so the latest news, articles or info from whatever type of site you've subscribed to will get added automatically to the list of bookmarks.

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20-12-2008, 12:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
CharleyFarley Tiger Bay Last Online: Today 11:25 AM Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: aberthin Posts: 1,511	Very well explained. I never leave home without them.

20-12-2008, 12:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
klongmaster Thailand Forum Last Online: Today 10:22 AM Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Nonthaburi Posts: 3,842	good stuff Melv: thanks for taking the time with the piccies... mac though?...

20-12-2008, 12:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
melvbot Gadgetologist Last Online: Today 04:40 AM Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Yoo K Posts: 5,341	yes. Is it different on Windows or something?

20-12-2008, 12:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
CharleyFarley Tiger Bay Last Online: Today 11:25 AM Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: aberthin Posts: 1,511	orange buttons, that's all.

20-12-2008, 12:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
melvbot Gadgetologist Last Online: Today 04:40 AM Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Yoo K Posts: 5,341	Same process though isnt it? Bloody hope so or that was a wasted hour or so.

20-12-2008, 01:09 PM	#7 (permalink)
klongmaster Thailand Forum Last Online: Today 10:22 AM Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Nonthaburi Posts: 3,842	just kidding Melv...you Mac types are always so sensitive...

20-12-2008, 01:13 PM	#8 (permalink)
melvbot Gadgetologist Last Online: Today 04:40 AM Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Yoo K Posts: 5,341	Careful, I might flounce and take my ball home.

20-12-2008, 01:11 PM	#9 (permalink)
CharleyFarley Tiger Bay Last Online: Today 11:25 AM Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: aberthin Posts: 1,511	I like that Juice thing you put up. Trouble with techie shit is people appreciate it, but don't post replies. Keep it up

22-12-2008, 10:44 PM	#10 (permalink)
bobbysan124 Krabi Last Online: 11-11-2009 01:32 AM Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Atlanta Posts: 62	Thanks, Melvbot. Was never sure what RSS was all about. Now I am.

22-12-2008, 10:56 PM	#11 (permalink)
melvbot Gadgetologist Last Online: Today 04:40 AM Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Yoo K Posts: 5,341	It seems to baffle people for some reason (it did me for a bit) I had absolutely no interest in it for ages then it just made sense. I surf a lot of sites that get updated daily/hourly and it just clicked "use RSS" Oh yeah, that thing I keep meaning to look into using. There are programs that you can use as well to get the updated feeds, I'll cover them when Im not drunk.

28-12-2008, 06:23 PM	#13 (permalink)
mancon Patong Beach Last Online: 28-12-2008 06:39 PM Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 24	Thank you for the good tips Melv!

28-12-2008, 11:33 PM	#14 (permalink)
DaffyDuck Fluff & Fold Last Online: 20-11-2009 02:01 PM Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,443	You do know Teakdoor provides an RSS feed, do you?

28-12-2008, 11:41 PM	#15 (permalink)
melvbot Gadgetologist Last Online: Today 04:40 AM Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Yoo K Posts: 5,341	Depends who youre talking to. If its me then yes, I do know Teakdoor has an RSS feed along with anyone who read the OP.

29-12-2008, 12:43 PM	#19 (permalink)
The Fresh Prince Sprayed On Member Last Online: Yesterday 05:02 PM Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Not in the willage Posts: 4,668	Cheers melv, I'm now an RSS user.

29-12-2008, 01:23 PM	#20 (permalink)
The Fresh Prince Sprayed On Member Last Online: Yesterday 05:02 PM Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Not in the willage Posts: 4,668	Quick question melvbot. I've got my rss drop down in my toolbar and i'm subscibed to Teakdoor. Are the topic in the folder going to update them selves coz they seem a bit static at the moment. I know there's not a lot going on around the board at the moment but they havn't moved at all.

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