Thread: 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.

Very well explained.

I never leave home without them.

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

mac though?...

yes. Is it different on Windows or something?

orange buttons, that's all.

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

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

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

Keep it up

Careful, I might flounce and take my ball home.

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

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.

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.



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?

Thank you for the good tips Melv!

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

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.

Originally Posted by DaffyDuck

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

Originally Posted by melvbot

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

that link asks me for a beef sandwich ???

Cheers melv, I'm now an RSS user.

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.

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

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.

Its set to refresh by default at 1 hour. I'll post a way of changing it later, Im a bit ill so it might take me til tomorrow. I feel rough

Cheers, there's no rush.

Heres a link to the Mozilla page on refreshing Live Bookmarks.

Reloading Live Bookmarks

It does involve using the "about:config" setup so read it carefully and follow the instructions to the word and you shouldnt have any problems.

Ive got to come clean, I dont actually use Live Bookmarks as I use an RSS reader and I wasnt aware of how basic it was and the problems with the refresh rate. I'll go into other ways of using RSS later.

If you decide to use the about:config this is the text you need to enter for the new integer

browser.bookmarks.livemark_refresh_seconds

On the Mozilla page its got a full stop at the end which you dont need.

Cheers

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Cheers

If you want a license to this RSS reader (Mac OSX Leopard)

Doseido Software ~ Delicious Apps for Mac & iPhone

PM me