The basics of RSS feed for beginners.

A bit complicated you might think. It is not really mind blowing at all.

The current RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". As if anything in "geek", language is "simple". To start, we will ignore the RSS feed differences in browsers by using the "Bloglines.com" website. There, you jump right in and get the basics without a life preserver.

An RSS feed is simply a listing of sites you choose that gives current list of recent updates at those sites.

I have found the best and most simple way to learn of RSS, is to go to a site called "Bloglines.com". Register there.

No personal information and one verification email that you must answer and viola, you are registered. Back at the Bloglines RSS feed ranch, you will be given lists of possible feeds you would like in your "My feeds" list.

Rather than have all those choices splattered over my list, I simply went to the left hand side and chose "National Geographic" for myself. One to start with for learning, I feel is best but you can choose more.

Once chosen, "National Geographic" appeared on the left of the page under "My Feeds". Clicking the National Geographic feed, opened a page listing all of the new articles from which I could chose as reading material.

Now that you have joined "bloglines.com" and have a feed, let's add another. You do not have to choose feeds from the bloglines list. Let us practice by adding an RSS feed from "Helium.com".

Keeping the "bloglines" page itself open, open "Helium.com" in a new tab or window.

I found no "RSS feed" on the Helium home page. An uneducated guess forced me to look at the bottom of the "channels" list where I clicked "Other". Viola, there is a feed under the word "Other" toward the top left of the page. A small button that says, "RSS feed".

Right click on the RSS feed button. From the drop down menu, choose "Copy link location".

Go back to the bloglines page and (left) click on the "Add" button beneath the "My Feeds" tab.

In the "Blog or Feed URL" box, Right click to paste the RSS Feed link copied from Helium into the box.

Click "subscribe".

You will get an "Options" page. Check the box at the top that says "Helium", then click (toward the bottom of the page), the check box for "private".

Now, click the "subscribe" button once more.

The new "Helium" feed now appears under "My Feeds" to the left top of the page.

Click it. New articles from the heading "Other" will appear to the right of the page.

Clicking any of these articles will take you to the appropriate Helium page.

Different pages themselves will have their own feeds if you choose to use them. I would not fill the "My Feeds" section with them, as once you have gone to Helium itself, you can navigate pages as you would normally.

To the best of my knowledge, all browsers now have RSS feed' enablement and "feed readers". These vary in use (Firefox lists feeds under "Bookmarks">"Bookmarks toolbox folder").

"Feed readers" happen to be another necessity for the use of feeds. Do not sweat it. Read computer geeks 101 if you like, but it isnt necessary for the average J. Doe to have all this, oh how interesting, information.

"Bloglines.com", to the best of my knowledge, is set up with high quality components for feeds. I suggest using it to best learn the ins and outs of using feeds.

Now you are almost an RSS feed pro!

Learn more about this author, Duane Kuehn.
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