Better Blogging: Get To Know RSS

oIf you're going to be a blogger, RSS is going to be your new BFF.

That's really simple syndication for RSS, and best friend forever- at least until the next great new syndication technology comes along.

In any case, as a new blogger, you're probably checking out websites and other blogs for new content. After all, you do need to draw inspiration from someplace, right? You'd like to see what other people are talking about, have your own perspective on things, and react to what other people have to say.

In the course of your meanderings through the internet, you would most definitely find a couple of sites that you would find more interesting than others- new favorites that you would usually then add up to your bookmarks.

Now it used to be that you would have to visit and re-visit your favorite bookmarked sites to get updates on new stuff they have posted up, right? And a lot of us actually still do that.

But if you have a LOT of favorite sites, and a LOT of stuff you want to keep tabs on, then keeping yourself updated can get a little tedious, done this way.

You might even miss an important update, and it can take you the whole day to check out all those sites- assuming of course, you even have the time to do all that checking!

RSS helps you out with that- it allows you to get updates from your favorite sites and blogs, as soon as they get updated. I'm sure RSS stands for something, but everyone seems to say it means "real simple syndication", which fortunately for us, works very well in our favor. Other sites would also use "rich site summary", or some other term.

In any case, it's a great boon for the internet community: you get these convenient little news feeds, and you can then 'subscribe' to these feeds from just about any site you fancy.

Today was actually the very first day I used RSS for my blogs (this one, in fact!), and from a beginner to another- this baby is going to change your life.


RSS 101: Getting To Know RSS.

Yes, you want to use RSS. RSS is the technology that allows a website to talk to another website- so your blog automatically posts the latest news updates as it comes, in the same way you get notifications on Facebook on your friends' updates, and allows you to embed music and video on your MySpace or Friendster.

RSS is what ushered in a new era for the internet- Web 2.0. This is the technology that allows people to share stuff they find online with friends and colleagues. Communities on the web exist because of RSS.

RSS files come in a text-based format, and these files- or feeds, as we call them- are usually labeled as an .XML file. In this RSS feed is all the important things you need to know from your favorite website- title/author, updates/comments, etc.

If you look at the URL window, you'll sometimes notice the small orange-and-white RSS logo on the extreme right of the window- such as in the case of my blog, for example. This means the website has an available RSS feed- and is therefore "syndicated". Other times, you'll see the RSS logo within the website- it's the same thing: it allows you to pick up an RSS feed for keeping track of the latest posts, comments, or whatever updates.


How To Use RSS

First things first: get an RSS Feed Reader. It works almost just like email (it's just like getting a bunch of newsletters everytime), and there are a few free web-based services readily available to you: Bloglines, Google Reader, My Yahoo and Live Bookmarks.

Personally, I go for Google Reader- it's free, easy-to-use, and it's almost a logical choice if you have a Gmail or Blogspot account. Yes, I have a Gmail account, and yes, I use a lot of Blogspot.
Anyway, you can use your same Gmail or Blogspot login/password to access Google Reader, just so you know. I might try out the others later on.

Whatever the RSS Feed Reader of your choice, you now have one singular page from which to scan all the updates to your favorite websites- and if something interests you, just click on the link, and it takes you there right away!

Alternately, you can also place RSS Feeds directly into your blog- which is what I do for my blogs. Whenever I see another blog or website that I like which deals in the same general subject as one of my blogs, I just plug it in.

In the case of Blogspot, it's a simple matter of adding a new page element from your layout dashboard. Look for the 'Feed' widget, enter the .XML file (the RSS feed), customize it a bit and you're good to go. Same goes for Wordpress- just add an RSS widget from the Presentation dashboard.

I suggest you go try it yourself and have fun with it. There's lots of great content online to keep track of, and RSS only makes it so much easier. If you're done going through your favorites in your own Bookmarks, you may also want to check out what others have been Bookmarking on Technorati, del.icio.us, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc. Hence, social bookmarking!

If you want to read more on RSS, you may want to visit this reference on RSS I found on Fagan Finder. Also lots of great stuff on ProBlogger and Wikipedia.

So have fun with RSS, everyone!

Cheers!