Table Of Contents
1Introduction
2Is RSS Useful For Me?
3How Do I Use an RSS Feed?
Introduction
Three simple words can change your consumption of information,forever.
How, you ask?
With it you might read every article offered by a particular blog, for example.
The 2.0 version of RSS remains the latest and most popular variant.
Lets go over all three.
Feeds provide the user with access to published content on the web.
The differences between RSS and a traditional newspaper lie in thetimeliness,formatandaccessibility.
RSS feed subscriptions are close to instantaneous, whereas your newspaper arrives sometime after your paperboy wakes up.
Readers are the second objectrequired for RSS consumption.
A reader specializes in opening and turning an RSS feed into text and images.
Many kinds of readers exist, both on mobile devices and the desktop.
Some readers operate entirely in your online window.
For example, one could mark an article as read and its status would be saved to the cloud.
Fortunately, a vast number of readers exist on desktops, mobile devices and in the web app.
Skip to the third chapter for more information on the reader software available, on all operating systems.
The third core component is thewebsites providing feeds.
Even when a site doesnt; other sites, such as Page2RSS, can create one for you.
More on all that later.
Websites provide the content in the form of RSS feeds and readers provide a means of accessing this content.
For more information on the kinds of websites that support RSS, skip to chapter 4.
RSSs flexibility relates to the nature of its design.
Like email, RSS offers a core technology, around which other inventions revolve.
RSS simply offers users an efficient means of acquiring raw information from almost any website on the Internet.
It does so by allowing content creators to syndicate content automatically.
In fact, most users still check websites daily aterriblewaste of time!
RSS automates this, notifying you every time new content is published on your favorite sites.
RSS, like e-mail,offers users an open formatfor information proliferation.
However, by itself, RSS appears as an incomprehensible jumble of code.
It doesnt show its true capabilities until used in combination with software specially designed to exploit it.
Like email, RSS usage depends heavily on the users preferences.
Fortunately, RSS provides an alternative.
RSS is bound only by your imagination.
1.4 What Kind of RSS Feeds Exist?
However, functionally no difference between the two formats exists and most sites offer an RSS 2.0 feed.
Additionally, many RSS readers can also function as Atom readers, which simplifies compatibility.
On the other hand, a formidable competitor has emerged: Atom.
The third portion covers how to use and operate an RSS feed within a reader.
The fifth chapter covers some methods that you could use to bypass problems in obtaining an RSS feed.
The sixth chapter touches on advanced ways of getting the most out of your feeds.
In the seventh chapter I provide additional references and links regarding RSS.
Chapter eight covers additional reading that might interest those learning about RSS.
Is RSS Useful For Me?
So, could you benefit from RSS?
Odds are, yes.
To demonstrate, Ive outlined the many uses people from all walks of life could find for RSS.
The more specialized that field, the more likely that the information publishes infrequently and without notification.
On the other hand, using RSS can both sort and parse journal feeds.
Ultimately, whether or not you benefit from RSS depends on using the appropriate methods in processing feeds.
The biggest barrier to his productivity is the constant inbox overflow because of the various medical subscriptions.
Another irritant is the difficulty with which he searched through emails for particular medical concerns.
However, he might also benefit from using an offline desktop reader.
Dzuong Bob Nguyen works as an engineer, creating medical devices.
He uses both mobile devices and the desktop to read up on his interests.
However, Bob prefers to avoid mailing lists.
Fortunately, his top three sites all offer detailed RSS feeds.
Another fantastic feature is its ability to keep abreast of information on the governments policies toward unemployment.
Virtually all job-finding websites use RSS feeds.
In particular,Monster.com includes an RSS feed.
Most US state websites offer not just updates via social media, but also through RSS.
Toward the end of 2012 unemployment benefits were set to expire unless the US Congress reached a budget deal.
Fortunately, Republicans and Democrats pinched out a deal in the final moments of 2012.
Yahoo Pipes can actually bundle together a huge number of job-searching websites into a Pipe.
These sorted RSS feeds can be contextually searched for a particular key term.
Thats fine for a small number of feeds, but large numbers of sources require a strategy for consumption.
Fortunately, many readers also support means of clustering similar fields into folders.
Folders can be renamed and reprioritized.
My folders include all the various subjects that Im interested in, divided by priority and subject.
To create a folder in Feedly, select theOrganizelink in the left pane in the main Feedly window.
Next, drag and drop RSS links into theNEW CATEGORYbox, at the bottom of the page.
To rename a folder, move the mouse pointer over the category/folder.
Then hit the pen icon.
Next, he might include geology in a folder labeled B1 Geology.
It would show up second.
With the right strategy for organization, students can benefit substantially from RSS feeds.
2.4 Utility to the Casual User
RSS consumption doesnt need to be all business or productivity oriented.
It can also provide a leisurely reading experience similar to Blender or Vogueas coffee table decoration.
Google Currents provides one of the best examples of a visually appealing reader with an elegant interface.
Two other examples of extremely well-polished readers would beFlipboardand Taptu.
For example, theNew York TimesandCNNoffers not one, but dozens of customized RSS feeds.
All NYT publications include an RSS feed.
The same is true for almost all major news websites.
2.6 Special Interest
RSSs true power lies in niche interests.
Conversely, most general-interest news sites also offer feeds broken down by the section.
For example,CNN offers a feedincluding all its publications as well as specialized feeds for particular sub interests.
Virtually all major news sites offer RSS feeds for all its subsections.
Then punch the X next to the RSS feed that you would like to remove.
Personally, I use folders to separate more productive feeds from less productive ones.
If a feed is particularly important, it receives the folder A1.
If its a technology related feed, it receives the label A1 Technology.
This ensures that the folder shows up first in the alphabetized feed list in Feedly.
How Do I Use an RSS Feed?
Aside from the reader, you will also need the individual RSS feeds from the websites that you follow.
Then find the RSS link from the website.
Typically, your reader client will include some means of accepting the RSS feed.
Finding the feed for any website, be it a private blog or commercial website, isnt hard.
If you cant find the RSS link, try visiting theFeedBurner website.
FeedBurner will then generate the needed RSS links.
Another handy tool isRSS connection, which includes a vast database of RSS Feeds.
Invariably, this method almost always will lead you in the right direction.
Finding the right RSS reader for your tastes depends on your needs.
Some apps can handle both offline and mobile feed fetching, however.
These require creating an account and, like most RSS readers, they sync with your reader account.
Out of the web app-based readers, I prefer Feedly because of its mobile app and desktop interface.
However if you dislike Feedly, NewsBlur and FeedBooster offer solid alternatives.
Feedly is one of the best RSS readers out there.
It offers amazing cross-platform compatibility and outstanding functionality, including mobile apps and internet tool extensions.
MakeUseOf has covered some of Feedlys new features as well as some tips on how-to optimize your reading experience.
NewsBluralso supports the iPad, iPhone and Android interfaces.
It appears similar to Google Reader in both function and form.
FeedBooster appears to offer the most features out of all the Google Reader replacements.
Its currently in beta.
Theres a vast amount of open-source and free RSS readers available.
FeedDemonremains one of the most popular desktop clients for reading RSS.
It is easily one of the best desktop alternatives, although lacking in visual polish.
FeedReaderreceived very good reviews as one of the better replacements for Google Reader.
RSSOwloffers one of the most feature rich offline RSS experiences, along with Google Reader integration.
Instead, I present only three for the major mobile operating systems.
Feedlys mobile app, onAndroidandiOS, is powerful and aesthetically pleasing.
Its also totally free.
The alternative would be using one of the web app-based readers.
Nancy Messiahwrote about how effective this method isfor keeping track of social media websites.
Simply go to thenotifications pageand copy the Facebook pages URL and paste it into your reader.
Nancy elaborates onhow to do this in her article.
You may notice that the particular feed pop in for Twitter is not RSS, but Atom.
Dont worry: theyre cross-compatible formats.
Nancy elaborates onhow to use RSS feeds for Twitter here.
Wikipedia has perhaps the most in-depth RSS and Atom integration out of all the major websites on the Internet.
In particular it offers the ability to monitor particular Wikipedia pages for changes.
Check out theWikipedia RSS feed page here.
Their website supports RSS for both auctions and discussion groups.
you could turn that search into an RSS feed.
Amazon keeps a variety of tagged RSS feeds for particular products.
The URL will then show every single sci-fi related product as it is listed on Amazon.
you might find adirectory of Amazons RSS feeds here.
you’re able to then copy and paste the modified URL into any feed reader.
Craigslist provides a function that eBay doesnt, however.
It can also aid individuals seeking employment.
Simply search for the relevant key term and add index.rss to the end of the search results.
Simply copy and paste from a Bing search and add &format=rss to the end of the URL.
Essentially, to generate an RSS for Google, you must use Google Alerts.
Simply navigate toGoogle Alerts, input your search criteria, and output as an RSS.
The deal-hunting site, SlickDeals, offers a large number of RSS feeds linking directly to forum discussion.
Some forum topics cover particular broad categories of deals, such as on electronics.
Other feeds cover more specific subject material, such as price mistakes or particularly hot deals.
FatWallet offers similar feedsto SlickDeals.
Among my favorite FatWallet feeds are its hot deals.
4.6 Reddit Integration
Every possible Reddit page also includes an RSS feed.
However, many readers actually support directly inserting Reddit links without the .RSS appendage.
However, not every site will overtly offer an RSS feed.
Fortunately, some sites allow you monitor site updates using online window extensions and web services.
Update Scanneris a Firefox extension that allows you to monitor any webpage for updates.
This is particularly useful for older sites that havent caught onto RSS feed technology.
ChangeDetection.comallows the user to automatically monitor a website for any changes made.
The service actually makes a distinction between changed and unchanged text, displaying both together for comparison.
For keeping track of website changes when RSS is unavailable, ChangeDetection is an excellent service.
Page2RSSis web app that will convert any website into an RSS feed.
To use Page2RSS, simply cut and paste the URL of the webpage that you would like to monitor.
Page2RSS will output an RSS feed, which you’re able to plug into your reader.
For more information: The MakeUseOf Answers sectiondiscussed several other methods of dealing with absent RSS feeds.
As Ive mentioned earlier, everyone with a Blogger or Wordpress account already has an associated RSS feed.
To reach it, simply append /RSS to the end of your websites URL.
you’re able to then plug it into your favorite RSS reader.
However, Pipes most basic functions only require brief description and explanation.
The three most useful functions are: Feed aggregation, keyword filtering and preassembled Pipes.
Heres an excellent article coveringthe basics on assembling your very own Pipe.
Pipes can also filter RSS streams for particular keywords.
Pipes would then only give you results relevant to that particular term.
Yahoo allows its users to share preassembled Pipes.
These run a gamut of varying forms and functions.
For example, one Pipe gives users the ability to search through allavailable job listingswithin a specific zip code.
Another Pipe allows users to search through deal-hunting websites for particular items.
The Pipes database is quite extensive and I highly suggest browsing through it for ideas.
6.2 IFTTT Integration
One could write a full-length novel about the various ways thatIFTTT integrates with RSS.
Essentially, IFTTT is a web automation system revolving around triggers.
A trigger causes the service to activate.
This can keep you current on sales, new product releases and more.
The following sections list of some of my favorite IFTTT recipes.
Some of the better recipes for Amazon includeemail notificationwhenever a Top Free MP3 Album reaches the Amazon feed.
One great recipesends you email notificationswhenever a new book is added to the Top 100 Free eBooks list.
Another greatIFTTT recipe scans Amazons Gold Box Deals and notifies its user via emailwhen updates occur.
Ever want to get the best price on a locally sold item?
Fortunately, IFTTT offersCraigslist integration with email notifications.
Whenever the thing youre looking for shows up on Craigslist, you will receive instant notification.
Another task IFTTT with RSS excels at is deal-hunting.
A variety of IFTTT recipes integrate with RSS feeds from social media sites.
These recipessend you instant notifications whenever a bargain-related keyword shows up on social media sites.
One of its best recipestransports articles from Feedly to the outstanding read-it-laterservice,Pocket.
Another amazing recipe is its integration withEvernote, which automaticallyturns saved articles from Feedly into Evernote notes.
View a complete list ofIFTTT recipes for Feedly.
Distill Web Monitor is a Firefox and Chrome web app extension that monitors portions of a website for changes.
Whenever new material publishes, Distill shoots off a notification to your inbox.
6.4 FeedBurner
FeedBurner provides the backbone for many web publishing feeds.
you’re able to find many sites RSS feeds by going to theFeedBurnersite and inputting its URL.
This is one of the best methods of finding hard-to-locate RSS links.
Fortunately, a variety of services exist that can turn a shortened RSS feed into a full-text version.
These services essentially copy text and images from the main site and reconstruct a full article in your reader.
Readability [Broken URL Removed] optimizes the appearance of web pages for smartphones and other limited-screen-size readers.
Its primary function saves articles from your desktop for consumption later.
Five Filters simply converts any RSS feed to full-text.
However, it doesnt offer the filtering characteristics of other services.
6.6 Folders
Some RSS readers, but not all, support the use of folders.
As mentioned in chapters 2 and 3, folders provide powerful organizational support for sorting your RSS feeds.
Most major RSS readers support folders, including Feedly.
6.7 Hot Keys
Another handy feature is hotkeys.
By pressing the key combination of CTRL-A, you will mark all articles in a particular folder as read.
This is particularly useful for low-utility feeds, with high amounts of published content.
MakeUseOf published acheat sheet for Google Readerwhich possesses broad applicability amongst the majority of RSS readers.
For the most part, these are universal hotkeys.
Using hotkeys will greatly improve your data processing efficiency.
Its removal was a dark day, indeed.
Next, check the “Must Read” box before hitting the “Add” button.
Conclusion
7.1 In Summary
RSS truly is the best way to consume online content efficiently.
RSS represents the future of newspapers one might say its the 2.0 version.
No longer does a single service dominate the marketplace.
However, its worth noting that two companies appear to be making waves in the RSS world.
Diggs upcoming service will likely attempt to resurrect Google Readers much loved share feature.
I am, however, confident that Digg will create something worth using.
For many of its users, Feedly functions as one of the best Google Reader replacements.
Feedly allows full importation of your feeds and folders from Googles service.
And, with some minor controls modifications, the service offers a seamless transition.
Feedlys new feature make it a killer RSS reader service.
you’re able to read the original documenthere, on his blog.
The best source for Yahoo Pipes tutorials is Dawn M. Fosters blog,FastWonderBlog.com.
However, the tutorials are located on iTunes.
Image Credits
1.1Justin Biebervia Brad Camembert from Shutterstock.com.
Kannon is a freelance writer for MakeUseOf.com and RSS enthusiast.
it’s possible for you to check him out onTwitter.
#SWAG
Guide Published: June 2013
