NOT a Guru!
Keeping it simple, without the hype. PC tips and Internet advice for mom and pop businesses.
Keeping it simple, without the hype. PC tips and Internet advice for mom and pop businesses.
Every once in awhile, you might stumble across a blog (maybe like this one) that you’d like to follow. You might bookmark the page, but life gets busy and you forget to visit your bookmarks.
For people relatively new to blogging platforms, most blogs have something that’s called an RSS feed. RSS stands for “Real Simple Syndication.” The icon looks like the orange button to the left of this paragraph. You can subscribe to the RSS feed and have content delivered directly to your email. (Or, if the blog is “user friendly” like this one, you can find a “regular” email option such as the box on the right panel.) RSS feeds are great — Not only do blogs use them, but online newspapers and magazines also provide RSS feeds for the convenience of their readers. When feeds are delivered directly to your email, it’s easy to keep informed about interesting news and events.
Let’s say you find a blog that you like. You’ll see something like this:
Add a Subscription Directly from Your Email
The EASIEST thing to do is simply paste in the URL of the feed into your email’s RSS subscription service. In the case of the example that we are using, you would copy and paste this URL:
http://www.this-weeks-special.com/feed/
CNet has an excellent video on how to add RSS feeds into Microsoft Outlook 2007. If your email client is older and you’re using, for instance, Outlook 2003, your email will not be able to read RSS feeds unless you update the software with an add-on. There’s a link toward the end of this post for an add-on which will enable you to use your email software application to subscribe to and read RSS feeds. Alternatively, you can subscribe directly from the web site that you are interested in (but you’ll still need the add-on, if you have an older email client).
Subscribing Via the Web Page
When you see an RSS option, after you click the “subscribe by email” option, you’ll be taken to a page that looks something like this:
Don’t click the “subscribe now” button. Instead, your FIRST STEP is to select the application (which is the first line of your subscription options):
In the drop down menu that appears, click the “Choose Application” option. A pop-up will appear, usually showing the last place that you had accessed for downloads:
If the pop-up does not open by default to your program files (or applications), you’ll need to find your email program. First, go to Local Drive C by double-clicking on the “C” file:
From Local Disk Drive C, where your software applications are stored, select “Program Files” by double clicking on it:
If you use Microsoft Outlook Express, you can select that from your program files by double-clicking on it:
Or, if you use Microsoft Outlook, like most of us small business people tend to use, select that. It’s usually stored in your Microsoft Office Application:
After you have double-clicked on your application, it will appear in the “application box” on your RSS feed page. You can tick the box that reads “Always use …” if you want. When you click the “Always use…” you won’t have to keep going through the process shown above because by default, you will always subscribe with your email. You can always change this if you decide to use an RSS Reader. Click ‘SUBSCRIBE’ and you’ll automatically receive the feed by email!
A Bit About Add-Ons
In Outlook 2007 and later, the email software will read the RSS feed without any adjustments. But if you have an older version of Outlook (like I do), your email is not capable of reading RSS formatting and it cannot automatically subscribe to RSS feeds. You can get a free RSS reader add on for Outlook 2003 here:
http://www.intravnews.com/indexoffice.htm
Check CNet for RSS readers that will work for other email applications.
It’s very easy to subscribe to the online RSS readers. We’ll cover that in another post.
For email subscriptions to feeds running through FeedBurner (such as for this blog), click the option that has the RSS icon and says “View Feed XML,” and then follow the steps as above.
If you’re curious about the RSS page I’ve used in the example, you can find it at This Week’s Special. If you have a web site and would like to have some additional exposure, the site will feature your coupon or discount. Just send them an email at (spaces added): support @ this-weeks-special.com
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