3. A button or a link that says Syndicate This Site, RSS, XML
simply means that the article title, a link and a brief
description for each new page or post are available for you
to use on your site or to access through a newsfeed reader
program.
4. RSS feeds provide a list of items. Usually each item
contains a title, summary, a link to the full version of the
content and a link to a URL of the site. For the internet
user, the ability to subscribe to content using RSS means
that he gets content without having to browse from site to
site and also of not having to worry about spam. The
content goes to a newsfeed reader. He can choose
whatever content he wants to subscribe to. For the
content providers, RSS can help drive traffic to their sites
by making it easy for users to be updated with new pages
or blog posts.
5. A lot of sites include any one of the RSS, Syndicate This
Site buttons. Clicking one of these buttons will take you to
a broken page full of codes. Just copy the URL that appears
in the address bar of the page or blog and use that URL to
subscribe to the site in your newsfeed reader. The
newsfeed reader will inform you when there is new
content from a site you subscribed to.
6. For example, you have several favorite travel websites.
Rather than logging on to each one of these travel sites for
fresh updates, you can just subscribe to their new
contents (feeds) in your newsfeed reader software. A click
of the RSS button will display a list of the headlines of all
new entries from all the travel sites you subscribe to.
Clicking the headline link will show a brief description for
the entry and a link to the full version. You get to only
read the entries that interest you.
7. You can install a newsfeed reader on your computer and
have easy access to it on your desktop. You can also use an
online newsfeed reader. Some of the more popular ones
are FeedDemon for Windows, NetNewsWire for Mac OS X
and Bloglines (web-based, free).
8. Feeds are very useful. They notify Internet users of
updates from favorite sites without visiting them one by
one. Feeds also allow users to read fresh contents from
one convenient location.
9. Instead of the terms XML, RSS, Syndicate This Site, you can
just use Subscribe. It is a very simple word that visitors
understand compared to XML, RSS, etc. The Subscribe
button is a universal RSS subscription button that lets your
visitors add your RSS feeds to the newsfeed reader easily.
Visitors will just click the Subscribe button on your site
and they are given the go signal to select the newsfeed
reader where they want to add your RSS feed. A Subscribe
button makes subscription to RSS feeds easy. You can also
monitor how many visitors subscribe to your feeds.
Visitors will have a satisfactory online experience and thus
increase visitor loyalty. However, some visitors may not
understand what the Subscribe button means. This is
where the Help button comes in handy.
10. Vis a vis the Subscribe button, clicking the Help button will
display links to pages with in-depth information about
feeds and subscribing. The pages include basic information
on feeds, newsfeed readers, links to further readings and
tutorials.
