RSS And Other Really Simple Stuff

May 14, 2008

I know more than you think I do and I have Wordpress Stats to thank. The statistics page provides all kinds of information that completes my life. For example, it lets me know how many people visit everyday, what website you visited that led you here, the words you entered into a search engine to find me (that info alone is worth a blog post at a future date!) and whether you followed the instructions to wash, rinse, and repeat as spelled out for you on your shampoo. I’m sorry to report that a few of you fail to repeat on a regular basis. You know who you are. So do I.

The other odd little statistic that means nothing to anyone but me, whereas your propensity to disregard clearly printed shampoo directions is a concern to us all, is that most of you are coming on-site to read the posts rather than using a RSS feed. Now, that’s fine with me since I enjoy the company but because I’m not posting on a regular schedule it means that you’re dropping in and dealing with the shattering sorrow of nothing new to read. War, famine, and now this. How ever do I sleep at night contributing to your lugubrious condition. Lugubrious. Is a Thesaurus about the coolest thing or what?!

I drifted there for a minute but call off the dogs. I’m back. If you’re not familiar with RSS feeds, let me give you a 101. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and the name tells you about everything you need to know but don’t worry, I won’t let that stop me. RSS is a software that goes across the internet and looks for any new content on the sites you’ve told it to check and if any new content is found, the RSS feed gives you a heads up. My Yahoo!, Google Reader and Bloglines are a few of the free readers that will track your RSS feeds and let you know where there’s been an update. I personally use NetNewsWire for Mac because….well….because it’s pretty, okay?

Go to any of these feed readers and follow the simple sign up instructions provided on their site and no, it doesn’t involve wash, rinse, and repeat so you should all do quite nicely. Then come back to SisterFriends and click on either the little RSS button in the address line of your browser or on the “Content RSS” at the top of the far right column. There’s also a “Comment RSS” to notify you whenever a new comment is added. Clicking on either will open up a window that will then allow you to have your RSS updated in the reader you selected. Go to any and all blogs you regularly follow and do the same. In otherwords, repeat. That’s all there is to it. The next time you sign online, go to your reader and once the reader has taken a minute or two to check your designated sites it will notify and provide you with any new content that’s been added since you last checked. I have about 100 sites tagged for my RSS feed and within a few seconds I know if any of them have added something new instead of taking an hour to check a stack of bookmarked sites in my browser. What I’m trying to suggest is that you take a few minutes to subscribe to an RSS feed because if you do imagine all the extra time you’ll save to….that’s right….wash, rinse, and repeat!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Posted in Basic Info