How to Use Web Feeds to Keep Your Sites Current

Does this ever happen to you? You visit a website that your really like, you bookmark it so you'll easily find it later, but you completely forget all about it. Weeks or months pass, then you stumble on it again and realize you missed out on a lot of information from a site you once really enjoyed. Someone ought to invent some system of keeping up with all the new content in your favorite web sites.
They have. It's called the web feed system. Here's how you can use it:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Your Computer

1. Learn how the system works:
   
   A website produces updated material called a 'feed'.
   If you want to subscribe to this material, you click on the feed symbol.
   You register the site with your 'feed reader' to keep you up to date with the latest.
   All you need to do now is look in your feed reader to see the latest content from your favorite web sites.

2. Activate the feed reader in Firefox.
   
   Start your Firefox web browser.
   Click on the 'View' menu.
   Click on 'Toolbars'.
   Click on the 'Bookmarks Toolbar'.
   A small check mark will appear and your feeds will be displayed on a new tool bar.
   
   In Firefox browser the feed reader is called “Live Bookmarks”.

3. Activate the feed reader in Internet Explorer.
   
   Start your Internet Explorer web browser.
   Click on the 'Tools' menu.
   Select 'Toolbars” from the drop down menu.
   Click on 'Feeds'.
   Or you can use a shortcut by pressing the Ctrl+Shift+J keys at the same time.
   
   In Internet Explorer browser the feeds are simply called “feeds”.

4. Pick the feed reader that fits you best.
   
   There are many other feed readers than the above examples. Some are free, some have a fee. Some work in your browser, some are on line services, and others are made to read podcasts. They have names such as: Google Reader, NewsGator, Pageflakes, iTunes, Fireant, Juice, Awasu, Bloglines and many others.

5. Find the web feed syndication symbol.
   
   Web feeds come in several formats. If the website you are looking at has web feeds it will have the universal feed symbol (see photo above) or it simply may have the acronyms for the more popular web feed formats, look for letters such as RSS, RDF, or Atom.

6. Subscribe to your favorite website web feed.
   
   Click on the syndication symbol or acronym and follow the simple instructions. Each website is a little different in the clicks you have to make, but all are very simple.
   
   Firefox has the universal feed symbol on the address bar. If this symbol, while looking a website, turns orange, it means that a feed is available for that website. To subscribe, just click on the symbol and follow instructions.
   
   Internet Explorer has the same symbol that turns orange, but its located on the right side of the main toolbar.

7. Feed reader programs are included with most web browsers. If yours does not have a reader, look for an add-on that may be available for it.
   Once you activate your feed reader you can just sit back, relax and know that all of the content you've been missing is only a click away.

[QueenofMisc]

on 5/13/2009 excellent info on using web feeds!