Comments on: RSS feeds: A primer

By: oksoimnotperfect

oksoimnotperfect — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:41:16 +0000

Thanks for explaining it … off I go to get one set up with my first site… Unclutterer!

By: What the Heck Does RSS Mean? | Friendly Web Tools Blog

What the Heck Does RSS Mean? | Friendly Web Tools Blog — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:07:11 +0000

[...] Read and enjoy: RSS feeds: A primer [...]

By: Tomas

Tomas — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:59:34 +0000

Just an FYI, you can use PostRank (formerly AideRSS) to help declutter your feeds once they’ve grown out of control… which tends to happen when you subscribe to too many sites.

By: Gerard

Gerard — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:35:33 +0000

In reply to Catherine I’m a regular Google reader user but I have also been using Ensembli for a while now. They are complimentary tools, google reader I use to keep up with sites I visit, such as this one, and Ensembli goes out and finds articles on topics I am interested in from web sites I would never normally go to. Sometimes there is an overlap between the two. Ensembli also gets better over time as you train it to understand more accurately what you are interested in. I love the interface too, it’s very simple but also very usable and intuitive

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:40:50 +0000

Excellent post Matt! Personally, I favor Google Reader, since it is cloud based and allows me to clear my news inbox while I’m on my lunch break.

By: Jessiejack

Jessiejack — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:05:07 +0000

Thanks for the info — I had no idea what RSS meant til I read this and have just signed up for a trial at Goggle. thanks for this great web site!

By: Safari Out, Firefox Back In « When Are We Going to California?

Safari Out, Firefox Back In « When Are We Going to California? — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:13:43 +0000

[...] Reader – Not sure what RSS feeds are? Learn here. They will make browsing the web and keeping up with your favorite sites easier. There are many [...]

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:59:14 +0000

I love Sage, the Firefox extension. It’s remarkably uncluttered. You can see the menu of the sites you follow, and any sites that have new posts since you last checked them are highlighted, so no repeated notifications of sites that post frequently, just a signal that there’s new content. Very managable.

By: Wade Dorrell

Wade Dorrell — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:49:37 +0000

Great post, but for every 1 person that discovers RSS, there are 2 discovering Twitter, which provides both a way to get a “ping” when someone blogs, as well as to carry on lighter discussion, and to find new people/content.

Anyone have a link to the recent article about declining RSS use?

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:55:03 +0000

I use Sage Too – it’s a Firefox extension that’s very lightweight (no bells and whistles that I don’t need.)I love it!

I tried Bloglines, but had problems with it and went back to this.

By: April

April — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:34:26 +0000

@Kelly – re: having more RSS posts to read than you will ever have time for, I find I have a similar problem with my DVR. I *love* my DVR, but at the same time I have developed problems with DVR “clutter” – I have all these great shows recorded that I hate to delete, because gee, they all sound so interesting – but I will never spend that many hours watching TV! It’s a silly problem to have, but a problem nonetheless …

By: Ron C

Ron C — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:26:57 +0000

Just a quick note – Safari has had RSS built in for quite some time. Add one more to the count of people who get here via RSS…

Keep up the good work!

By: dco

dco — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:54:34 +0000

There’s also a great video explaining RSS here:
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english
it runs about 4 minutes.

By: Imran Ali

Imran Ali — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:46:12 +0000

We’ve taken a slightly different approach at Ensembli (www.ensembli.com) by creating ‘inboxes’ for topics you’d like to follow, rather than websites you’d like to follow.

We’re trying to make RSS universal, by keeping things simple…just tell us what you’re interested in and we’ll find the RSS feeds and sites that’re most relevant to you…as well a learning how your tastes change over time

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:04:47 +0000

Karen – I have similar issues with Bloglines updating slowly, but across the board. I haven’t taken the time to figure out how delayed they are, but it can be significant.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:02:20 +0000

Bloglines user here, too. Love it! I was mystified by RSS until about a year ago when I stumbled upon a similar explanation and it clicked. SO MUCH better than bookmarking sites and manually checking for new posts. Huge time saver.

BUT.

I think in some ways, it’s added to my clutter. I have (checking) 1093 posts saved in my reader. Do you think I’ll ever go back and reread all of those? Probably not. Granted, I subscribe to Foodgawker (love photography, love food) which accounts for a little more than half of those posts. But still. I think it’s something I have to address!

By: An easier way to keep up with websites and blogs » Mark Eric Photo Journal

An easier way to keep up with websites and blogs » Mark Eric Photo Journal — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:44:19 +0000

[...] great article on this subject came through my reader (Google Reader) this morning from Unclutterer.com, so I thought I would share. Click here to read [...]

By: Trevor Bramble

Trevor Bramble — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:35:18 +0000

@Matt – Great work. I’m going to use this as a reference when educating others from now on.

@christa – I find the Atom protocol documentation [http://www.atomenabled.org/developers/syndication/] very instructive. But if you’re using a blog/CMS (WordPress, for example) you might already be generating a feed anyway.

By: Catherine Cantieri, Sorted

Catherine Cantieri, Sorted — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:27:54 +0000

I love my Google Reader, but I am intrigued by Ensembli. Does anybody on here use it? Any critiques or recommendations?

By: Schlappette

Schlappette — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:49:01 +0000

I have to put in a plug for Netvibes: (www.netvibes.com) Netvibes has been my feed reader of choice for a few years now.