Feedburner RSS Feed
One of the first actions I do in my fresh WordPress install is to travel to Google and set up my new RSS feed with Feedburner. Feedburner used to be a separate company, but now it has merged with Google and uses the same log-in account as the rest of my Google tools. RSS Feed links are usually identified with the logo at left. Clicking on the logo will subscribe to the feed from the site the logo on the page itself will also subscribe as it is linked to my feedburner account. Most blog pages and many web pages will feature this logo.
Feedburner handles all of the RSS feeds [Really Simple Syndication] from my websites. The wiki article explains RSS historically and technically, but the point for me is that the RSS feed delivers content from my site directly to subscribers. This is a really simple RSS explanation from Feedburner. This process can be compared to a magazine subscription, once someone is subscribed they receive every issue of the magazine. Feedburner will even allow e-mail subscriptions that deliver directly to the subscriber’s e-mail box.
Most people just pick up the feed and read it in an RSS reader software that shows them a copy of each of the feeds they are subscribed to in one place. There are many very good RSS readers and most browsers will read the feed, although some may need an add-on or plug-in. Many of the most popular readers are displayed on the Feedburner subscription options page [click on the RSS button to see the page] and I would recommend that you start with one of those. It is a matter of personal taste because they all work well, but feature different options.
RSS is about conveniently viewing the many sites that you would like to see as the updated content is posted without actually having to click through all the links and visit all the pages one by one. For the iPod and iPhone enthusiasts there are even RSS-narrators that will “read” the content to you as a podcast. Audiolicious was developed by Jonathan Aquino right here in Vancouver, BC so he could listen to his feed during his commute.
The RSS option is really essential for any blog, but is must be programmed and a feed set up. In WordPress I had to install the Feedsmith plug-in to make everything work smoothly and I still haven’t figured out how to get the theme based “subscribe by e-mail type your address here” form in Pixeled theme to work. I depend on readers finding the icons on the sidebar and bottom of the page. I will be writing about how I fixed this one — when I do. To the left is the very clear graphic provided by a WordPress plug-in for Sound+Light+Motion. Click on it to subscribe. Some themes are trickier than others to program, usually when you enter your feedburner address into the rss section of the admin panel it will work. In Pixeled I did have to paste the code into the footer before the feed initialized. If you can’t get this to work and you are not married to your theme, consider updating to a new one with better feed support.
Please feel free to comment if you have more questions or answers regarding this topic.
This blog is about my commercial work, so, for the first time I am going to place ads from Google AdSense on my blog. I have been spendng so much time and effort on developing the delivery system for my music and art that I need to get some financial support from the effort. Donations are being accepted on my other sites but I am going to try a more commercial model for this site. Let me know what you think.
