Help & Advice
How to set up an RSS Reader

How to set up an RSS Reader

What is an RSS Reader?

An RSS Reader is the program used to read an RSS feed. RSS Readers allow you to aggregate multiple web feeds and read them from a singular place on the web. There are both online and offline RSS readers.

What are RSS Feeds?

RSS feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest blogs, news and video in one place, as soon as its published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from. There is some debate as to what RSS stands for, but most people plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'. In essence, the feeds themselves are just web pages, designed to be read by computers rather than people.

What RSS Reader should I use?

There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications. Browser-based RSS Readers let you catch up with your RSS feed subscriptions from any computer, whereas downloadable applications let you store them on your main computer, in the same way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it on a web-based service like Hotmail.

Google Reader is one of the more popular and easier to use news and blog readers available. Setting it up requires very little special knowledge of how the Internet works and absolutely no knowledge of HTML. With a few simple clicks and the names of some of your favorite blogs or news sites, you can quickly set up a well-organized list of online reading:

• Go to the Google Reader homepage click here
• If you already have a gmail account, you can enter your log in information in the box that appears to get started right away. If you do not have a gmail account, click the blue "Create an Account" button.
• Follow the instructions to supply the required information. Note that you do not have to use a gmail account to set up your news reader, but you must have an active email account. Once the information has been entered, click "Create my account" to go to your new RSS reader.
• Add blogs or news readers to your site by clicking the "Add Subscription" button on the left-hand side of the screen. This will open a dialog box where you can input either search terms or the actual web address of sites you want to include in your RSS reader.
• Edit your subscriptions, or remove the default ones that Google puts in the news reader, by clicking the "Feed Settings" button at the top right-hand side of the screen. Here, you can delete the blog, set preferences for which posts to download, and add the feed to various customizable folders or groups of different blogs and websites. You can also click the "Settings" link at the top for general appearance preferences, changing colors, layout and other options.

What should I feed to my RSS Reader?

Once you have chosen a RSS reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want it to receive. For example, if you would like the to receive the Office Response Blog, simply visit the homepage www.office-response.co.uk and click on the RSS Feed icon. You will be automatically taken to your RSS Reader where you can manage your subscription.  Look out for the RSS feed on your favourite websites and you can be updated whenever something new is added.