Blogging:beyond the basicsKathryn Paul

Chris Smith

April 2007

What we will cover?

• So many blogs, so little time - How to keep track?• Characteristics of a blog (review)• What is an RSS feed and why should I care?• What is a news aggregator, news reader (Bloglines)?• How to add feeds to my aggregator?• Tips and tricks• How to find blogs of interest?• Review (http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english)

Characteristics of a blog

• Web site

• Frequently updated

• Displays with most recent first

• Individuals can create blog postings

• Can search for previous postings

• Usually is rss enabled.

What is an RSS feed and why should I care?

• Feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest updates in one place, as soon as its published, without having to visit each and every website you have taken the feed from.

• Feeds are also known as RSS. There is some discussion as to what RSS stands for, but most people prefer 'Really Simple Syndication'. In essence, the feeds themselves are just web pages, designed to be read by computers rather than people.

• Most blogs and news sites publish feeds. • Find the standard symbol but may also say:

– syndicate this site– xml – Add to your newsreader

Look for these icons

What is a news aggregator, news reader ?

• RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the weblogging community.

• A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favorite blogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them.

• Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) and Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader/) are two examples

How to add feeds to my aggregator?

1. Find the feed on a blog/ or website.2. Right click on feed button3. Choose “Copy link location”4. Go to Bloglines5. Click on Add6. Copy the url to subscribe7. Select options (folder)8. Subscribe9. Check feeds on left

From Bloglines

1. Click on Add2. Go to Subscribe3. Copy the url to blog or feed url (Ctrl C)4. Subscribe5. Go to Options 6. Choose Folder (if

appropriate7. Subscribe

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Tips and tricks

• Using the playlist feature in Bloglines

• Playlist is a feature that allows you to see all your selected blog entries at once.

• Email your blog subscriptions

How to find blogs of interest?

• Technorati (http://technorati.com/) a blog tracking and search site

• Search for words in blog posts, tags or blog directory

• Can discover new blogs and sort by relevancy and freshness

• Exercise – find a blog on a topic that interests you. Add the feed to your Bloglines. (Extra – post to BlogLearn about the interesting blog that you found)

What we covered

• RSS in plain english (http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english)