Using RSS To Receive Updates
March 15th, 2006RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It is a method you can use to subscribe to this site and many others (RSS links are called feeds). There are a couple of ways to set this up. I prefer Method 2 myself.
Method 1: Firefox Browser
If you don’t already use Firefox, you should! Download this secure, free replacement for Internet Explorer here. This is the easiest way to subscribe to a feed.
If you are already using Firefox, just click on the little orange square in the bottom right hand corner of this window and choose the first option in the menu that pops up. The bookmark dialog box will appear prompting you to save the bookmark. If you choose to create the bookmark in the “Bookmark Toolbar” folder, it will be most convenient.
Whenever you want to check if there is new info on this site, just click on the new toolbar link and a menu will appear showing all the entries you haven’t read yet.
Method 2: Thunderbird Mail
If you use Thunderbird Mail you can set yourself up in only a minute or two by doing the following:
1. Go to Tools/Account Settings and choose “New Account.”
2. In the dialog box, select “RSS News & Blogs” and click “Next” and then “Finish.”
3. In the settings for the new account, click on the “Manage Subscriptions” button, then “Add.”
4. Cut and paste http://www.duq.ca/?feed=rss2 into the “Feed URL” box and click “OK.”
That is all there is to it. Your mail program will now check periodically to see if there are new entries on this blog. They will look like new messages in your RSS folder.
Other Methods
There are websites which will automatically “aggregate” all the sites you are interested in as well as stand-alone programs which you can use to download RSS feeds. One example is Bloglines. Here is a link to a list of both aggregators and programs plus lots more info about using RSS.
The Globe and Mail has a good description of how to use their RSS feeds that could also apply to other sites.
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Hi you 2 wanderers,