So you are now hooked on blogging. You have your firefox browser all setup to various bookmarks. What happens when you have saved and subscribed to too many favorite blogs? There comes a time when you can not visit all your blogs. Some update daily, others update with no particular schedule, yet you like their articles. Sooner or later, you stop visiting them.

Instead of visiting blogs you like one by one,you subscribe to them, and postings to that blog appear to your RSS reader ,whether a desktop RSS reader or an Online RSS reader.

According to wikipedia RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document (which is called a “feed” or “web feed” or “channel”) contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays.

Choosing an RSS Reader

Google, MyYahoo, Microsoft Outlook 7, Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 have built in RSS readers where subscription is an easy click on the RSS button on the site you wish to subscribe to or on the tool bar. There are more than 2000 different RSS readers ,desktop or web based or both. Choosing a RSS reader for you is a matter of choice. In choosing mine I base it on.

1. Ease of use - I am too old to learn how an ipod works, so I prefer a RSS reader that easy to learn and use with little or no learning curve.
2. Clean Layout - I need a reader with a clean interface that I can easily gather the information I need in as little time as possible. If I have to, I should also be able to customize it’s look and feel to what I like.
3. Control RSS Reader - I should be able to easily configure my RSS feeds into categories based on keywords, tags, topics, put a feed on hold, arrange feeds into importance etc. In short I should have complete control of how, what and when I get from my feeds with minimum effort.
4. Sync My Feeds - My RSS reader should be able to sync my information on a number of computers so I do not need to read information I have read before. The sync should be online and offline. Nothing is worse than reading the same information twice.

Popular RSS Readers

Web based RSS Readers

1. Google Reader - If you have a Gmail account, you can easily set up your Google reader and it’s free and easy to use.
2. MyYahoo - You can easily add the RSS feeds you like in your MyYahoo account. It is simple and free to use.
3. Bloglines - Bloglines was one of the first web RSS readers and is even used by Text Link Ads to value your blog.

PC based RSS Readers

1. SharpReader - One of my first desktop readers and my best feature was the easy drag-n-drop of directories and posts that made it extremely easy to sort things and navigate. It is old fashioned but works very well.
2. FeedDemon - FeedDemon is from Newsgator and is now a free RSS reader. It is probably one of the easiest and best RSS readers and very easy to customize. I would highly recommend a new blogger to use it.
3. Microsoft Outlook 2007 - I live in my email inbox and when the new Microsoft Outlook 7 allowed the RSS reader , I was hooked. There is even a very detailed tutorial on setting up your feeds in Outlook 2007

Mac Based RSS Readers

1. NewsFire - NewsFire is an RSS reader designed with beauty and simplicity in mind. This makes NewsFire attractive, easy to use and very functional. It is best suited for finding, reading and then forgetting news, not for archiving and handling them.
2. NetNewsWire - NetNewsWire is competent and flexible RSS feed reader that combines Mac elegance with smart tools that help you follow news updates efficiently. Fast search and smart folders make getting to the important updates a snap and reading news in NetNewsWire is a pleasure.
3. Shrook - Shrook is a clever RSS feed reader that displays and organizes news in a smart (and customizable) way. You can easily synchronize your feeds across several Macs.

The Best RSS Tool

If you ever have a need to track a particular topic, say Green Tea. You can easily find out what all the bloggers online are saying about Green Tea by simply using the Google Blog Search feature. You can even add that to your RSS Reader and be kept up to date with all the latest information about the topic you are researching for as long as you wish.

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