How to Subscribe and keep in touch

  • First of all, why you should do it
By subscribing, you make sure to keep updated on every blog/website you enjoy reading. When you subscribe, you are notified every time there is new content, which is very useful, specially if you read dozens of blogs daily/weekly. Instead of having to check them all individually, to find out if there's new stuff to read, you get the Internet to do it for you. Besides this, subscribing does not just benefit you; it also benefits the writer in a certain way (by benefitting the writer, you benefit too!).

You may subscribe via RSS or via Email. To subscribe via RSS and get updated every time there is new content on your "Favourite Websites" list, you will need to have some sort of RSS reader, which is a page that allows you to receive the updates. There are quite a few you can choose: Google or Yahoo are popular, but there are loads of them. And you can even use Firefox Live Bookmarks if you want to (I'll explain those further down this guide).

  • How do I subscribe?
Here's what you have to do, step by step:

1. Click the RSS button on the sidebar to the right.



2. By now, you should have this on your screen:



This is where you will choose which Reader you want to subscribe with.
As I said before, Google is the most popular, but it's absolutely fine if you prefer other one. On the picture you can see My Yahoo, Newsgator, My AOL (...), which are also pretty good, and you even have a lot more choices on the dropdown menu (the one with 'Choose your Reader' written on it).

By choosing your preferred reader on this page, you'd get linked to it, with Too Greedy now on your list. And you are done.

However, you may be wondering: Do I need to install any program to have a Reader? No, you haven't. For example, let's say if you wanted to use Google Reader. You just have to enter http://www.google.com/reader, and set up a Google Account if haven't already. That's why Google is popular. There's a lot of people with @gmail.com email accounts or similar, which eases the process.

Example:
Let's say you want to use Google Reader. Just go to http://www.google.com/reader, and set up a Google account if you haven't got one already. Then click the "Subscribe to RSS!" button on Too Greedy. On the page you get linked to (picture above) click "Google". This should take you to your Google Reader page, and Too Greedy should be on your Subscription lists. You are now subscribed and will be able to receive updates every time there's a new post.

For those who don't want/can't understand Google Reader (or other readers), there's another option: Firefox Live Bookmarks. To use these, you need to use the browser Mozilla Firefox (you can download it at www.mozilla.com). You might have heard of it before in places like WoW related forums, because it's often claimed to be a very safe browser if you use appropriate addons for it. I highly recommend Firefox, and Live Bookmarks is one of the reasons (even though other browsers probably have a similar option too).

If you've got Firefox, you just have to go to the page shown above, and click "View Feed XML". This will bring up a window with the blog's name on it, and asking for a place to put the "Live Bookmark". I put these on the top bar, but you're free to put it elsewhere; it's really up to you. Then, just confirm this step, and you'll have your Bookmark working! It looks like this:


When you click on it, you'll be shown the latest blogposts, and from now on, you'll just have to click this once every time you want to see if there's new stuff on the blog. You won't have to open all your subscribed blogs one by one anymore to see if there's new stuff. Live Bookmarks will help you ease and speed up the process.

  • This sounds a bit too complicated for me, is there an easier way of subscribing?
Yes, there is. If you find this RSS information too complicated, you may choose to Subscribe by Email, by clicking HERE

In here, everything is pretty much self explanatory. You just have to type your email address on the box, insert the security code shown, and click "Complete Subscription Request". After that, you'll be sent a confirmation email, which requires you to click a link provided in it. When you click it, your subscription is complete and you will get an email in your inbox every time there's new content on Too Greedy...and all the updates are free!
(Note: Some email inboxes may filter the email sent by Feedburner, so if you did all these steps correctly and you haven't received the confirmation email, check your Spam Folder and check if it's there. If it's not, just contact me and I'll add you manually as soon as possible.)

And that's it!

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any question regarding the subscription process.



Next PostNewer Post Previous PostOlder Post Home

3 comments:

  1. Another great post on the importance of subscribing and how to do it.

    Just caught that the link to this page in the sidebar isn't working - you set the date on it to '2009/10' when it should be '2009/11'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fixed. Thank you for noticing Sarainy :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good guide. =)

    I've never used RSS-readers though. I know a lot of people disagree with me but I really don't see the point of subscribing. The only times I read blogs is when I want to. Just because a blog I follow and enjoy reading makes an update doesn't mean I want to read it right away.

    Guess it boils down to what kind of reader you are. :) (keep up the good work!)

    ReplyDelete