I have just read the best tutorial I have ever seen on getting started with using RSS feeds by subscribing to them through Bloglines. I have long advocated using a feed reader (which is what Bloglines is) to keep up with the many gardening blogs that are out there now, but I always felt I lacked a very easy, non-intimidating way to help people get started. This tutorial is it. It has plenty of screenshots and clear directions, and the absolute minimum techno-babble. One thing it doesn’t cover is how to import an opml file. (An opml file is a collection of feeds.) After you master bloglines, you can import the feeds for all the garden blogs listed in the sidebar from here.
And now I have an embarrassing admission: my own feed isn’t working at the moment. (Scratches head, shrugs shoulders) What can I say? I’m working on it. I’m also working on a post–well, more like an essay–that I started more than a week ago. Please be patient with me.
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Did you get it fixed? I am subscribed to you and I am reading you in Bloglines. It notified me that you had a new entry by bolding your name in the sidebar.
But when I type in the URL of your feeds I don’t see anything in the browser the way I do when I type in my own.
When I unsubscribed and then resubscribed to you it recognized your feeds.
I am not smart enough to deduct anything from this collection of facts.
Twitter: @ZanthanGardens
One of the things I noticed about Bloglines is that it doesn’t show a post has been updated. Since I cycle through my blog posts in keeping with the seasons, Bloglines doesn’t really reflect what’s new on my blog. It seems to recognize only completely new entries. I don’t know if this is a problem with me or with it. But I must have some readers via rss who think I never update my blog.