RSS -- Part Three

In RSS -- Part One and RSS -- Part Two, I talked about Really Simple Syndication, and How to Subscribe to Blogs using Bloglines.

In Part Three, I had planned to show how easy it was to subscribe to a blog delivered directly into your email inbox. I thought this was going to be a piece of cake -- simple and quick. I'd write it up and then move on to something else. That was back on July 7, 2005. It's now July 12th.

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The tagline that best describes computers is...

Nothing is as easy as it ought to be!

Ain't that the truth?

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My search for a zero-cost, quick, simple RSS email subscriber began with a trip over to Google where I looked up Newsgator and You Subscribe. Unfortunately, the deeper down the knowledge paths I journeyed, the more confused I became. I never seemed to stumble upon a no cost answer for solving my simple request. Suddenly, I was being reminded of what a rookie blogger I still am. The terminology itself is so bewildering.

I got this perfectly reasonable request from someone who loves reading the ITscout Blog. But, as she explains, unless something shows up in her email inbox, she's just never going to remember to read it. At the moment, she can't be bothered to go off to Bloglines to see if there's been any updates to the ITscout Blog. She just wants to receive -- via email -- any new postings published to the ITscout Blog.

My investigation began. I was in search of a simple, quick, and most importantly, zero-cost solution. The ITscout Blog is provided at no charge by Blogger, a Google-owned company. I've grown accustomed to Blogger's price. It's what I charge for ITscout -- plus I promise a double-your-money-back guarantee -- such a deal!

Let me reiterate the requirement as precisely as possible:

Someone subscribes to a blog. Whenever a new posting is published, that person automatically receives, via email, a linkable copy of the posting.

Like I said, a very legitimate request.

I finally found Feednation which offers almost exactly what I was looking for. Only thing is, it's early beta software. If the thought of early beta sends a shiver down your spine, that's normal. Your only question is, should you read any further? That's something only you can decide. The answer depends on the strength of your natural tendancy to avert risk versus your willingness to try something new in a fragile environment.

Feednation is free. Registration requires a username and password, followed by a simple validation process. The username is your email address.

Note: email address is also what ITscout registration uses for its username

Being an early beta, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I experienced difficulty logging in. Don't forget your password. There's no facilities yet for managing beta tester accounts. Like I said, early beta... But the tool offers exactly what I'm looking for...

Let me walk you through the process of registering with Feednation.

1. click on the link: http://www.feednation.com/


2. scroll down to the bottom right-hand corner of the web page, and click on the link labeled New Account


3. Enter your email address as your username in the top line.


4. Re-enter your email address as your username in the second line.


5. In the third line, enter a password that you can remember (because at the moment, you can't change it).


6. Re-enter the password in the fourth line.


7. In the fifth line, enter that portion of your username that precedes the '@' (at sign) in your email address.


8. The final step on this page is to press the "Sign Up" button.

   Upon successful completion, you will receive the following message:

   Registration Successful
   Thank you for registering with Feednation. You will shortly receive a confirmation email.



9. The email you receive will look like the following

   
   ---- Original Message: ----
   From: info@feednation.com
   To: < your email address here >
   Subject: Welcome to Feednation
   Date: < timestamp here >
   
   Thanks for signing up to Feednation.
   Click here to activate your account:
   < hyperlink here >
   
   Best Wishes
   Feednation team
   
   



10. After clicking on the activation link, you'll view the following:

    Registration Confirmation
    Success



11. After seeing the above message, you need to again LOG IN by clicking on the text LOG IN at the top right corner of the page


12. Enter your email address for your username and the password you haven't forgotten


13. Notice the text box at the top left corner of the web page -- just below the feednation logo -- the text box labeled

    'Add New Feed'

    
    Enter the following exactly as it appears below:

    http://itscout.blogspot.com/atom.xml

    Note: The above link corresponds in value to the link that appears in the left sidebar of the ITscout Blog under the LINKS heading labeled
    

    
    Site Feed



14. Click the checkmark next to the textbox. That will add the link to New Feeds


15. Click on Feeds at the top of the page just to the right of the feednation logo. That's where you'll find ITscout Blog under Feed Name and New Feeds under Group.
    
    From there you can manage the feed, or delete the feed.

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Good luck to anyone who decides to follow the above simple 15-step plan. Let me know how it works out.

If anyone knows of an easier or better way of subscribing to a blog via email notification, please let me know by posting a COMMENT that explains how...