REPOST : How to use RSS feeds - Part 1

Repost for the late- or newcomers

We'll make it a "For Starters" version and keep everything simple.
I'm assuming that you don't have an RSS reader yet.

WINDOWS Users
Prior to installing SharpReader, you will need to install the .NET Framework, version 2.0 or version 1.1 SP1. If you have Windows Automatic Updates active those might already be installed on your computer. More info and links are on http://www.sharpreader.net where you can download sharpreader, it is a freeware program, simple and very easy to use.
You can download it in one of two different files, both are only 820 KB in size.
1. if you're not a geek or tech savy you might want to download the normal version, which is a windows installer or setup file.
http://www.sharpreader.net/SharpReader0970_Setup.exe
Just download it and double click the downloaded file to start the setup.
2. If you are a bit computer savvy, you might want to download the zip version instead. This one is also portable, that means you can unzip it to a USB key and take all your feeds with you, wherever you go.
http://www.sharpreader.net/SharpReader0970.zip
Just download and unzip it wherever you want to have it on your hard disk.

Now download this OPML file. NOTE : right click the download link and select "Save Target As.." from the menu to download it if it is a text-link.
Download the OPML file into the SharpReader directory, or remember where you put it at least. Now start the SharpReader program, by doubleclicking on SharpReader.exe using one of the shortcuts created during install, if none where created go to the directory where you installed it or where you unzipped it.

The program will open and a couple of feeds might already be visible. Now we're going to import the OPML file. Go to the file menu, and choose the menu "Import Subscriptions", now browse to the location on your hard disk where you just saved the OPML file that you just downloaded, and open it.
Don't get a shock because of what's gonna happen next, this is a big OPML file with over 460 different RSS feeds, and they will all be updated right away. So you're gonna see a lot of little blue windows slide up and down indicating that an RSS feed has been updated. If you don't have a fast computer with enough memory, that process might take a couple of minutes to finish. But don't worry. Go get yourself a drink or something in the meantime.

That's pretty much it. You can now select a feed from the list on the left. And then you can select items in that feed from the window at the top in the right panel. In the lower window in the right panel the feed article will be displayed. As you will notice, it all looks very familiar to your email program.

Of course, it probably won't make much sense to keep all these RSS feeds for everybody, so feel free to delete whatever is not for you. Just right click on the feed title in the left window pane, and select UNSUBSCRIBE from the menu. Or just press the DEL key to delete.

APPLE / MAC Users
A good free reader for MAC is available at
http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/NetNewsWire
Scroll down and look for the "Lite" version.
The file to download is
http://www.newsgator.com/download/products/NetNewsWireLite2.1.1.dmg.zip
The rest should be pretty much the same as for the Windows explanation. After you installed the program, start or launch it and use the file menu to open or IMPORT the OPML file.

These are both so called standalone RSS feed readers.
You can of course also just install the program, and then add feed per feed to them. You don't have to use the OPML file.

People that are on Windows using the latest versions of Opera, Firefox, Thunderbird and/or Internet Explorer, can use RSS feeds right in those programs. Just check the help file for more. Sometimes they're called things like "Dynamic bookmarks" etc.

You can also add RSS feeds to your My Yahoo! page as well as to your Google homepage and in Google Reader, if you'd rather not install anything on your computer. There's several other online possibilities but that'll be for some other time.

That's it. No nuclear science required. Have fun!

=M=

Tips, hints, suggestions, questions? Put them here in a comment.