Ok guys, some of you may read this and totally crack up and know how clueless I am when it comes to this stuff. But Paul Chaney, my super Project Blogger coach, was gracious enough to try to explain the concept of RSS to basic principles. All I want to know is...... Is there an "RSS for idiots" in the bookstores yet? because 
if there isn't, that may be a good money maker.
I do encourage everyone to jump in and correct me or explain further if you feel the need. Also, keep in mind that this is my interpretation of Paul's lesson, so please forgive me if I butchered the coaching session. A lot of us just started blogging away and did not realize that there are key ingredients in a blog and to assume that our blog platform takes care of it is not good enough.
So what's RSS? It's a Notification System, here's the Wikipedia definition (personally, that one goes right over my head). RSS(stands for Really Simple Syndication) is a distribution mechanism for getting your blog content into the hands of those who want it without them having to go into your blog every single time. Every blog should include an RSS feed where readers and consumers can subscribe to it (they will copy and paste the URL into their reader). When you go into a blog, you will find one of these "thingy-ma-doodles" (I guess they are called ICONS) where you can right click, copy and paste into your reader. P.S. go check out The Tomatos'sRSS icon (he made it look like a tomato...is that cool or what?)
My big question was where is the RSS READER??? Where do you copy that URL to? The answer is very simple. There are several services that you can sign up to. That way all you have to do is very similar to checking your e-mail, go into that service and check out all the new content from everything you have subscribed to. Paul suggested www.bloglines.com , it's easy to use and he finds it user friendly and effective. It's a web based reader, all you have to do is register, and you can even create categories. You'll be able to keep up with trends and the latest news very easily; blogs will come to you instead of you having to find each one.
To go one step further - you NEED to subscribe to www.FEEDBURNER.com, in Paul's words "it is like a clearing house for all RSS feeds" - you register your feed, it gives you buttons for your site, the RSS feed will be tied to feedburner and you'll know how many people subscribe to your feed.
If you want to play around with subscriptions, go into news.google.com or cnn.com and you will be able to subscribe to their RSS feed based on keywords - it could be industry news - weather, etc.
What is the value to RSS? - you don't have to visit each blog, you can go to one place to get the latest news, stay current and fresh and from a publisher's standpoint, you don't have to deal with a Spam Filter or Firewall by subscribing via e-mail.
So there you have it - RSS from a non-geek perspective. How did I do Paul?
**Please follow this link to read Paul Chaney's post on the same subject with a lot more insite: Project Blogger: RSS Explained by a Pseudo Geek **
For really great posts about RSS - please don't miss Mary McKnight's articles:
RSS Feeds 101: How to build site content automatically the right way
Why Realtors Should Use RSS
Why you must be blogging by January 2007
MYTH: RSS feeds on your site are SEO poison
It helps to read things from people who know what they are doing!
I love Blogs like this one.
There's so much that people who already know just assume everyone else is on the same level.
I need something like ActiveRain or Blogs for Dummies.
Mary - I'm impressed that you're impressed! : )
George - you are welcome - but please understand that I am learning also
Joe - I totally agree, it's when people assume that you get in trouble.
Maggie - you are sooo funny - I'm glad it helped!
Herb - do you have a parking permit?? just kidding....use it when you need it
Oh I almost forgot - the RSS feed in Active Rain is on the bottom of the right column and looks like this:
For those that speak spanish, we put together a quick online video primer a few months ago that covers RSS in spanish:
http://www.bienesraicesvideo.com/player/videopage.asp?vid=ofklfgsksdfd&t=i
Steve - please do.....and If I miss anything, just jump in and ask. You should see me taking notes while Paul talks - Rich Jacobson made an analogy one day comparing Active Rain to drinking water from a fire hydrant....that's how it feels!
A. Grey - I did not get to watch the whole video but it looks like a good tool.
Michael - so am I ....don't feel bad. The great thing about learning this now is that you don't get to blog for a bunch of months and loose out on important details.
Desiree - I'm sorry....I'm having a rough time keeping up as well with work, my kids and Easter weekend. It will only take you a couple of minutes to go to those sites and figure it out.
There are different ways of using the information that conforms to the RSS format. As highlighted earlier, there are a few technical steps in the RSS publishing process, i.e. setting up a reader, subscribing to RSS services, etc.
The actual information is in XML format and adheres to an RSS markup language for describing the information so that a reader can process and display it. You can easily view the XML file by clicking on the RSS icon on your Active Rain blog page.
There are a bunch of things that can be done with the RSS XML file. For instance, I wanted to publish my Active Rain blog content on my site. In terms of search engine queries, my site is found by search engines when searchers look for certain phrases and they also are in my blog. Having a copy of your Active Rain blog on your web site is a good thing and is highly recommended if you are writing quality entries.
Another benefit of hosting a copy of the content is that you can add content that is not in the Active Rain blog to the blog and also format it differently with graphics and fonts more suitable to the design of your site. For example, I have a linkable table of contents at the top of my blog with links to the content. The table is generated dynamically from the RSS XML file. I also have a few other table of contents entries to other supporting information that is not part of the Active Rain blog.
My example can be viewed at:
WeGainFinance_Blog.html
If anyone likes the idea, I can send you a copy of the XSL style sheet used to format the RSS file and you can take it from there with your own design.
Great stuff, Ines. I think you did a terrific job of explaining. I get most of it, I think, but every now and then I wonder...
Jeff
Maggie,
No problem. In order to send it to you I need your email address. You can send me an email with it from my Active Rain profile page. Or, you can email me from my website at:
WeGainFinanceContact.htm
To explain a bit more. What I do is get a copy of the RSS XML file and add it to my site (stick it in a folder) and apply the XSL style sheet to it to have it produce HTML.
i.e. XML + XSL Stylesheet = HTML (for the web browser)
The benefits of having the actual text of the blog on my site are:
* blog content visible to search engines and on my site;
* able to add links and other content to the blog content;
* in control of the fonts, display and graphics of the blog;
Once everything is set up, all you need to do is get into the routine of grabbing a copy of you Active Rain RSS XML file and replacing the file on your site. You can do this once a month, every two months, twice a year, whatever. It depends upon how much you add/write to your Active Rain blog.
Christian - I am still laughing at Maggie's comment because I feel the same way. I was able to make it out though - thanks for the explanation.
Jeff D. - you just need to go play with www.bloglines.com and www.feedburner.com and you will know exactly what to do. The key here is for your RSS feed to be legible from your blog for others to be able to subscribe.
Jeff T. - You have no idea how great that makes me feel! I feel like a little girl bringing home a big gold star home with an A+ for my parents to sign - thanks for that!
Maggie - LOL!
come on folks, just send me the simple version a-z, 1-100 steps to a simple installation, tell me it will never wear out, and life will be good. i admire your knowledge, but all i ever wanted to do was sell real-estate. Now i need a web site here, and one there, and top recognition to arrive here and there on top, and send out and design the mailers, and attend the classes and read, and now write the blogs, and cold call until then, and somewhere along the line earn some money. are you guys full time realtors? i see rick and ines are.???????
Jack Frisk - thanks for visiting and commenting. No one ever said it would be easy - I think it's part of this whole challenge and keeping up with technology and changing times that can be trying but also fun. And I can add that it's more than full-time, it's ALL-THE-TIME for us.
Ines...
"Huh" said the Duh Blonde :)
Elderberry? Ben. We have discussed this before :)
TLW...ROAR!
Wow... excellent Ines! Can't wait for your other coaching session notes. I was always having problems understanding RSS fully and how to best utilize it.
Thanks again!!!
Bryant - I am honored that you would visit my post on your birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (btw -you need to add one of these thingy-ma-gigs on your outside blog)
TLW - what do I owe the pleasure of husband and wife visiting so close together! My good Friday is officially BEST FRIDAY! Thanks guys!
Monika - it's funny how we read it a million times but it's hard to digest.....I was trying to put it in our own words.
Irina - did not mean to skip you - the whole idea is to make it easy for other people to subscribe to your blog - and then it's easier to track who subscribes as well.
"Elderberry..." do we have an "elder" in the room?
Ines - I use reader.google.com and it's so easy, and so useful. I'd never have time to check those blogs if I had to go through a favorites list.
Thanks for sharing your coaching.
Wow... Ines.. thanks for sharing this. I am learning so much. So, kudos to Paul teaching you this and kudos to you putting all of this in English to us, at least to myself. lol I am know understanding some of this and how it all works. Looking forward to your next update.
Sharon- since you mentioned it there are plenty of other reader programs and there are pages that you can integrate the readers like myyahoopage,google,myaol. Firefox even has an RSS reader capability and the new Internet Explorer does as well. With newsgator you can integrate the reader to Outlook. Possibilites are endless.....I choose to keep it simple. Thanks for sharing what you use.
Jeff - I am glad I was able to comprehend and translate...it's funny how Paul does not consider himself an expert in technology.
Ines,
Wow - you'd never know I have a computer science business degree - I'm feeling way more blonde than technical right now. Thanks for sharing all this info. I've bookmarked it to work through - I saw your "Project Blogger Homework Post" and now "Lesson 3" - did I miss #1 and #2...I'm trying to keep up...thanks for sharing.
Jennifer - you don't know how good that makes me feel - I don't want to be the only one learning from this whole experience
Cyndee - you are sooo funny. I will clarify the sessions, since I have not made them very clear (thanks for pointing that out)
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3 - this post
I will start making reference to the other posts for everyone's reference - it will start getting a little complicated
Carole - geek is GREAT! Are you kidding me? sometimes I wish there was more geek in me....and Yes...you do have to read those! LOL!
Hey Ines - what a good pupil you are and in turn a great teacher for us, too. Like BB, this is clear as mud, but I am BOOKMARKING every one of these so I can have them in my own lesson book.
I like that you'll include references to the other posts - that will make it alot easier for us in case we miss one.
Thanks so much for sharing all this with us - you're the BEST!!
Ann
Christian - thanks! maggie@maggietherealtor.com
NOT maggie@maggiethefulltimerealtorallthetimerealtor.com
Ines - my you are the witty one. I love it!!!!
I'm bookmarking this page. If I had a hard time when both eyes were open imagine now...one's closed and the other one half-way there.
Ann - you are always there to support and to make everyone feel good - thanks for the solidarity!
Maggie - you definitely need to be awake for this - no doubt about it.
George - I hope you do and if you don't, let me know...Happy Easter!
Chris - I was thinking about you when I was typing, it was between thing-a-ma-doodles or thing-a-ma-gigs!
Ines...
It's the morning after and I'm still going...Huh?
Do you know what that means? It means I obviously need to sit down and actually use my brain. LOL.
Damn. I hate it when that happens :)
TLW...ROAR!
TLW - just wait 'till after the weekend, grab a cup of coffee and concentrate - and give me a call if you want a laugh while you're at it!
Jeff - your link is broken - I want some LINK LOVE!
Wayne - that's a GREAT question, I will assume it's another form of RSS but we need to ask the pros.
CAN ANYONE TELL US WHAT THE ATOM THINGY bellow the RSS THINGY??
Ines, I think the "thingamadoodle" is called a Widget.
Most of my clients just save the blog in favorites in Internet Explorer vs. subscribing to a feed, because the feed eliminates "the presentation" and photos. Though the RSS notification it is a good "heads up" to go to the blog when something comes through the RSS feed.
Rick & Ines very cool post from you guys! So my question is do you now have or are you going to get a custom RSS like Tomato has?
Ines,
Anyone who isnt having fun in Vegas...doesn't know how to have fun! Of course I'm having fun in Vegas!
Ines, did you get Jeff's link to work? Won't work!
Is there a huge benefit to having more than "Google" and "Yahoo" RSS feeds?
Ardell - that's a DUH for me...you're right!...how about "Keep having fun in Vegas!"
Sue - I copied and pasted and it worked - As I understand it, it makes it easier for those who use the specific feeds, but it's plenty with one....totally your choice. It would be great for a techie to answer that though.
Ines,
Thanks for the clarification.. now I have my homework!
Cyndee - no problem....I'm looking forward to your feedback.
Jeff - thanks for fixing the link and for the link love (that's a great "blog word").
Thanks Ines...another great explanation on a techie aspect of blogging! I had a little understanding on RSS before, but now it's much clearer!
Best Wishes on Project Blogger!
WOW INES!!
The technical level on your post has quadrupled as an Apprentice!
Girl...you'll be a Guru soon!
Ines, you are a STAR PUPIL!!!! I give you an A+ for your interpretation. There is are number of For Dummies books that talk about RSS. Here's a link to the list found on Amazon. We also try and explain it in Realty Blogging.
RSS is still a bit geeky and the learning curve seems, at first blush, to be steep. It's really not though, I promise. You just need an RSS reader like Bloglines to subscribe to the feeds. Once you subscribe to one, from then on it's like riding a bicycle.
There is also a move toward standardization in terms of what to look for. The orange button that Ines gives an example of in the post is what you're seeing more often these days. Normally, it's much smaller, very much like an icon. (That's what it is actually.)
**UPDATE - UPDATE **
I have updated the post to show a link to Paul's post from his point of view - with a lot more insight on the subject of RSS - This is the link:
Project Blogger: RSS Explained by a Pseudo Geek