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Dawn
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 5:33am | IP Logged
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Well, I'm slowly moving outside of my "blog comfort zone" ... 
Can someone explain what a feed is? I see some of you have a feed link on your blog, but it's not clear to me what a feed does and why I might want to put one on my blog.
Also, is anyone using widgets? Are they like clipart, and are they free?
Thanks for any advice/information!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 6:01am | IP Logged
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Dawn wrote:
| I see some of you have a feed link on your blog |
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How's this for clueless? I just saw there is already a link on my blog for someone to subscribe to my feed! But what is my feed? 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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amyable
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 7:07am | IP Logged
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From wikipedia:
"A blog feed is an XML-based file in which the blog hosting software for a blog site places a machine-readable version of the blog so that it may be "syndicated" for further distribution on the web. Formats such as RSS and Atom are used to structure the XML file. "
That sure clears it up I bet!
Seriously though, I believe it is a "program" that takes new posts on your blog and distributes them to people that subscribe to your blog feed. That way someone can go to one place and read the new posts on all their favorite blogs.
I'm sure there is more to it than that, but that is my limited understanding...
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 8:40am | IP Logged
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I still haven't figured out how to do trackbacks. 
Amy, I love your new site at blogspirit.
How do you like it?
I'd like to transfer to a free blog site (that would offer everything typepad offers for $50 a year). How's that for being greedy.
But I can't figure out how to get a lovely sidebar backdrop like you did. They only offer 5 themes and that doesn't suit my creative taste.
Was it a simple feat to change? to explain?
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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Amy, I agree with Cay, your new blog is lovely! I love popping in to see what's new ...
Is this how a feed works then? Instead of having to scroll through all the blogs you like to check daily (sometimes more than once ), you get a "feed" in some capacity of any new posts?
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
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The Nature Corner
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amyable
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 9:46am | IP Logged
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Cay Gibson wrote:
Amy, I love your new site at blogspirit.
How do you like it? |
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I'm loving blogspirit! Especially 'cause it's free.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my blog - the only reason it is pretty is because it is so easy!
Cay Gibson wrote:
But I can't figure out how to get a lovely sidebar backdrop like you did. They only offer 5 themes and that doesn't suit my creative taste.
Was it a simple feat to change? to explain? |
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I was a little reluctant to go with a site that had only a few choices too, but I found out is was pretty easy to change the background to one with my own choice of image. If you join blogspirit I can walk you through what to do. You can also choose different colors to go with each theme, so there is a little more creativity than is first evident.
As far as content, like things to put in your sidebar, I think Typepad offers a bit more, with more flexibility than Blogspirit - but not much. It's enough for me to be happy with it.
I want to thank everyone for their kind words about my blog. I've been inspired by all of you! You might laugh, but it was seeing the beautiful blogs everyone puts out that first started me thinking about beauty.
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 10:31am | IP Logged
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Dawn, a feed is a no-bells-and-whistles text-only version of your blog.
Here's an example: compare my blog's RSS feed to my actual blog.
Many people prefer to read blogs via "aggregators," which collect individual blog feeds. Bloglines is one example--that's what I use. It is a free service that allows me to "subscribe" to as many blog feeds as I wish. Then, by clicking on one link, I can see at a glance which blogs have new posts since last time I checked. I can read those posts in the feed OR click through to the actual blog. It vastly simplifies the process of keeping up with the blogs I like!
Typepad offers an RSS feed of your blog automatically (though you may need to check your Control Panel settings to see if your feed is being made public). That's what that "subscribe to my blog's feed" button is about.
Hope this makes sense!
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Meredith
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 10:43am | IP Logged
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WEll, I'm jumping in late here, but I'm quite interested in this feed business too because my blog links that I'm checking daily is getting quite long  Sooo, do you just subscribe to everyone's feed or do you actually set up a new program account like the "bloglines"? And do I then have to set up an RSS feed on my blog page as well?? Oh, I know I'll complicate all this  Thanks for any help!!
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Meredith
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Sweetness and Light
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 11:07am | IP Logged
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Meredith wrote:
| WEll, I'm jumping in late here, but I'm quite interested in this feed business too because my blog links that I'm checking daily is getting quite long Sooo, do you just subscribe to everyone's feed or do you actually set up a new program account like the "bloglines"? And do I then have to set up an RSS feed on my blog page as well?? Oh, I know I'll complicate all this Thanks for any help!! |
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Bloglines is one of several free services that lets you enter all the feeds you want to subscribe to. There is NO WAY I could keep up with the blogs I read daily without a service like this!
There are also aggregator services like Blogdom of God/Christian Blogs Aggregator that pick up the feeds for thousands of blogs relating to a certain subject. Here's an example.
As for your own feed, there's an easy way to know if it's being published. When you publish a post, does it take a minute to go through? While you're waiting, do you see a message about "now pinging" and then some URLs? If not, you haven't configured your blog to publish the feed. You can do that by clicking the "Configure" tab and then click "Publicity and Feeds." Check the boxes by blo.gs and weblogs.com, and select the "Yes, offer a feed of my post" box at the bottom.
However, Meredith (and Dawn), I can tell you you don't need to bother checking--your feeds ARE published, and I know this because I subscribe to them via Bloglines! Amy and Cay too.
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Lissa
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Lissa
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Brava, Cay!
By the way, your new blog design is lovely too. All these beautiful makeovers!
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Lissa
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 12:02pm | IP Logged
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Thank you Lissa, and everyone, for all the guidance ... I am so blessed to know you all!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
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Meredith
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 4:26pm | IP Logged
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Hey, you're too far ahead of me here in mountain time OK, so I configured my site with the publicity & feeds thing, but do I also need to set up an RSS feed in my content selections or would a bloglines subscription overide that??? Don't start with the widgets!!! And I would LOVE a saint of the day too!!Thanks again
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Meredith
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Lissa
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Meredith wrote:
| Hey, you're too far ahead of me here in mountain time OK, so I configured my site with the publicity & feeds thing, but do I also need to set up an RSS feed in my content selections or would a bloglines subscription overide that??? Don't start with the widgets!!! And I would LOVE a saint of the day too!!Thanks again |
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Putting a link to your feed in your sidebar is just for the convenience of readers who might want to subscribe. Same with the widgets for Bloglines, Feedburner, etc. Those are ways for *other people* to access your feed.
For example, if you go to my blog and scroll all the way down to the bottom (almost), look in the right-hand sidebar for the little logo marked "SubBloglines." (It's a little way below the blue Unschooling Blogs webring logo.) Click on the Bloglines logo and it'll take you to a Bloglines screen that gives you options for feeds to subscribe to. (At least, that's what it does for me--it might be different if you don't already have a Bloglines account.)
A little further down in my right sidebar, right above the feed for Alice's Cottage, there are logos for "Add to Google," "Add to Yahoo," etc. I just added those today--those are some of the Typepad widgets. Was a piece of cake to stick them in!
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Rebecca
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 6:17pm | IP Logged
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Forgive me for needing a bit more clarification on the RSS feed...
Let me see if I understand it all...Let's say that I visit Lissa's, Meredith's and Dawn's blog everyday. Instead of going right to their blogpage each day, I would click on their "subscribe to this blog's feed" on their main blogpage. Then what happens? Do you get an email if they post something new? How are you notified when a new post is written? I am trying to understand this all with my blogsite impaired mind  ! I still don't understand the Bloglines...do I need to subscribe to this?
HELP!
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 6:27pm | IP Logged
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If you go to Bloglines it'll be easier to understand. Every day I click on my Bloglines bookmark and it takes me to a screen with a long list of blog names down the left side. These are all the blogs whose feeds my husband and I have subscribed to through Bloglines. (More on that part later.) In this list, some of the blog titles are in bold. These are the ones that have new posts since last time I checked.
Here, if you click here you can see what I'm talking about. This is Scott's and my list of feeds. (His are all mixed up with mine, so it's a pretty eclectic bunch, I warn you.)
Of course yours is one of them! If I click on the title of your blog, your latest post appears on the right side of the screen. I can read it right there, or click through to your actual blog. (If I do that, your blog opens in a new window.)
As for how to add all these feeds to my Bloglines list, there are good instructions at Bloglines. With my browser (Safari), I was able to add a 'subscribe' button in the menu bar at the top of the screen, so now all I have to do when I find a blog I want to visit regularly is click that button and it automatically takes me to a screen for adding the blog to my Bloglines list.
It's harder to explain than to do, I promise!
(P.S. Some of our friends' blogs don't have published feeds, or didn't last time I checked--which may have been a while--so if they don't show up in my list of feeds, that's why. I do check all my 4Real friends' blogs regularly!)
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Meredith
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 6:53pm | IP Logged
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You actually explained it great cause that's what I just did and it worked like a dream!!  Thanks for your help too, hugs!
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Meredith
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Rebecca
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| Posted: April 05 2006 at 9:29pm | IP Logged
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Thanks so much, Lissa. I did go on Bloglines and registered. It all makes sense now, how bloglines works.... I think I am but one step away from having it up and running. I wanted to use the easy button but I do not have any of those (Safari, Internet explorer, etc.) I have a SBC Yahoo DSL browser. Am still figuring out how to add the button to my toolbar. Thanks so much for the help...I will surely have it working soon!
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lapazfarm
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I tried it and got up and running. Very cool! I am now slowly (dial-up, so I do mean slowly) adding everyone here to my blogline subscriptions.
Hey, it sure would be nice if there were a spot here on the boards where everyone's blogs were listed and linked. That would make the process a lot easier. Perhaps just a sticky thread somewhere and we could add our own?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Lissa
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Good idea, Theresa! In the meantime, you can check the 4Real Learning Blogs list in my (lefthand) sidebar. I'm trying to keep it up to date--there may be one or two I've missed, though.
POSTSCRIPT: I went to Bloglines and it says you can export and import lists of blogs. If you go to my bloglines sub list and scroll all the way down, you'll see an "Export" option. But when I click it, nothing much happens, so I don't know how it's supposed to work.
I did gather all my 4Real subs into one folder, so if you figure out how to export, you should be able to export that one folder and import it into your feeds list.
If anybody gets that to work, let us know!
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Lissa
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Lissa
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Rebecca wrote:
Thanks so much, Lissa. I did go on Bloglines and registered. It all makes sense now, how bloglines works.... I think I am but one step away from having it up and running. I wanted to use the easy button but I do not have any of those (Safari, Internet explorer, etc.) I have a SBC Yahoo DSL browser. Am still figuring out how to add the button to my toolbar. Thanks so much for the help...I will surely have it working soon!
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There are other ways to add feeds to your subs, if you can't get the button. Go to Bloglines and click on "My Feeds," and then look down the page for the "Subscribe" section--there are explanations there for other ways to sub to feeds.
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Lissa
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Blog Q&A: RSS feeds, reading w/ Bloglines
