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RSS Quickstart Guide
RSS is an acronym for
Really Simple Syndication. It is what it claims to be: a quick and easy way
to create and use "syndicated content" such as news headlines and
announcements. We will be using RSS to deliver daily inspirational
meditations, article previews, news and info about new classes, downloads
and articles. .
Already read this and need even more
help? Try the
RSS Q&A.
Step 1: Use a News Aggregator!
The easiest way to experience RSS is
through an RSS "newsreader" or "aggregator" for your desktop computer. This
will fetch and organize recent content and provide simple ways to read it.
Below is a list of free and recommended RSS clients for
Windows, Macintosh, and Linux platforms. Choose and install the one that
sounds like the best fit for you, and proceed to the next step.
(Companies like Yahoo and Google are also building RSS
readers right into the their client software such as MyYahoo.)
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BlogExpress for Windows 98 or
later. Newbies don't need to look any further than this. Providing a
familiar, usable interface and high-usability; BlogExpress stands out as
an invaluable tool for those getting started with RSS.
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SharpReader for Windows 98 or
later. It's a clean and simple RSS reader for Windows. While it doesn't
provide the myriad of features found in bigger, more expensive clients;
it does the job and does it well.
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FeedReader for Windows 98 or
later. Power-hungry techies will find this open source aggregator more
to their liking. With more advanced features and options, it will keep
geeks satisfied while giving more growth-room for newbies.
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NetNewsWire Lite for Mac
OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) or later. While not as powerful as its big brother,
this is the cleanest and most elegant RSS reader for the Mac platform. A
strong sense of usability and sophistication are sure to satisfy the
most devoted Mac users.
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Lifera for Linux with
Gnome 2. While not for the beginners, Lifera is so far the best (if not
only) RSS reader on Linux with a usable interface and sophisticated
aggregation features. Lifera is sure to please the Linux community with
its simple, clean, and effective interface and features.
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BlogLines for anyone with a web
browser. It's perfect for anyone who can't install one of the above
clients or needs feeds on the go. A simple, clean web interface lets you
manage and read feeds from any web-capable device. The perfect solution
for computer-hoppers or those unable to install an aggregator for
whatever reasons.
Step 2: Grab the feed!
The URL for our feed is
http://meditation.org.au/rss.xml
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 copy
and paste this straight into your RSS reader. For iPods etc please try our
meditation music feed at
http://meditation.org.au/music.xml or learn to meditate classes at
http://meditation.org.au/learntomeditate.xml or check out our
podcast directory. Of course there are many other
feeds you might like to try. Our World Peace Society Calendar of Events feed
is at
http://worldpeace.org.au/worldpeacerss.xml We will be also offering more suggestions as we
find feeds we think you will like. On most browsers you can right-click the link
and select "copy shortcut" or "copy target address" or something similar.
And again, some RSS readers will "auto discover" the RSS feeds on sites you
browse, so no cutting and pasting is necessary! Please consult the
documentation for your RSS reader for more information.
Step 3: View the content!
The feeds on this site contain a
wealth of data and metadata that you're sure to find useful. All the RSS 1.0
feeds contain full article text as well as comments and related content on
other sites. Individual RSS readers present this information differently and
you can usually customize the intimate details as you please.
That's about it!
You don't have to come to our site
to read articles that don't interest you, and you can preview all you
favourite content from the same place! You can also add RSS feeds from your
favourite blogs, sites, and stores just as easily as you added our feeds.
And don't think the feed readers
listed above are all you have to choose from. See the
Resources section
for links to various feed readers and aggregators for a variety of platforms
and uses.
with thanks to
lockergnome.com
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