RSS Readers

Just as you need an email client to send and receive email you need an RSS reader to subscribe to and read RSS feeds.

As in the email world there are two main types of reader Web Based and PC based.

Web Based Readers

Web based readers like Google reader, Google personalized Home page, My Yahoo etc are web pages that allow you to customize by adding calendars, email and of course RSS feeds.

Here is how My Yahoo displays some of the feeds I've subscribed to (MY blog feed has been expanded) :

Google offer the same with Personalized home pages but they also offer a web based stand alone reader called Google reader. Here is what my blog feed looks like using the Google reader.

Desktop/PC Based

These tend to offer more functionality than web based solutions but require you to install software on you PC. There are many free and commercial ones available.

The one I have used is the free RSSreader for a more complete list you may want to see the about.com top 10.

Choosing a Reader

Whether you opt for a desktop based reader or a web based reader is determined by how much functionality you require and whether or not you want access when away from your PC/laptop.

If you want lots of functionality you should choose a desktop based reader and if you want mobility a web based one.

There is of course nothing from stopping you from using more than one. I myself tend to use two. I use the RSS reader on my PC when at home and when travelling I use Google Reader.

The problem of course with using two is that the feeds are not synchronized so when you subscribe to a new feed in one you then have to manually do the same in the other.

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Related Articles and Resources

•  Feedburner -FeedBurner is a free RSS/Atom feed service that allows publishers to significantly enhance their feeds.

• Publishing Your RSS Feed

• Get Your RSS Feed Listed Yahoo- In 5 Simple Steps you can get Your RSS Feed Listed Within Hours at Yahoo.

• Using RSS Feeds on A Web Page -How to include RSS feeds on your web pages using JavaScript, PHP etc

• RSS feed creation software- Online and desktop software for creating RSS feeds

• RSS and Blogs - RSS and Blogs what is the relation between the two why do blogs always have an RSS feed?

•  Feed Structure, Creation and Use - RSS feeds are are simple xml formatted files. Here we look at the structure and how to manually create/build a simple feed.