Friday, November 9, 2007

Thing # 10: Add an RSS feed to your Blog

Description:

You can add an RSS feed to your blog as a service to keep your readers up-to-date on the latest goings on as well. Some people call these things "widgets," "modules" or "gadgets" -- though RSS feeds are only one of many things you can add to a blog via a widget.

You can choose any blog or news service you want.

Hints:

  • I added the RSS feeds of some Learning 2.0 participants on this blog -- scroll down to the bottom!
  • In Blogger, click dashboard -> Template Layout -> Page Elements if you are not already logged in. (UPDATE: If you are already logged in and you are visiting your site, you can click New Post -> Template -> Page Elements).
    • Click Add a Page Element on the blog outline you see on the page.
    • Choose "feed" as the thing you want to add.
    • Enter the web address of your feed (what shows in the address bar after you click the ) into the box.
    • The RSS feed will show up where you told it to go.
  • In Wordpress, click "My Dashboard -> Presentation -> Widgets.
    • Scroll down to the bottom and tell Wordpress "how many RSS feeds widgets would you like." Make sure the number is more than zero.
    • Drag one of the RSS widgets to where it says "sidebar."
    • Click the "configure button." It looks like this:
    • Copy the web address of your RSS feed and include a title if you want. You can also choose how many items you'd like to display.
    • The RSS feed will show up where you told it to go.
Resources:

4 comments:

Cynthia Gatto said...

Hi Ryan:
You left a small step off the instructions for Blogger. To find the "Template" tab, you have to click "Settings" first from your dashboard.

Ryan Deschamps said...

See why comments are so helpful? :) I fixed the problem (if you hit "layout" you get right on to the template tab).

The difference was that I was already logged in and going from the blog in the first place.

BreakoutBoxHPL said...

I'm getting mad at myself. I...like...dare I say it.

I like blogging and RSS.

OH THE SHAME!

Nifty stuff, even for a late adapter like me. Useful too...of course, Google has taken all the kinks out of it, so I have no idea what this stuff was like in the early days.

I imagine many a computer exploded.

Deedia said...

Hi Ryan,

I tried Thing #10 but I couldn't get it to attached to my blog. I kept getting a message of invalid url. So what am I doing wrong?