How to subscribe to a blog.

If you’re still devoting your lunch break to clicking through bookmarks just in case your favourite blogs have been updated, this blog post is for you. I have been on this here internets for a long time, so subscribing to blogs and doing other internetty things is like second nature to me. I always forget that there are people out there who might not have had so much experience online, so I thought a brief post on how you can keep up with definatalie.com and your other favourite blogs was in order, especially considering there are some new services available that help you manage your blog subscriptions.

My favourite service is Google Reader and if you’ve already got a Google account (for example, do you use Gmail?) chances are your Reader account is ready to go. There are quite a few other feed readers out there, web and desktop based, however most of my subscribers use Google’s services (Reader or iGoogle).

How to subscribe to a blog with Google Reader

Because blogs are driven by crazy, awesome, individual.. uh… individuals there’s no standard way to just hit a button and subscribe. The things you can look out for are:

♡ This cute little RSS symbol. You might find it within the page design, or on the top right of the address bar in your browser. (I use Firefox for Mac with the Anna Sui persona!)

♡ The abbreviation “RSS”, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. I’ve screencapped the “Meta” section from The Rotund, a blog I’ve been meaning to subscribe to for ages!

♡ The word “Subscribe” as hyperlinked text or an image (my blog hyperlinks an image with “Subscribe” hand written by me).

If I click on a hyperlinked RSS text or image, I’m taken to this page (click to embiggen), where Google asks me how I’d like to subscribe to the feed. I choose Reader, because all of my subscriptions are there and I don’t use the iGoogle/ Google Homepage service. It’s up to you to choose!

From there you’ll be able to build up your subscriptions, and browsing the latest entries from all the blogs you used to run around visiting will be as easy as visiting one site!

Other ways to keep up with definatalie.com

A few weeks ago I set up my blog on NetworkedBlogs, which is a facebook application that allows you to read all your blogs without leaving the snuggly comfort of facebook. Follow my blog with NetworkedBlogs.

For those of you who like using Livejournal to read RSS feeds, you can watch the syndicated feed on LJ. Follow my blog with the Livejournal syndicated feed.

Just before I claimed my blog on bloglovin’ because I found out through my Analytics stats that people had already begun subscribing to me through the service. Follow my blog with bloglovin´.

Most websites are jumping on the RSS wagon so subscribe to all of your blogs today and free up your lunch hour for actually having fun! (Can I suggest hijinx in the tearoom, or laps around the carpark?)