SpiralNature.com has had an RSS feed since late October 2008, but apart from a brief, quietly published piece called “What is RSS?”, it hasn’t been properly announced.
Let’s begin with a recap of what RSS stands for, and why it’s useful:
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s a technology which allows people to receive automatic updates when new content is posted on blogs, news headlines, podcasts, or any website that publishes a feed.
The orange image on the left is a standard icon used to indicate that a feed is published by a website. Some browsers will show it in the address line, and clicking on it will give you the option to subscribe to the feed. SpiralNature.com simply lists it at the top of our menu as “RSS“.
How do I subscribe?
Software that reads an RSS feed is alternately called an RSS reader, feed catcher, or news aggregator. Subscription is always free, and there are several ways to subscribe.
What’s it do?
By subscribing to a feed, you receive content from the website as it’s updated. You no longer need to remember to go back and check your bookmarks: instead, the content come to you. We publish full feeds, so that means each new essay, ritual and review is published in its entirety. The formatting may differ a little depending on your reader, but you’ll get the full text.
Where do I find a reader?
Most newer browsers have feed catchers embedded in them already, while others have plugins that can be added on. I’ve used infoRSS for Firefox in the past, but there are many options available. Alternately, there websites such as Bloglines and Google Reader which allow users to subscribe to feeds that can be accessed from any computer. Wikipedia has a list of feed aggregators here.
What are the alternatives?
Well, you’ll always be able to navigate your browser to SpiralNature.com, of course.1 :)
SN’s feed is also syndicated on LiveJournal. Or, if RSS feeds aren’t your thing, you can also receive content updates via e-mail.
Uh, a summary please?
All receive the same content in full, ad-free, as always.
What if I still have questions?
Any questions, please feel free to contact the webmaster.
Technology is grand.
- Going strong since 2000! [↩]
