To keep up with a blog, you can either subscribe to it, or have it come into your email. The email route may work for some of us, but if your ebox is anything like mine, there are plenty of distractions in there. Enough to keep me from taking the time to read a blog post even if it’s something I really WANT to read. So, for this reason I prefer to keep “mail” separate from “reading material.”
There are blogs on every topic imaginable, making it fairly easy to find a few that match your own interests. Subscribing puts all of the blogs you follow onto one page. It’s like creating your own personal “magazine,” filled with articles and content of your choice. Having it all on one page makes it easy to keep up with them.
Both Yahoo and Google offer “readers.” These are ways to set up your page of blogs. (if you have an iPad, there are Apps for reading blogs). Once you set this up, the page gives a headline plus a few lines from each new blog post. Simply click to read the entire post. The best thing about this page is that you can right away see if a blogger has released a new post. Going to your reader becomes a habit the same as checking your email or going to facebook.
To get started, set up an account with either Yahoo or Google. If you have an email address with either of them your account is already opened.
In Yahoo, the blog reader is the page, “My Yahoo.” If you are using Yahoo, open this page, and play around with it to see the many things you can do there. If you are using Google, either Google Reader or Google Homepage will do the trick. I use the reader, so I’ll give instructions for that.
To subscribe to our blog, scroll down to the bottom of this page and find the words “Subscribe to: Posts (Atom).” Click on “Posts(Atom).” A new window opens showing a simplified version of the blog. Highlight the URL at the top of the page- the URL is the website address beginning with “feed://theexistentialgardener.blogspot.com...”. Go to the browser’s menus at the top of the screen and click on Edit, then on Copy. Close the page and go to My Yahoo or Google Reader.
If you are using My Yahoo, click on “+Content” near the top of the page. A box opens- at the bottom of this box click on “Add RSS Feed”. A box opens. Click inside it, then click on your browser’s Edit, then on “Paste.” The blog’s URL will paste into the box. Click on “ADD” and the blog will show up on your My Yahoo page.
If you are using Google Reader, click on “Add a Subscription” near the top of the page, then paste the same as for the Yahoo reader.
That’s all there’s to it. Find other blogs that you might like to follow, and add them to your page. Make the habit of checking the page as often as you go to your email or to facebook, and you will be sure to keep up with all of your blog news.
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