I am an RSS Dummy!

1. 74

   NaomiRposted 14 years ago

   I think I'm a reasonably intelligent person, but my head is about to explode from trying yo figure of the process of including RSS feeds. I've read nearly every hub and forum on the topic on this site, as well as some additional articles on it, and it still makes no sense to me. Maybe it's because our computer is ancient and not equipped to deal with them... I don't know. I'm just feeling increasingly stupid and frustrated because I really want to learn and understand it. I think I just stink at anything vaguely related to science or technology... I was always into the arts and writing in school for that reason.
   
   Anyway, I have a few extremely basic, probably stupid questions, that I'm hoping I can get some help with. Thanks.
   
   1. OK, so I'm kind of confused about what we're even supposed to put in an RSS feed - people's blogs? So for my "Weight-Loss Memoirs" hub, should I just go and plug in the URLs for some weight-loss blogs I like? Or head over to some travel blogs to add to my travel pages?
   
   2. I don't understand how posting someone else's info. to your site helps you. Is your hub automatically listed as a link or something or does traffic to their blog automatically count as traffic to your site?
   
   3. One of the hubs I read suggested clicking on your own RSS feed and getting the URL and then pasting it.... and then it started to feel as if I were reading a foreign language. But I tried it. I clicked on my link ... and no URL came up. Instead, my computer kept asking me which program I wanted to go to to open the page, and I went through every program on it and kept getting blank pages.
   
   4. If I ever access this mystery URL of mine, who do I even give it to? Do the directories everyone is listing automatically accept you, or is it like writing for ezines where you're supposed to come up with a separate entry...?
   
   5. If someone gets your RSS feed, do they only get articles in certain topics, or do they get everything? I mean, I write about a lot of different things; it's not like keeping a blog that focuses on one area.
   
   Thanks for your help and patience. I realize you get a million questions about this and I really have tried to learn on my own by reading up on this. I'm going to have my husband do some research and see if he can figure this out since I can't. Meantime, I think I'm going to purchase that RSS For Dummies book that they sell. I really wish I could have someone come over here and walk me through the process. I feel like I'm back in my calc class where everyone seemed to get it except for me.

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   1. 70

      sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      1. look for a rss icon
      
      
      
      right click on said icon and copy link location
      
      youll get something like this in your clipboard
      
      http://hubpages.com/author/sunforged/latest/?rss
      
      So NO you dont plug in any URL, you must use a feed url that will have the rss icon or possible just say "subscribe to my feed"
      
      2. None of your wondered reasons happen...Search engines like updated and fresh content the rss feed will update automatically people claim this makes your site seem like its updates ( i dont think so - as spiders read html, feeds dont add html to your site) ...but that is the stated purpose
      
      3. Sure use your own rss feeds in your hubs if you like - the rss is locate dunder your profile image
      
      4. Rss submitters will just accept your feed - not sure which ones have been suggested to you..but submit away - there is not usually an approval process
      
      5. The hubs rss feed is "latest hubs" I have yet to find anyway to differentiate by category, tags or heading (would be nice though)
      
      
      BTW - this topic has been covered extensively in forums, hubs and on teh net - 3 key depressions of 2 letters into any search box would have helped you immensely
      
      but hopefully, it worked out where you got it covered now!

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2. 65

   kmackey32posted 14 years ago

   Did you read my hub? I use my RSS feed to get more traffic by submitting it to sites...

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3. 74

   NaomiRposted 14 years ago

   Yeah, I probably did read it. Like I said, I've been reading and reading and it's just not registering with me. That happens with me and tech/science stuff sometimes -- my brain just won't process it, no matter how much research I do. I'm going to get someone to help me out...
   
   Sorry for the earlier long-winded post. It was 3 in the morning and I needed to vent!

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