Subscribe to Feeds

Now the fun begins!

It is simple to subscribe to blogs but different blogs have different subscription methods. I will show you an easy way to add individual blogs, a way to add blogs that don't have an easy subscribe button, and a way to set up Bloglines to give you a button on your browser that works on any web page with a feed.

Tip Look for the Orange “chicklet” buttons on blogs and other sites. These are little buttons that say XML, RSS, RDF, or other ridiculous abbreviation. I'll show you what to do with these buttons as we go. They usually look like one of these:

Do not worry about whether you see XML, RDF, or RSS. Just keep in mind that these buttons contain what we need to subscribe. Sometimes, you might only see the words, RSS, ATOM, or XML as a link: those work too!

Easy sites

Let's start with adding a really easy subscription. Blogs with a “Subscribe to Bloglines” Button are very easy to add to your Bloglines Feed list.

Some blog owners have made it easy for you to subscribe to their sites with various feed readers by placing buttons on their sites. These buttons tend to look like one of these (these are only Bloglines buttons and you might see similar buttons for other feed reader programs.):

Now, practice by subscribing to http://www.situativty.org

I have several of these buttons for different feed reader programs that can be found by clicking my XML chicklet. Go to Situativity.org. Click the orange "chicklet" with a little flame on it(). Then scroll down until you see the button that looks like this:

Click that button and add it to Bloglines!

Unsure of what to do? Here is an animation to show you just how to do it.

Brute Force

Blogs or other sites with no automatic subscribe button can seem intimidating because clicking the orange chicklet leads you to a page of scary code. Fear not! We will make it very easy.

If you see code when you click a chicklet, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and mutter three times: I am not afraid. And watch this one-minute animation to see how to subscribe to one such site (CNN.com).

Add a Bloglines Button to Your Browser

Now that you are a pro, let's make it easy. You can add a button to your web browser that let's you add any site with a feed in two clicks. Watch the one-minute animation to see how it's done!