Simple RSS Hacks Part 1 - Finding Weblogs of Interest

All major weblog tools create RSS files as part of the publishing process. These files are typically in one of two formats (RSS or Atom). For the purposes of this series, I will just refer to any syndicated file as RSS. Some of the resources will be in Atom or other formats, and I will indicate this as I go.

1. Subscribe to a weblog using the XML or RSS button present on most weblogs

This, of course, is the easiest of all. Many weblogs also have links to help people with particular news readers.

2. Try default URL locations if there is no obvious XML/RSS button on link

If you cannot find an obvious XML/RSS button with the link to the RSS file, the following are examples of locations for RSS files for various weblog tools:

Radio UserLand default location/name for RSS file:

http://www.sitename.com/rss.xml

Blogger/Blogspot default location/name for Atom file:

http://www.sitename.com/atom.xml

Typepad default locations/names:

http://example.typepad.com/my_weblog/index.rdf

http://example.typepad.com/my_weblog/atom.xml

Moveable Type default locations/names:

http://www.example.com/index.xml

http://www.example.com/index.rdf

WordPress default locations/names:

http://example.com/wp-rss.php (RSS 1.0)

http://example.com/wp-rss2.php (RSS 2.0)

http://example.com/wp-rdf.php (RDF)

http://example.com/wp-atom.php (Atom)

LiveJournal default locations/names:

Add /rss to the end of the URL. For example, http://www.livejournal.com/users/example_user/rss.

3. Search for weblogs using Syndic8.com

From the home page, enter a search term in the Search for feed text box, you can do a search on various data elements associated with each RSS feed (Site Name, Data and Site URLs, Description, and so forth) of each feed. It is not matched against the information in the RSS feed. The feedlist page offers more search options. You can also browse categories to find weblogs of interest.

4. Search for weblogs using EatonWeb portal

From the home page, enter a search term in the search text box, and make sure to click on the radio button for portal.eatonweb.com. This will perform a search on the following: weblog name, url, description, country, state, region, language, category(s), keywords, birthdates, parent/children/sibling weblogs, author's sex, author's birthdate, ratings and reviews. The category page also lists groups of weblogs. As with Syndic8.com, you can browse categories to find weblogs of interest.

5. Search for weblogs using NewsIsFree

NewsIsFree collects RSS feeds for redistribution, republication, and for their online aggregator. As part of their service, you can also search for RSS feeds (again, based on title and description of weblogs). As with the other services, a category list of their feeds is available for browsing. In the category list, weblogs are considered a category by themselves, and may not be part of the other categories listed.

6. Search for weblogs using BlogStreet

The blog category search shows a list of categories and a search box.

7. Search for weblogs using RDF-Ticker

The search page offers search on title and description, with options for language.

8. Search for weblogs using Fagan Finder

Serves as a meta search engine, can launch searches for many weblog directories and RSS search engines, although it will only perform a search for one source at a time.

9. Search for weblogs using the Open Directory Project

Lists weblog categories and other weblog resources

10. Search for weblogs using the Weblogs Compendium

Has an extensive list of weblog directories

Other Resources

Fagan Finder - Overall description of RSS and resources

RSS Compendium - List of RSS directories and search engines

comment  trackback []  12:14:58 AM    

Simple RSS Hacks - Introduction

There are a number of RSS readers available for all software platforms, as well as web-based readers. Yet with all of these tools available, where should you start? What should RSS feeds should you be reading? This series will provide an introduction to the universe of RSS information flows.

Over the next 2 weeks, I will cover 10 different areas of interest for filling your RSS reader with all the information you can handle - and more.

Part 1- Find weblogs of interest

Part 2 - Find news of interest

Part 3 - Tracking information of interest

Part 4 - Tracking photos of interest

Part 5 - Tracking music/video of interest

Part 6 - Tracking information on products

Part 7 - Tracking information on services

Part 8 - Web services via RSS feeds

Part 9 - Specialized information via RSS feeds

Part 10 - RSS Utilities

Each part will contain a number of "simple RSS hacks" which will help you to sample different RSS feeds. These are intended only as a first step to the resources - enough to get you started. I will suggest other resources at the end of each area of interest for those who want to explore that area further.

Finally, links to all of the hacks in this series will be available as a OPML file and as a HTML directory for later ease of use. If you have any hacks you wish to contribute, feel free to add comments or trackbacks to the posts, and I will add them to the list.

comment  trackback []  12:08:41 AM