#12 Finding Feeds

Now that you have a newsreader (your Bloglines account), you can begin adding other newsfeeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate newsfeeds:

• When visiting your favorite websites -- look for news feed icons that indicate the website provides RSS feeds. Often a feed icon will be displayed somewhere in the navigation bar of the site.
  
  
• Use Bloglines' Search tool. Bloglines' search tool lets you search for news feeds in addition to posts, citations and web sites. Use the "Search for Feeds" option to locate RSS feeds you might be interested in.
  
  
• Other Search tools that can help you find feeds:
  
  
  • Topix.net - This search tool allows you to locate recent news items based upon keyword or phrase searching. You can save your search as an RSS feed. Look for the RSS link at the bottom of your search results screen.
    
    
  • Technorati - Technorati is a popular blog finding tool that lets you search for blogs. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic specific blogs you may be interested in.
    

Discovery Excercise:

1. Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds.

2. Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to think about ...

• Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
  
  
• Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
  
  
• Which was more confusing?
  
  
• What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels?
  
  
• Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
  
  
• What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
  

EXTRA STUFF -- Feed icon information:

A standard feed icon is now being used by websites and web browsers, including Opera and Firefox, where it displays in the address bar:

If you are using Firefox, you may already know that by clicking the icon in the address bar, you can subscribe to a site's feed. Internet Explorer 7 makes use of the standard RSS feed icon, too. For more information about this emerging new standard, see Feedicons.com.

Coming up next: Image generators, or... create your own cereal box!