Feed readers deliver favorite sites to you
Tired of MSN editors and Google News algorithms force-feeding you headlines? Too busy to consume dozens of bookmarked blogs? Try serving up an all-you-can-read buffet of favorite sites on a single page instead.
Welcome to the world of newsreaders. Thanks to online publishing tools such as Real Simple Syndication and a growing number of services that collect the resulting content feeds, even newbie Web surfers can set up free personalized portals in a few clicks.
These services regularly check selected sites for fresh content and enable users to skim customized pages for items of interest. Here’s how to get started with one well-established newsreader.
My Yahoo is the one I use, mostly to collect newspaper headlines (along with stock quotes and local movie listings). Although I’d rather immerse myself in a blog than pull its text into my portal, the service works with any site that syndicates content. In fact, Yahoo received a patent last month for its method of delivering news and information pages tailored to a user’s preferences – which could prove costly for competitors.
After signing up for a free account at Yahoo.com, click the My Yahoo link on the upper-left side of the page. You’ll then be asked to choose from a menu of interest areas. These include “basics” (which give you access to e-mail and local weather reports), news, sports, money, health and entertainment.
Check the news and basics boxes, then click the “save” button. In the central portion of the resulting page, you’ll see a selection of news headlines and photos, as well as a preview of incoming Yahoo e-mail.
A narrow column running down the right side of the page includes local weather information, links to Yahoo content and more news photos. Mouse over a headline and the story’s first paragraph pops up. (Many blog feeds provide the full text of featured items.)
Each content module on your My Yahoo page sports an “x” on its right side. Banish feeds you don’t want by clicking on their corresponding “x.” (Who needs that list of most e-mailed photos, right?)
When you’re done pruning, click the “add content” button atop the center column and start creating your personalized portal paradise. You’ll first be taken to a page where you can add feeds from Yahoo’s directory by using a “find content” search box or browsing by topic.
Give it a try by clicking “entertainment & arts” under the “browse by topic” list. Scroll down the resulting page to Awful Plastic Surgery. Click on the “add” button, then return to the top of the page and click the yellow “finished” button.
You’ll now see headlines from a blog about bad celebrity makeovers on your My Yahoo page. (Only click through to the site if you don’t mind seeing Mickey Rourke imitating a troll doll.) Repeat the process to add feeds from other blogs and sites of interest.
Also, any time you visit a site sporting an orange “xml” button, you can grab that site’s feed for your portal by right-clicking on the “xml” box and selecting “copy shortcut” on the menu that pops up.
Back at My Yahoo, click “add RSS by URL” on the “add content” page. Paste the feed by simultaneously pressing “Ctrl” and “V” on the computer’s keyboard. Click the “add” button next to the feed text and you’re done. (Try this with the Blogspotter blog’s “xml” button to get the hang of it. Or just stick with searching and browsing Yahoo’s directory of feeds if the cut-and-paste process seems too daunting.)
If My Yahoo isn’t for you, consider sampling the popular Bloglines.com or rising star Netvibes.com – a lovely, intuitive site that augments your feed collection with a calendar, to-do list and support for several e-mail programs.
Use the time your portal saves you to find more feeds to read.