6 Easy Steps to Using Feedly and Chrome for One-Click RSS Feed Subscriptions

Just a miscellaneous tidbit today. . . 

Have you tried to sign up for an RSS feed and been frustrated when you get a bunch of "gobbledy-gook" after clicking on the little orange RSS feed icon? ME TOO! 

Or. . . Have you always wondered what the heck an RSS feed is? Been there, done that. 

Here's a little tutorial to help you out. 

Stock Image by Leo Blanchette
Credit HERE. 

An RSS Feed is simply a text version of new posts on a website (usually a blog). By subscribing to RSS feeds, you can read updates of all your favorite blogs and websites in one place, instead of having to surf the web to visit all your favorite sites. It's a great idea, but since they discontinued Google Reader, it's been tough to find a good replacement RSS Feed Reader. Until NOW. 

I did a little bit of searching and figured out a solution that's working well for me. I used Feedly and Chrome RSS Subscription Extension together. Here's how you can set it up in 6 easy steps!

How to Add RSS Feeds to Feedly Using a One-Click Chrome Extension

1. Set up an account at feedly.com. I recommend that you use the "sign in with Google Account option" so everything will seamlessly integrate with the Chrome extension.

2. Install the Chrome RSS subscription extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-subscription-extensio/nlbjncdgjeocebhnmkbbbdekmmmcbfjd). This extension puts the familiar orange RSS icon in your URL bar whenever a site you're visiting has a feed.

2. Go to a site that has an RSS feed (i.e. - feedtheworld.org). You will see the little orange icon pop up on the far right side of your address bar. Right click on it and then choose "options."

3. In options, you will see "RSS Subscription Options" at the top. Click on “add…” button and fill it out like so (you'll only have to do this the first time you subscribe to a feed):

• Description: Feedly
• URL: http://www.feedly.com/home#subscription/feed/%s

(note: if you copy & paste, you'll need to add a space to the end before the OK button will pop up)

4. Delete the other RSS feed options to make Feedly your default. 

5. It’s done! Now when visiting a website which provide RSS, you will see the RSS icon in the multibox, Click on it to quickly add the feed to your Feedly account. 

6. To read your subscriptions, login at feedly.com and read away!

Hope this helps some of you who have been wanting to find a replacement for your Google Reader!

ENJOY!