The concept behind RSS is really simple. So simple in fact that RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is one of the most popular formats used to distribute content on the internet. Also known as a Web Feed, it is a great way to get your content out to the masses if you have a blog, news site, or really any website with content that is updated frequently.

You have probably seen RSS Feed icons before, even if you didn’t know what they were. There is a (sort of) standard RSS icon that looks like an orange square with some white curved lines inside it. However, many designers want their feed icon to match the look of their site so they customize it. There is no limit to how creative these icons can be, but at the end of the day they must fulfill their function of letting your readers know they can subscribe to your content.

So, how do you subscribe to a feed? First, you’ll need a news reader (also known as a feed reader or news aggregator). Some news readers are web-based such as Live Bookmarks, Yahoo, News Gator, Bloglines, Netvibes, Google, Pageflakes, FeedDemon, RSSOwl, NetNewsWire, NewsFire, Shrook, etc. Others are located on your own computer. Many Email clients such as Mozilla’s Thunderbird, and Microsoft’s Outlook or Outlook Express also function as news readers. I prefer Thunderbird, but that’s just me.

Once you have a feed reader, go to the website you want to subscribe to and simply click on the RSS or feed icon. Then copy the URL from the address bar at the top of your browser. It will probably look something like

http://www.middleearmedia.com/feed/

but not necessarily. Alternatively, you can right click the RSS or feed icon and select “Copy Shortcut” or “Copy Link Location” to copy the address of the feed. Go to your news reader and find the option that lets you add content or feeds. This should open up a window with a field to add the URL of the feed you want to subscribe to. Place your cursor in this field and right click your mouse then select Paste.

In Thunderbird for example, click News & Blogs, then click Manage subscriptions, click the Add button in the window that pops up, and paste the address into the Feed URL field.

RSS is not the only kid on the content-syndication block. There are other ways to deliver content such as Atom, Email, SMS Text, and most recently services such as Twitter have been getting in on the action.

WordPress is licensed under the GPL and is an Open Source project. As an Open Source project, WordPress has managed to generate a huge community of users and developers. This has helped it grow from a small project in 2003 to a massively popular blogging platform in 2005 and now to a full blown Content Management System.

I’ve only been designing for WordPress for about one year, but in that time, I’ve seen drastic improvements as new versions were released. As I write this, version 2.8.4 is the latest and greatest. As a custom WordPress Theme developer, I have come to be intimately familiar with most of it’s features. I’ll be talking about WordPress a lot so check back soon or better yet, grab the RSS feed or subscribe by Email.

I went with a whole new look for the site, but I plan on bringing the old look back with an Optional-Theme button where the user can select which Theme is used to display the site.

For the new site, I’m using WordPress as the CMS. I designed a custom WordPress Theme for Middle EAR Media that makes use of many built-in features of WordPress. You can now conduct a search of the entire site, subscribe via RSS or email, leave comments, and much more.

As you can see, the new site has a blog section where I’ll be posting all kinds of stuff related to the projects I’m working on as well as web design in general. So hang tight while I work out the kinks and check back soon.