Stinky Bob - A recurrent weeding problem and a newly relearned activity
A challenge inherent in picking up activities that previously went by the wayside on your Life-Journey is relearning things, particularly those not well-learned the first time. In the case of my blog production foundations, several aspects never got my full attention, or even worked very well the first time. For example RSS feeds.
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication,” and it is supposed to be just that, a really simple thing! Well, maybe it’s just this old gray head that’s the problem, but I’ve found it to be anything but “simple.”
I was looking for a way that people could easily keep up with activities on my blog. At first a RSS Feed seemed to be a good solution. But how did I go about insuring one was on my posts? According to TP, all I needed to do to use it is make sure the RSS or “Subscribe” link was located where it is supposed to be, i.e. in the top corner of the post. It’ll take care of the rest. But the first time I tried clicking on it with an unpublished post, out spewed a bunch of code, lines of it! I nearly had another heart attack – what was I or some unsuspecting reader supposed to do with all that garbage?
Typepad has a robust HELP resource, which I’ve really been using lately. Here’s what it says, in part, on the subject:
When viewing this link, some readers may see a page displaying HTML code…don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with your Subscribe link! It only means that (the browser being used) does not support viewing a feed directly.
“Don’t worry" it says, in the happiest sort of way. I couldn’t help but think of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. The Help resource goes on to say that readers can use their own preferences on how to use the link address, and suggest using a RSS reader. Well, I don’t know about you, but my own "preference" in such instances is to simply bail. Who has time or patience for any extra digital nonsense?
Happily, it turns out most people I know, or that might otherwise have some interest in my posts, use iPads or some other Apple product and have never had to bother with finding a suitable RSS reader. But if you are curious and want to know more, here’s a post I ran across that offers some solid insights into the whole RSS mess. Meanwhile, If you want to get in touch and don’t care to go through the RSS process you can find me trying to weed from my wheelchair along the garden pathway, or hanging out at @ellindstrom23. (Just don’t look for me on Facebook; I still don’t know why, but that outfit shut down my feed years ago.)