Recently, I’ve had some feedback from some of my readers, including myself, that it’s difficult to keep up with comments posted on my blog. With blogspot blogs, readers can choose to have follow-up comments e-mailed to them. Unfortunately, my blog hasn’t had that capability … until now! With Corey’s awesome PHP help, I’ve figured out how to RSS a single post’s comments. In the words of Boris from Goldeneye, “I am invicible!”
First things first. Do you know what RSS is? (I’m not trying to make you feel stupid; I just know I didn’t know what RSS was until about a year ago.) Anyway, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It lets you “follow” websites, using an RSS reader (e.g Google Reader, e-mail, iGoogle), any time something new is posted or updated, eliminating the necessity to check that site for updates. A site with RSS capability usually has this icon 
on it. RSS is a great way to keep track of people’s blogs because you only have to go to the blog when your RSS feed tells you there’s something new. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for private blogs so I usually just check those once a week.
If you want to keep track of a blog via RSS feed, I’ve found that Google Reader is the simplest and most convenient RSS reader to use. My friend Debbie recently posted really easy-to-follow instructions on how to use Google Reader if you need help.
If you want to subscribe to or follow the comments for a particular post on my blog, it’s very simple. When you make a comment, click the “Subscribe to this post’s comments” link before or after you click “Add your Reply.” An RSS feed to this post’s comments will be created in your default RSS reader.
I hope this helps you not only read my blog much more easily, but other blogs as well. If you have any questions, please let me know. I’m more than happy to answer them.
PS–Unfortunately, there’s no way to eliminate the need for you to enter your name and e-mail each time you comment on my blog. But, I’ll keep trying to figure out a way.
About Jenni Elyse
Thanks Jenni!
And although I have been using RSS for years I had no idea what it stood for. So thanks for that too! <3
That’s cool! I think I will RSS you right now!
Ouisa, no problem at all. I’m glad you said something. I thought I was the only one frustrated by it. That’s why I resorted to e-mailing everyone my responses. Once I knew other people were frustrated, I decided to look for a solution.
Jen, RSS is a great tool! I love it. It makes reading all the blogs I read so much easier because I don’t have to check them daily if there aren’t any new updates.
I love finding new tricks and things about blogs. So glad you found your rss feed for comments!
Thanks! Me too! I think it’ll make things a lot easier. Also, thanks for the great tutorial on how to use Google Reader, so I didn’t have to write one.
Okay seriously, that was Chinese or something, but I don’t have any problems with leaving comments, other than time.
This is brilliant. I’ve been meaning to grab RSS feeds for my favorite blogs forever. Now I’m feeling more motivated to do it AND I’m going to be able to get the comments too. Super awesome.
hooray for rss. i love that you are doing that now. and don’t laugh, but i just tried three times to leave a comment in the comment box picture that was part of your post.
just goes to show that even though i finally learned what rss is, there will probably always be a part of me that is not techno-savvy. aw well.