Well, there are some changes happening at bethstedman.com. First off, this will be the last post that I syndicate to facebook notes – after this if you want to read the blog you will have to visit the blog or subscribe to it. The good news though is that you now have two ways you can subscribe to bethstedman.com to ensure that you don’t miss a single post (oh, and of course, all subscriptions are free). As always you can continue to subscribe through RSS, but now you can also subscribe to me through email. The RSS Option:

For those few of you out there who aren’t familiar with RSS already (hi, mom!) here’s a brief explanation. Basically, it’s just a format for keeping track of web content that is ever changed and updated. Instead of ‘bookmarking’ a site and having to go back and visit it regularly in order to see new content you can use an RSS Feed Reader, subscribe to a web sites RSS feed and then all you have to do is check your Feed Reader and all of the updated content from your favorite web sites will be right there, available for your viewing pleasure. Problogger has a great and really easy to understand description of RSS that I encourage you to read if you aren’t familiar with this tool already.

Personally, I think RSS is the easiest and cleanest way to keep track of your favorite blogs. All you have to do is set up an RSS Feed Reader, for example ‘Google Reader’ which is what I use. Google Reader provides a help section to get you started, but you can also just start subscribing to sites and playing around with it until you figure it out.

The Email Option:

If RSS is intimidating for you or just sounds like too much work to set up then there’s always the email option. Just click the email button on the right, put in your email address, and you’ll start receiving blog updates right in your email. It’s as easy as that.

The Bookmark Option:

I have a little confession to make, I only started using an RSS reader myself a little over a year ago, I know I tend to be a little behind the times. My husband teases me about it, but the truth is I don’t really like change, even when I know that the new thing is going to be so much better. I knew that RSS was the way to go, I knew it would save me time and effort, I knew that once I got used to it I would probably LOVE it (and I did). But, I can be pretty stubborn and set in my ways and I just didn’t want to learn a new way of doing things. So, I held off for quite a long time. Now that I’ve made the switch, though, I can’t imagine ever going back.

So, if you are like I used to be I’d encourage you to let go of the old and embrace the new, you might be really glad you did. But, there’s no pressure here and if bookmarking is what works for you then by all means continue!

Rejoicing in the journey - Bethany Stedman