March 4, 2007

Quickly Subscribe to Dance Blog Feeds

If you'd like an easy and fast way to track a large numbers of dance blogs, here are some suggestions.

First, I created a document that is formatted as an OPML file. This file includes a list of 78 dance feeds (RSS feeds). Click on this link to see how this file is formatted and then download it to your computer. Once you save this file, you can then import it into online applications that let you track blogs.

So for example, Google offers a blog reader application. Once you log-in, you can then use this application to subscribe to, track and categorize blogs. You'll see toward the top right of the reader home page a link for "Settings." And then you can click on the "Import/Export" link. Now you can upload the OPML file I liked to above. Once you upload this file, you can automatically track the 78 included dance blogs. Actually, some of the dance blogs in the list are old and haven't been updated for awhile. But it doesn't really matter because you simply won't to see any new posts from these blogs.

I'm new to the Google Reader but so far I like the interface and the way it tracks blogs.

Here's a screen shot I just took of Google Reader with the blogs listed on the left and a blog post in the middle. Click image for larger picture:

Another way to track blogs is with Ajax home pages such as NetVibes. Ajax home pages can be completely customized to track whatever information you wish. One of the things you can do is, once again, upload an OPML file such as the one above. Once you upload these dance blogs, this is what your list of blogs will look like - the list is on the left and you can click the following screen shot for a larger image:

As you'll see, my NetVibes page isn't customized at all. I'm intrigued by these Ajax pages, but I just haven't spent much time experimenting with them.

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