What to Do After Setting Up Your Newsreader

Once your newsreader app is installed and you've subscribed to your first feed, the next step is to add more feeds from sites you already read. About Feeds notes that a single subscription may not feel like much of a time-saver, but once you're subscribed to 10 or 20 sites, the newsreader becomes your regular place for news and the latest content. The guide's "What next?" step is simply to find more to read and browse for additional feeds.

Find feeds on sites you already visit

Most feeds live on news sites and blogs. Look for one of these signals on a site you read regularly:

• A link near the bottom of the page labeled "RSS"
• An orange feed icon similar to the standard RSS symbol
• A "Subscribe" or "Feed" link, often in the footer or sidebar

When you see a feed link on a site, that means you can subscribe to it. Start with the handful of news sites and blogs you check most often, since those are the ones where centralized reading pays off fastest.

Subscribe to each new feed

The subscription steps are the same as for your first feed:

1. Get the feed URL. On desktop, right-click the RSS link and choose "Copy Link Address" or similar. On mobile, tap and hold the link until a menu appears, then choose "Copy link" or similar.
2. Open your newsreader app and find the function named something like "Subscribe," "Add Web Feed," or a "+" icon.
3. Paste the feed URL and confirm.

Repeat this for each site. Your newsreader checks feeds automatically every few hours, so new content appears without you visiting each site.

Use the reader itself to discover more

Your newsreader is also a browsing surface. As you read, note the sites you keep wanting to check and add their feeds. If a source you follow links to another blog or news site, look for that site's feed link and subscribe directly from the same copy-and-paste flow.

Know what you're gaining

About Feeds describes two practical benefits of building up a feed list:

• No algorithm filtering. Unlike Facebook, there's no algorithm deciding to drop content from your feed unless the author pays.
• Spam-proof and reversible. If a feed stops being useful, just unsubscribe.

Pick a reader that fits how you'll grow the list

The guide lists four newsreader apps, in alphabetical order, with these stated limits:

Which one you choose matters less than you might think: newsreaders make it fairly easy to export your subscription list and move to another app later, so pick one whose look you like. If you expect to follow well over 100 sites, the stated free limits are worth checking before you commit.

A reasonable first week

Aim to add a few feeds a day from sites you already read, rather than trying to build a large list at once. After a week or two, your newsreader's inbox should reflect the news you actually want, and you can prune any feed that isn't earning its place.