Blog Subscriptions: E-mail or Reader?

A special thanks to all of my blog subscribers! I just wanted to provide a little background information for those new to the 'blog world.' This post hopefully explains how the blog feeder works and provide suggestions. When you subscribe to the blog, by either e-mail or reader, I personally do not know that you are a subscriber. However, I am provided a number of subscribers and how they subscribe.

E-mails

Approximately 65% of my subscribers receive updates via e-mail. When you receive an e-mail feed of "Confessions of a Paper Artist, by Ashley Newell" you will receive an e-mail in your inbox during a certain time of the day (typically, I select the morning) if I have posted a blog. The advantage of receiving e-mail feeds is that you receive it in your inbox, providing you the option to read and review it directly from your e-mail. The disadvantage might be that e-mail converter may not appear as it is posted on the live blog. However, the title link gives you the option to click on it to direct you to the live blog.

Here is an example of an e-mail feed (e-mail portion is redacted):

Confessions of a Paper Artist, Ashley Newell

The Power of Prayer and a Card too! Posted: 10 Apr 2008 07:13 AM CDT Unfortunately, we all have to send sympathy cards to support those who have lost loved ones. This customer needed two. So, I designed two simple, yet different cards. Some people interpret color during a time of grief as an inappropriate, untraditional approach. However, color can be uplifting and healing, so I incorporated it in the card pictured left. The patterned paper is double-sided by K&Co. I triple-matted the papers. "I'm praying for you" is stamped on the front in chocolate chip ink and adhered with an antique brass metal tag. Orange ribbon is tied around the centered image to secure the ribbon and add the punch of color. The inside of the card is stamped with Verve Visual Serenity stamps. The serenity prayer and the flowers are stamped in chocolate chip. All edges are inked on the card for a finished look. "With Heartfelt Sympathy" is my more traditional card. The serenity leaves and sentiment is stamped in white ink on black cardstock. To give it a pop, rhinestones were added to serve as ellipses. The sentiments are from an acrylic stamp set from Michaels. The inside of the card is very simple with the sentiment, "We wish you God's peace" stamped in blank ink on white cardstock. As a part of life, we all experience death. I hope that these cards provide support and healing during their time of grief. Thank you for stopping by to see two of my four card creations I made on Tuesday night! I've been on a good roll lately!

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Readers

The remaining 45% of my subscribers receive updates by reader. Readers are an alternative way to receive web site updates. There are countless readers available; however, the most popular readers are through the main search engines, such as Yahoo or Google. I am familiar with Google and Google Desktop, so I am going to promote its reader options! I personally subscribe to many blogs and use Google Reader and Google Desktop to track updates. This option is advantageous because it does not 'clog' my e-mail inbox, but allows me to check my reader inbox instead. With Google Desktop, the Reader is visible and you can select any blogs to view from that page. With Google Reader, I must select to go to my reader, then any updated blogs will load where I can browse and read them. There are many other readers available that offer "RSS feeds" where you can receive updates from web sites.







Pictured left, is a screen shot of Google Desktop. The orange circle shows blog subscriptions with updated posts. From this view, you may scroll through and select a post to read or go directly to Google Reader to browse by clicking on "Google Reader."








Pictured right is a screen shot of a post in Google Reader. To the left of the post, you can view and manage your blog subscriptions. This screen shot shows you how the posting is viewed. It allows you to click on the title of the post to link directly to the live blog.




This information is for those who may not understand how RSS feeds operate. If at any time you do not want to receive updates, simply remove it from your reader or click unscubscribe from your e-mail. The RSS feed and blog world is an entity by itself!