I mentioned this site a few weeks back but I feel compelled to mention it again. R|mail, like all good things, is a simple idea executed well. It takes a website’s RSS feed and delivers it to an email you specify.
All you need to do is provide the address of an RSS feed and then tell the site which email address you want the feed sent to. An email will be sent to that address asking the email owner to confirm their subscription request. After that, any new posts that appear on the site that the feed is for will be delivered to the email address supplied – including any images and hyperlinks. It really couldn’t be simpler.
There are a number of ways to subscribe to a site’s RSS feed that vary from simple (such as Firefox’s Livebookmarks concept) to moderately complex solutions that involve using dedicated newsfeed readers. Depending on how many sites or feeds you read you may want a different solution.
Of course, one of the sweetest things about R|mail is that it’s possible to provide a direct link to the second step of the subscription process. Here, allow me to demonstrate:
Subscribe to koffdrop.com at R|mail
Clicking on that link will assume you want to subscribe to this site and take you straight to the ‘please supply your email for this feed’ page. So, if you haven’t already done so, why not ensure you never miss an episode of your favourite show and subscribe to koffdrop.com? 🙂
Special mention and thanks must go to Randy Charles Morin who updated the R|mail database so that subscribers to the old koffdrop.com feed would get the new koffdrop.com feed automatically. I have absolutely no idea how he knew the feed had changed. I can only assume he either reads koffdrop.com or watches every one of the 3,000+ feeds R|mail covers like a hawk and pounces on any issues that might occur.
However he does it, it’s fantastic service at a price that can’t be beat and it makes R|mail very easy to recommend.
Pretty simple, how I knew. I created a search on my KBCafe blog search engine, put my name in the R|mail input box in the subscription center and hit subscribe. Now I get an email everytime someone mentions my domain.
http://www.kbcafe.com/blogs.aspx/kbcafe
Intresting…
Just out of intrest though, isn’t this a blog rather than a “site” or are blogs refferred to as blogs?
Yeah, koffdrop.com is just a blog on it’s own webserver rather than some place like blogspot.com.
In essence a blog (short for weblog) is really just an online diary. However, any site that has continual updates (such as a videogame news site) could really be a blog by any other name. The line is getting blurred. I’ve seen some great websites that are run using the blogger system that the original koffdrop.com site was based on.
‘Blogs’ and ‘sites’ aren’t mutually exclusive. This is a site which happens to be a blog. If I choose to expand it then I can – such as the Rhinox and Wishlist pages linked at the very top of the site.
Cool, so how do you get your own webserver? I already have my own blog, you see…
Getting your own webserver is fairly straightforward. If you have a mobile phone on a contract then you’ll be familiar with the principles. You find a server host that offers you the features you want (storage space, ftp access, server tools, maybe the ability to create subdomains etc) and you then by the package that fits your wallet and needs.
Obviously, having your own server space gives you a lot more control and freedom than signing up for free space that may be riddled with adverts and popups.
My good friend Miskie supplies my server space and his level of support, friendliness, reliability and (frankly scary) knowledge are exceptional. His hosting firm is his own company and is called The Octogon Group.
The other thing is getting a domain name you like. A lot of the good ones are snapped up – I was lucky when I found out koffdrop.com was a name that was still available. Your domain name is seperate from your server address and needs to be bought seperately. You then get the domain name and your server provider to share details and, bingo! – people type in your address and it goes to your server.
I recommend having a chat with Miskie if you want to discuss your server needs.
Cheers Koffy 😀