A Mini Guide to RSS Feeds

Comic page giving a mini tutorial on what an RSS feed is. Panel 1: You might've seen this icon before. It's the RSS icon. But what is RSS? RSS is an update feed for a website. Every time the site publishes a post, article, comic page, etc. the feed is updated. Most websites have a RSS feed. Panel 2: You'll usually find it in a site's menu. It might also be on a sidebar or the footer. Panel 3: But if I click on it it's just a bunch of code! What gives? What am I supposed to do with it?! Panel 4: This is where you'll need a feed reader like feedly!

Comic page giving a mini tutorial on what an RSS feed is. Panel 1: One, on Feedly click the follow button. Two, copy the URL from the site's RSS button and add it to the search box. Panel 2: Three, this will bring up the feed for the site. Four, Add it by clicking the follow button. You can also search the name of the site without the RSS link but it's more accurate if you have the link. Panel 3: Add the new feed to a folder. Panel 4: Now the feed will appear on your Feedly when it updates! Panel 5: What I did was get the Feedly add-on for my browser. So every time a site I follow updates the extension lets me know! Panel 6: Clicking the title of the update opens the site in a new tab. I personally like seeing content on it's own site. But you can set everything up so you only ever need to open Feedly.

Comic page giving a mini tutorial on what an RSS feed is. Panel 1:If you run a site make sure your RSS button is easily accessible. The URL will usually be something like yoursite.com/feed or yoursite.com/rss. Panel 2: Be sure to follow your own RSS feeds to make sure they're updating properly. This way if it goes down for whatever reason you'll be able to catch the problem before your readers miss too many updates. Panel 3: And that's all there is to it! It's very customizable so play around with it to see what works for you! Panel 4: No fuss. No algorithms. Just the updates you choose to see! Hey! My favourite comic updated!

With all the talk about Twitter and social media going on, I felt really inspired to do a comic about RSS feeds. This is a really barebones guide but I hope it helps you stay updated with your favourite webcomics, artists and websites.

The nice thing about RSS feeds is that almost any kind of site has one, so if you wanted you could add user feeds from tumblr, twitter, mastodon, etc. here’s some helpful guides on how to add those (1) (2)

I hope you found this little guide helpful. I’m just a simple guy who’s passionate about RSS feeds, comics and staying updated using both. Go forth and make the feed of your dreams!
Topaz Comics | Topaz Comics RSS | Art Blog | Art Blog RSS

 

A graphic announcing "RSS & You" for the Nib and Ink Fest 2025 on May 17th, 2025 at 1:00 PM EST on Zoom featuring panelist Jey Pawlik. The panel description reads, "A rundown on what RSS is, how webcomics can utilize it, and how readers can organize what they're reading. This event is for webcomic creators and readers alike." An anthropomorphic inkwell and an anthropomorphic both holding comic pages decorate the graphic.

In Depth Talk I Did on RSS available on Youtube!

All Art (without update posts)Comics